What Does “Alms” Mean in the Bible?
What is given to the poor for love of God. Jesus asks us to give it without showing off.
Where it appears in the Bible
Matthew 6:2-4; Tobit 12:8-9
What the Bible says
Matthew 6:2-4
2Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. 3But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. 4That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
Tobit 12:8-9
8Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold: 9For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catechism 2447; Matthew 6:2-4