ABSTRACT
As the Hebrew Bible was a turning point in the history of the poor in the ancient land of Israel and in the Jewish diaspora, the Bible in a host of vernacular translations was a turning point in the literary depiction of the European poor from the Renaissance on. Translation and publication of the vernacular Bible was at first an act of heresy, a crime like witchcraft, punishable by death. Vernacular translations of the Hebrew Bible had consequences far beyond what was imagined at the time. Translation stimulated debate not just over theological issues but also over political and social questions, including government authority, social stratification, and rights of the poor. Sixteenth-century Poor Law can be seen on one level as part of the process of desacralization of poverty and almsgiving anticipating the secular welfare state, and an increasingly secular literature.
