Examining literacy is one of the most important methods for analyzing socio-economic stratification of the postexilic community in Palestine. According to Albertz, among others, considerable portions of Prophetic and Psalmic texts (for example: Mal 2,17; 3,5; 3,13–21; Isa 29,17–24; 56,9–57,21; Ps 9/10; 12; 14; 35; 40; 69; 70; 75; 82; 109; 140) were written by an impoverished group to consolidate their identity and to retaliate against the power elite in Jerusalem at that time. Many current OT scholars advance the notion of a »theology of the poor« in exilic and postexilic Israel. Employing Gerhard Lenski's sociological theory of »advanced agrarian society,« this article questions the validity of the thesis and argues that the »theology of the poor« was mainly generated by a middle class of postexilic Israelites like Levites and Hasideans, not by the penniless underclass, such as farmers, peasants, shepherds, craftsmen and artisans. It also pays special attention to the theological and ethical implications of »theology of the poor« for our post-modern and post-colonial era.