Keluaran 22:14

22:14 “If a man borrows an animal ¹  from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it ²  will surely pay.

Keluaran 22:25

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ³  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ⁴  to him; do not charge ⁵  him interest. ⁶ 

Keluaran 22:31

22:31 “You will be holy ⁷  people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. ⁸  You must throw it to the dogs.

[22:14]  ¹ tn Heb “if a man asks [an animal] from his neighbor” (see also Exod 12:36). The ruling here implies an animal is borrowed, and if harm comes to it when the owner is not with it, the borrower is liable. The word “animal” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:14]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who borrowed the animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:25]  ³ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ⁶ 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).

[22:31]  ⁷ sn The use of this word here has to do with the laws of the sanctuary and not some advanced view of holiness. The ritual holiness at the sanctuary would prohibit eating anything torn to pieces.

[22:31]  ⁸ tn Or “by wild animals.”