Reference: Loan
Easton
The Mosaic law required that when an Israelite needed to borrow, what he asked was to be freely lent to him, and no interest was to be charged, although interest might be taken of a foreigner (Ex 22:25; De 23:19-20; Le 25:35-38). At the end of seven years all debts were remitted. Of a foreigner the loan might, however, be exacted. At a later period of the Hebrew commonwealth, when commerce increased, the practice of exacting usury or interest on loans, and of suretiship in the commercial sense, grew up. Yet the exaction of it from a Hebrew was regarded as discreditable (Ps 15:5; Pr 6:1,4; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 27:13; Jer 15:10).
Limitations are prescribed by the law to the taking of a pledge from the borrower. The outer garment in which a man slept at night, if taken in pledge, was to be returned before sunset (Ex 22:26-27; De 24:12-13). A widow's garment (De 24:17) and a millstone (6) could not be taken. A creditor could not enter the house to reclaim a pledge, but must remain outside till the borrower brought it (De 24:10-11). The Hebrew debtor could not be retained in bondage longer than the seventh year, or at farthest the year of jubilee (Ex 21:2; Le 25:39,42), but foreign sojourners were to be "bondmen for ever" (Le 25:44-54).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything.
"If you loan money to my people, to the poor among you, don't be like a creditor to them and don't impose interest on them. If you take your neighbor's coat as collateral, you are to return it to him by sunset, read more. for it's his only covering; it's his outer garment, for what else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I'll hear him, for I am gracious.
"If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler. You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you. read more. You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. "If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.
Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
"As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property. read more. You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness. "If a resident alien or traveler becomes rich, but your relative who lives next to him is so poor that he sells himself to that resident alien or traveler among you or to a member of the resident alien's family, he has the right to be redeemed after he sells himself. One of his brothers may redeem him. His uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him or any blood relative from his tribe may redeem him. If he becomes rich, then he may redeem himself. "He is to bring an accounting to the one who bought him, starting from the year he had sold himself until the year of jubilee. The price of his sale is to correspond to the number of years comparable to the time a hired servant stays with him. If there are still many years left, he is to refund the cost of his redemption. But if only a few years are left until the year of jubilee, he is to bring an accounting of the years that he is to refund for his redemption. Like a hired servant, he is to remain with him year after year, but he is not to rule over him with what you see as severity. If he isn't redeemed by these, then he is to be set free in the year of jubilee he and his children with him
"Don't charge interest to your relatives, whether for money, food, or for anything that has been loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but don't charge interest to your relatives, so the LORD your God may bless you in everything you undertake in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
"When you loan something to your neighbor, don't enter his house to seize what he offered as collateral. Stay outside and let the man to whom you made the loan bring it out to you. read more. If he is a poor man, don't go to sleep with his collateral in your possession. Be sure to return his garment to him at sunset so that he may sleep with it, and he will bless you. It will be a righteous deed in the presence of the LORD your God.
"Don't deny justice to a foreigner or to an orphan, nor take a widow's garment as collateral for a loan.
who does not loan his money with interest, and who does not take a bribe against those who are innocent. The one who does these things will stand firm forever. A special Davidic Psalm.
My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor, if you have agreed to a deal with a stranger,
Securing a loan for a stranger will bring suffering, but by refusing to do so, one remains safe.
A man who lacks sense cosigns a loan, becoming a guarantor for his neighbor.
Take the garment of anyone who puts up collateral for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for an unfamiliar woman.
Take the coat of anyone who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he cosigns for an immoral woman.
How terrible for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and contention for the whole land! I've neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
Fausets
(See USURY.) The merciful character of Moses' law appears in the command not to keep the poor man's outer garment, his covering by night as well as day, after sunset (Ex 22:26-27; De 24:6,10-13,17; compare, however, Pr 22:27). The millstone, including all instruments necessary to life, and a widow's garment, were forbidden to be taken. The creditor must not enter the debtor's house to seize the pledge, but wait for the debtor to bring out an adequate security for payment.
The debtor could be held as a bondman only until the seventh year, i.e. for six years, and not beyond the Jubilee year, whatever his period of service might be (Ex 21:2). Then he must be sent away with a liberal supply of provisions, the prospect of such a gift doubtless stimulating zeal in service (De 15:12-18; Le 25:39-55); his land was to be restored. But foreign slaves might be held in continual servitude (2Ki 4:1; Isa 50:1; 52:3). The Roman or else the oriental law detaining the debtor in prison until he paid the uttermost farthing, and even giving him over to torturers, is alluded to in Mt 5:26; 18:34.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything.
