The author explains different uses of the term "poor" to describe people of varying statuses in the New Testament and some of the underlying causes of poverty in Jesus' day. "The word 'poor' has many meanings in the biblical world. They are 'poor' who have scant economic resources, that is, little land or money, a definition that applies to 75% of the ancients," Neyrey writes. "Others are 'poor' who, while having the same scant resources, suffer some misfortune and consequently fall below the social level into which they were born."