Beg

Beg - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

That the poor existed among the Hebrews we have abundant evidence (Ex. 23:11; Deut. 15:11), but there is no mention of beggars properly so called in the Old Testament. The poor were provided for by the law of Moses (Lev. 19:10; Deut. 12:12; 14:29). It is predicted of the seed of the wicked that they shall be beggars (Ps. 37:25; 109:10).

In the New Testament we find not seldom mention made of beggars (Mark 10:46; Luke 16:20, 21; Acts 3:2), yet there is no mention of such a class as vagrant beggars, so numerous in the East. "Beggarly," in Gal. 4:9, means worthless.

Beg - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BEG, n. In the Turkish dominions, a governor of a town or country; more particularly, the lord of a sangiac or banner. Every province is divided into seven sangiacs or banners, each of which qualifies a bey; and these are commanded by the governor of the province, called begler-beg or lord of all the beys. Each beg has the command of a certain number of spahis, or horse, denominated

timariots.

In Tunis, the beg or bey is the prince or king, answering to the dey of Algiers.

In Egypt, the begs are twelve generals who command the militia, or standing forces of the kingdom.

BEG, v.t.

1. To ask earnestly; to beseech; to entreat or supplicate with humility. It implies more urgency than ask or petition.

Joseph begged the body of Jesus. Math.27.

2. To ask or supplicate in charity; as, we may yet be reduced to beg our bread.

3. To take for granted; to assume without proof; as, to beg the question in debate.

BEG, v.i. To ask alms or charity; to practice begging; to live by asking alms.

I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. Luke 16.

Beggar - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BEG'GAR, n. [See Beg.] One that lives by asking alms, or makes it his business to beg for charity.

1. One who supplicates with humility; a petitioner; but in this sense rarely used, as the word has become a term of contempt.

2. One who assumes in argument what he does not prove.

BEG'GAR, v.t. To reduce to beggary; to impoverish.

1. To deprive or make destitute; to exhaust; as, to beggar description.

Begged - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BEG'GED, pp. Entreated; supplicated; asked in charity.

Begging - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BEG'GING, ppr. Asking alms; supplicating; assuming without proof.

BEG'GING, n. The act of soliciting alms; the practice of asking alms; as, he lives by begging.

Plea - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

PLEA, n. [L. lis, litis.]

1. In law, that which is alleged by a party in support of his demand; but in a more limited and technical sense, the answer of the defendant to the plaintiff's declaration and demand. That which the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or justified by the defendant's plea. Pleas are dilatory, or pleas to the action. Dilatory pleas, are to the jurisdiction of the court, to the disability of the plaintiff, or in abatement. Pleas to the action are an answer to the merits of the complaint, which confesses or denies it. Pleas that deny the plaintiff's complaint or demand, are the general issue, which denies the whole declaration; or special pleas in bar, which state something which precludes the plaintiff's right of recovery.

2. A cause in court; a lawsuit, or a criminal process; as the pleas of the crown; the court of common pleas.

The supreme judicial court shall have cognizance of pleas real, personal and mixed.

3. That which is alleged in defense or justification; an excuse; an apology; as the tyrant's plea.

When such occasions are,

No plea must serve; 'tis cruelty to spare.

4. Urgent prayer or entreaty.

Plead - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

PLEAD, v.i. [See Plea.] In a general sense, to argue in support of a claim, or in defense against the claim of another.

1. In law, to present an answer to the declaration of a plaintiff; to deny the plaintiff's declaration and demand, or to allege facts which show that he ought not to recover in the suit. The plaintiff declares or alleges; the defendant pleads to his declaration. The king or the state prosecutes an offender, and the offender pleads not guilty, or confesses the charge.

2. To urge reasons for or against; to attempt to persuade one by argument or supplication; as, to plead for the life of a criminal; to plead in his favor; to plead with a judge or with a father.

O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor! Job 16.

3. To supplicate with earnestness.

4. To urge; to press by operating on the passions.

Since you can love,and yet your error see,

The same resistless power may plead for me.

