Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament (50th BYU Sperry Symposium)

In general conference, President Russell M. Nelson spoke about poverty and other humanitarian concerns, declaring, “As members of the Church, we feel a kinship to those who suffer in any way. . . . We heed an Old Testament admonition: ‘Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy’ [Deuteronomy 15:11]” (“The Second Great Commandment,” Ensign, Nov. 2019). President Nelson’s linking of Old Testament law with modern social concerns highlights the continued relevance of the Old Testament for confronting modern challenges, including poverty, ethnocentrism, and the world’s growing refugee crisis.