Keluaran 22:25

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ¹  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ²  to him; do not charge ³  him interest. ⁴ 

Imamat 25:35-37

Debt and Slave Regulations

25:35 “‘If your brother ⁵  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ⁶  you must support ⁷  him; he must live ⁸  with you like a foreign resident. ⁹  25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ¹⁰  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ¹¹  with you. 25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. ¹² 

Nehemia 5:1-7

Nehemiah Intervenes on behalf of the Oppressed

5:1 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ¹³  5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ¹⁴  grain in order to eat and stay alive.” 5:3 There were others who said, “We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine.” 5:4 Then there were those who said, “We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king ¹⁵  on our fields and our vineyards. 5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ¹⁶  and our children are just like their children, ¹⁷  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ¹⁸  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ¹⁹  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ²⁰ 

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ²¹  5:7 I considered these things carefully ²²  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²³  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ²⁴  from your own countrymen!” ²⁵  Because of them I called for ²⁶  a great public assembly.

Mazmur 15:5

15:5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money. ²⁷ 

He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. ²⁸ 

The one who lives like this ²⁹  will never be upended.

Yehezkiel 18:7-8

18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ³⁰  does not commit robbery, ³¹  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, ³²  but refrains ³³  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ³⁴  between men,

Yehezkiel 18:13

18:13 engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. ³⁵  He will bear the responsibility for his own death. ³⁶ 

Yehezkiel 18:16-18

18:16 does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked, 18:17 refrains from wrongdoing, ³⁷  does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity; ³⁸  he will surely live. 18:18 As for his father, because he practices extortion, robs his brother, and does what is not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.

Yehezkiel 22:12

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ³⁹  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ⁴⁰  declares the sovereign Lord. ⁴¹ 

Lukas 6:34-35

6:34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to be repaid, ⁴²  what credit is that to you? Even sinners ⁴³  lend to sinners, so that they may be repaid in full. ⁴⁴  6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. ⁴⁵  Then ⁴⁶  your reward will be great, and you will be sons ⁴⁷  of the Most High, ⁴⁸  because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ⁴⁹ 

[22:25]  ¹ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ² sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ³ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ⁴ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[25:35]  ⁵ tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).

[25:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

[25:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

[25:35]  ⁸ tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).

[25:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

[25:36]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).

[25:36]  ¹¹ tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).

[25:37]  ¹² tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.

[5:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “their brothers the Jews.”

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

[5:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

[5:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ²⁰ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[5:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ²² tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I gave.”

[15:5]  ²⁷ sn He does not charge interest. Such an individual is truly generous, and not simply concerned with making a profit.

[15:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a bribe against the innocent he does not take.” For other texts condemning the practice of a judge or witness taking a bribe, see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; 1 Sam 8:3; Ezek 22:12; Prov 17:23.

[15:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “does these things.”

[18:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

[18:7]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

[18:8]  ³² sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.

[18:8]  ³³ tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”

[18:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “justice of truth.”

[18:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “be put to death.” The translation follows an alternative reading that appears in several ancient textual witnesses.

[18:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “his blood will be upon him.”

[18:17]  ³⁷ tc This translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “restrains his hand from the poor,” which makes no sense here.

[18:17]  ³⁸ tn Or “in his father’s punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 18, 19, 20; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[22:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ⁴⁰ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ⁴¹ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[6:34]  ⁴² tn Grk “to receive”; but in context the repayment of the amount lent is implied. Jesus was noting that utilitarian motives are the way of the world.

[6:34]  ⁴³ sn See the note on the word sinners in v. 32.

[6:34]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “to receive as much again.”

[6:35]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “in return.”

[6:35]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[6:35]  ⁴⁷ sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.

[6:35]  ⁴⁸ sn That is, “sons of God.”

[6:35]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.