PLEAD, v.t. To discuss, defend and attempt to maintain by arguments or reasons offered to the tribunal or person who has the power of determining; as, to plead a cause before a court or jury. In this sense, argue is more generally used by lawyers.

1. To allege or adduce in proof, support or vindication. The law of nations may be pleaded in favor of the rights of embassadors.

2. To offer in excuse.

I will neither plead my age nor sickness in excuse of faults.

3. To allege and offer in a legal plea or defense,or for repelling a demand in law; as, to plead usury; to plead a statute of limitations.

4. In Scripture, to plead the cause of the righteous, as God, is to avenge or vindicate them against enemies, or to redress their grievances. Isa 51.

Please - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

PLEASE, v.t. s as z. [L. placere, placeo.]

1. To excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to gratify; as, to please the taste; to please the mind.

Their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem, Hamor's son. Gen 34.

Leave such to trifle with more grace than ease,

Whom folly pleases, and whose follies please.

2. To satisfy; to content.

What next I bring shall please

Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire.

3. To prefer; to have satisfaction in; to like; to choose.

Many of our most skilful painters were pleased or recommend this author to me.

To be pleased in or with, to approve; to have complacency in. Mat 3.

To please God, is to love his character and law and perform his will, so as to become the object of his approbation.

They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom 8.

PLEASE, v.i. s as z. To like; to choose; to prefer.

Spirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease

Assume what sexes and what shapes they please.

1. To condescend; to comply; to be pleased; a word of ceremony.

Please you, lords,

In sight of both our battles we may meet.

The first words that I learnt were, to express my desire that he would please to give me my liberty.

Please expresses less gratification than delight.

1. No Law Concerning Beggars or Begging in Israel:

It is significant that the Mosaic law contains no enactment concerning beggars, or begging, though it makes ample provision for the relief and care of "the poor in the land." Biblical Hebrew seems to have no term for professional begging, the nearest approach to it being the expressions "to ask (or seek) bread" and "to wander." This omission certainly is not accidental; it comports with the very nature of the Mosaic law, the spirit of which is breathed in this, among other kindred provisions, that a poor Hebrew who even sold himself for debt to his wealthy brother was allowed to serve him only until the Jubilee (See JUBILEE), and his master was forbidden to treat him as a sl ave (Le 25:39). These laws, as far as actually practiced, have always virtually done away with beggars and begging among the Jews.

2. Begging Not Unknown to the Ancient Jews:

Begging, however, came to be known to the Jews in the course of time with the development of the larger cities, either as occurring among themselves, or among neighboring or intermingling peoples, as may be inferred from Ps 59:15; compare Ps 109:10, where Yahweh is besought that the children of the wicked may be cursed with beggary, in contra-distinction to the children of the righteous, who have never had to ask bread (Ps 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed asking (English Versions, "begging") bread.") For the Hebrew expression not corresponding to "begging" see Ps 59:15, "They shall wander up and down for food"; and compare Ps 119:10, "Let me wander," etc.

3. Begging and Alms-taking Denounced in Jewish Literature:

The first clear denunciation of beggary and almstaking in Jewish literature is found in Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 40:28-30, where the Hebrew for "begging" is to "wander," ete, as in Ps 59:15, according to the edition of Cowley and Neubauer; Oxford, 1897. There as well as in Tobit, and in the New Testament, where beggars are specifically mentioned, the word eleemosune has assumed the special sense of alms given to the begging poor (compare Tobit 4:7,16,17; 12:8-11; Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 3:14,30; 7:10; 16:14; Mt 6:2-4; 20:30-34; Mr 10:46-52; Lu 11:41; 12:33; Joh 9:1-41; Ac 9:36; 10:2,4,31; 24:17).

4. Professional Beggars a Despised Class: As to professional beggars, originally, certainly, and for a long time, they were a despised class among the Hebrews; and the Jewish communities are forbidden to support them from the general charity fund (BB, 9a; Yoreh De`ah, 250, 3). But the spirit of the law is evinced again in that it is likewise forbidden to drive a beggar away without an alms (ha-Yadh ha- Chazaqah, in the place cited 7 7).

