There are four types of charity givers. He who wishes to give, but that others should not give: his eye is evil to that which belongs to others; He who wishes that others should give, but that he himself should not give: his eye is evil towards that which is his own; He who desires that he himself should give, and that others should give: he is a pious man; He who desires that he himself should not give and that others too should not give: he is a wicked man. This mishnah is straightforward and not difficult to understand. However, a few notes can be made. First of all, the “evil eye” is one that begrudges and does not want to give charity to the poor. The mishnah is not only concerned with whether or not a person gives charity but whether or not he encourages others to give charity. The truly pious person gives of himself and encourages others to do the same. The type of person who wants to give but does not want others to give is probably a familiar figure. He wants to give not because giving is the correct thing to do, but because of the honor he will accrue from being known as generous. Others giving more than him eclipses his honor and hence he begrudges their generosity. He is not looking out for the ultimate welfare of the poor who really need the charity. One who does not want to give and also does not want others to give, is probably the most wicked type of person we have yet encountered in this series of mishnayoth. Despite the fact that he does not benefit from others’ generosity, his cruelty towards the poor and his desire to see them suffer, makes him begrudge even others’ generosity. It is also possible that he does not want others to give so that they should not be seen as more generous than him. His greediness and pursuit of honor at the cost of the welfare of the needy make him an evil and perhaps even dangerous figure.