Describes someone pressed down by circumstances — economically poor, socially marginalized, or crushed by suffering. The aniyim are the 'afflicted ones' who feature heavily in the Psalms as those who cry to God and are heard. In a rich OT tradition, poverty and humility become linked: the one who has no earthly resource turns most readily to God.
The Psalms develop a theology of the ani: God hears the cry of the afflicted (Ps 9:12), saves the needy (Ps 72:4), and lifts the poor from the dust (Ps 113:7). This is not a romanticizing of poverty but a recognition of who tends to trust God most completely. Isaiah 61:1 — 'the Spirit of the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the aniyim' — is Jesus's self-identification in Luke 4.