5. In the Gospel Age:

Begging was well known and beggars formed a considerable class in the gospel age. Proof of this is found in the references to almsgiving in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7 and parallels), and in the accounts of beggars in connection with public places, e.g. the entrance to Jericho. (Mt 20:30 and parallels), which was a gateway to pilgrims going up to Jerusalem to the great festivals and in the neighborhood of rich men's houses (Lu 16:20), and especially the gates of the Temple at Jerusalem (Ac 3:2). This prevalence of begging was due largely to the want of any adequate system of ministering relief, to the lack of any true medical science and the resulting ignorance of remedies for common diseases like ophthalmia, for instance, and to the impoverishment of the land under the excessive taxation of the Roman government (Hausrath, History of New Testament Times, I, 188 (Eng. translation Williams and Norgate), compare Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, II, 178). That begging was looked down upon is incidentally evidenced by the remark of the unjust steward, "To beg I am ashamed" (Lu 16:3); and that, when associated with indolence, it was strongly condemned by public opinion appears from Sirach (40:28-30).

The words used for "beg," "beggar" of English Versions of the Bible in the New Testament differ radically in idea: in those formed from aiteo (Mr 10:46; Lu 16:3; 18:35; Joh 9:8 the Revised Version (British and American)) the root idea is that of "asking," while ptochos (Lu 16:20,22) suggests the cringing or crouching of a beggar. But see Mt 5:3 where the word for "humble" is ptochos.

6. A Change in Modern Times:

A marked change has come over Jewish life in modern times, in this as well as in other respect. Since the 17th century the Jewish poor in many parts of the world have made it a practice, especially on Fridays and on the eves of certain festivals, to go systematically from house to house asking alms. In parts of Europe today it is a full-grown abuse: crowds of Jewish beggars push their way and ply their trade about the synagogue doors (Abrahams, EB, article "Alms," 310). So the Jewish beggar, in spite of the spirit of the law and ancient Jewish custom, has, under modern conditions too well known to require explanation here, become a troublesome figure and problem in modern Jewish society. For such beggars and begging, see Jew Encyclopedia, articles "Schnorrers," "Alms," etc., and for another kind of begging among modern Jews, and collections for poverty-stricken Jewish settlers in Palestine, see the articles "Chalukah," "Charity," etc.

LITERATURE.

Saalschiutz, Arch. der Hebraer, II, chapter xviii (Konigsberg, 1855-56); Riehm Handworterbuch zu den Buchern des A T, under the word "Almosen "; compare Jew Encyclopedia, HDB, and Encyclopedia B, arts, "Alms"; and Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, chapters xvii, xviii (Philadelphia, 1896); Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs; Day, The Social Life of the Hebrews.

George B. Eager

pled: In modern non-legal English is a synonym of "pray" or "beseech," but in legal phraseology "plea," "plead," and "pleading" have a great variety of technical meanings, with "present a case before the court" as the idea common to all. All the uses of "plead" in English Versions of the Bible are connected with this legal sense, so that outside of the set phrase "plead a cause" (1Sa 24:15, etc.) there is hardly a use of the word in the King James Version, the English Revised Version, or the American Standard Revised Version that is clear modern English The most obscure instances are due to The King James Version's employment of "plead" to translate the niphal of shaphaT. ShaphaT means "judge," so its niphal means "bring oneself into a case to be judged," "enter into controversy with," and so "plead" in the legal sense. Hence, "None pleadeth in truth" (Isa 59:4) means "none of their lawsuits are honest." Accordingly, when God is said to "plead with" man (Isa 66:16 the King James Version, the English Revised Version, etc.), the meaning is that God states His side of the case and not at all that He supplicates man to repent. And this statement by God is a judicial act that of course admits of no reply. Hence, the Revised Version (British and American) has changed "plead with" into "enter into judgment with" in Jer 2:35, and the American Standard Revised Version has carried this change into all the other passages (Jer 25:31; Eze 17:20; 20:35,36; 38:22), with "execute judgment" in Isa 66:16; Joe 3:2. The same verb form occurs also in Isa 43:26: "Let us plead together," where "Let us present our arguments on both sides" would be a fair paraphrase. Otherwise "plead" usually represents ribh, for which the Revised Version (British and American) gives "strive" in place of "plead" in Ps 35:1, and "contend" in Job 13:19; 23:6 (the American Standard Revised Version also in Jud 6:31,32; Isa 3:13; Jer 2:9; 12:1; Ho 2:2, retaining "plead" only in Isa 1:17 and in the phrase "plead a cause"). yakhach, is rendered "plead" in Job 19:5 ("plead against me my reproach," where the meaning is "convict me of"), in Mic 6:2 the King James Version and the English Revised Version (the American Standard Revised Version "contend"), and Job 16:21 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "maintain the right"). "Plead" is used also for din, in Jer 30:13 and Pr 31:9 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "minister justice to"), and Jer 5:28 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "judge"; compare Jer 22:16, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) "judge"). the Revised Version (British and American) would have done vastly better if the use of "plead" had been avoided altogether.

