כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ וְהַעֲבֵט֙ תַּעֲבִיטֶ֔נּוּ דֵּ֚י מַחְסֹר֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֶחְסַ֖ר לֽוֹ׃
but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.
On the Posterity of Cain and his Exile
[142] This is why Moses says elsewhere: “Thou shalt lend to him that needs (in quantity) as much as he needs (in kind) suitably to his need” (Deut. 15:8), teaching by the latter clause that we must not grant everything to everybody, but what corresponds (in kind) to the need (or business) of those who wants something. For it is absurd to give an anchor or an oar or a rudder to a farmer, or a plough and a hoe to a pilot, or a lyre to a physician, while giving surgical instruments to a musician. This is as ridiculous as it is to bring costly viands to those who are athirst, and gallons of undiluted wine to those who are hungry, with a view to making known at the same time our wealth and our hatred of our fellow-men, by making sport of others’ mishaps.