Pleadings (i.e. "arguments") occurs in Job 13:6 (for ribh), and "plea" (din, in a specific legal sense) in De 17:8. the King James Version uses "implead" in Ac 19:38 for egkaleo, the Revised Version (British and American) "accuse," literally, "call into court"; compare also "pleaded the cause" in 2 Macc 4:44 (literally, "argued the case") and 4:47, the Revised Version (British and American) "pleaded" (literally, "spoken," the King James Version "told their cause").

Burton Scott Easton

Definition

Used in this sense, the term “beg” means to ask someone for money or for some material necessity such as food.

• A “beggar” is someone who regularly sits or stands in a public place to ask people for money.
• Beggars ask for money or food to be given them freely as a gift and do not offer to do work or some other service in exchange for the money or food. Your language may have a word for such a person or activity.
• Depending on the context, this term could be translated as “publicly ask for money” or “regularly ask for money.”

(See also: plead, alms)

Bible References

Examples from the Bible stories

• __44:1 One day, Peter and John were going to the Temple. As they approached the Temple gate, they saw a crippled man who was begging__ for money.

Word Data

• Strong’s:

Definition

The term “beg” means to urgently ask someone for something.

• Often people beg or plead when they strongly need something, but do not know if the other person will give them what they ask for.
• Depending on the context, this term could be translated as “plead” or “urgently ask.”

(See also: plead)

Bible References

Examples from the Bible stories

• __10:4 God sent frogs all over Egypt. Pharaoh begged__ Moses to take away the frogs.
• __29:8 “The king called the servant and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave your debt because you begged__ me.’”
• __32:7 The demons begged Jesus, “Please do not send us out of this region!” There was a herd of pigs feeding on a nearby hill. So, the demons begged__ Jesus, “Please send us into the pigs instead!”
• __32:10 The man who used to have the demons begged__ to go along with Jesus.
• __35:11 His father came out and begged__ him to come and celebrate with them, but he refused.

Word Data

• Strong’s: H7592, G12100, G18710, G20650, G38700, G43190, G43195

Definition

The terms “plead” and “pleading” refer to urgently asking someone to do something. A “plea” is an urgent request.

• Pleading often implies that the person feels in very great need or strongly desires help.
• People can plead or make an urgent appeal to God for mercy or to ask him to grant something, either for themselves or someone else.
• Other ways to translate this could include “beg” or “implore” or “urgently ask.”
• The term “plea” could also be translated as “urgent request” or “strong urging.”
• Make sure it is clear in the context that this term does not refer to begging for money.

Bible References

• 2 Corinthians 8:3-5
• Judges 6:31
• Luke 4:39
• Proverbs 18:17

Word Data

• Strong’s: H1777, H2603, H3198, H4941, H4994, H6279, H6293, H6664, H6419, H7378, H7379, H7775, H8199, H8467, H8469, G11890, G17930, G20650, G38700