If you take your neighbor's coat as collateral, you are to return it to him by sunset, for it's his only covering; it's his outer garment, for what else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I'll hear him, for I am gracious.
"If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave. Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee. read more. Then he and his children with him may leave to return to his family and his ancestor's inheritance. Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God." "As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property. You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness. "If a resident alien or traveler becomes rich, but your relative who lives next to him is so poor that he sells himself to that resident alien or traveler among you or to a member of the resident alien's family, he has the right to be redeemed after he sells himself. One of his brothers may redeem him. His uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him or any blood relative from his tribe may redeem him. If he becomes rich, then he may redeem himself. "He is to bring an accounting to the one who bought him, starting from the year he had sold himself until the year of jubilee. The price of his sale is to correspond to the number of years comparable to the time a hired servant stays with him. If there are still many years left, he is to refund the cost of his redemption. But if only a few years are left until the year of jubilee, he is to bring an accounting of the years that he is to refund for his redemption. Like a hired servant, he is to remain with him year after year, but he is not to rule over him with what you see as severity. If he isn't redeemed by these, then he is to be set free in the year of jubilee he and his children with him because the Israelis are my servants. They're my servants, since I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
"When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free. But when you set them free, don't send them away empty-handed. read more. Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them. Don't ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I'm giving you these commands today. "Should that slave say to you, "I won't leave you,' because he loves you and your household, and it was good for him to be with you, then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves. Don't view this as a hardship for yourself when you set him free, for he will have served you for six years twice the time of a paid worker. Then the LORD will bless you in all that you do."
"Don't take a pair of millstones, especially the upper millstone, as collateral for a loan, because this means taking a man's livelihood.
"When you loan something to your neighbor, don't enter his house to seize what he offered as collateral. Stay outside and let the man to whom you made the loan bring it out to you. read more. If he is a poor man, don't go to sleep with his collateral in your possession. Be sure to return his garment to him at sunset so that he may sleep with it, and he will bless you. It will be a righteous deed in the presence of the LORD your God.
"Don't deny justice to a foreigner or to an orphan, nor take a widow's garment as collateral for a loan.
Now there happened to be a certain woman who had been the wife of a member of the Guild of Prophets. She cried out to Elisha, "My husband who served you has died, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. But a creditor has come to take away my children into indentured servitude!"
If you don't have the ability to pay, why should your very bed be taken from under you?
This is what the LORD says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look! It's because of your sins that you were sold, and because of your transgressions that your mother was sent away.
For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and you'll be redeemed without money."
I tell you with certainty, you will not get out of there until you pay back the last dollar!"
In anger his master handed him over to the jailers until he could repay the entire debt.
Hastings
Smith
Loan.
The law strictly forbade any interest to be taken for a loan to any poor person, and at first, as it seems, even in the case of a foreigner; but this prohibition was afterward limited to Hebrews only, from whom, of whatever rank, not only was no usury on any pretence to be exacted, but relief to the poor by way of loan was enjoined, and excuses for evading this duty were forbidden.
As commerce increased, the practice of usury, and so also of suretyship, grew up; but the exaction of it from a Hebrew appears to have been regarded to a late period as discreditable.
Ps 15:5; Pr 6:1,4; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; Jer 15:10; Eze 18:13
Systematic breach of the law in this respect was corrected by Nehemiah after the return from captivity.
The money-changers, who had seats and tables in the temple, where traders whose profits arose chiefly from the exchange of money with those who came to pay their annual half-shekel. The Jewish law did not forbid temporary bondage in the case of debtors, but it forbade a Hebrew debtor to be detained as a bondman longer than the seventh year, or at farthest the year of jubilee.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything.
"If you loan money to my people, to the poor among you, don't be like a creditor to them and don't impose interest on them.
"If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler.
You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit.
"If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave.
Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: "The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near,' and you show ill will toward your poor relative and not give to him. He may then call to the LORD on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Now the people along with their spouses complained loudly against their fellow Jews,
So I called the priests and made them take an oath to fulfill this promise. I also shook my robes, and said, "May God shake out every man from his house and his possessions who does not keep this promise. May he be emptied out and shaken just like this." All the assembly said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD. And the people kept their promise.
who does not loan his money with interest, and who does not take a bribe against those who are innocent. The one who does these things will stand firm forever. A special Davidic Psalm.
My son, if you guarantee a loan for your neighbor, if you have agreed to a deal with a stranger,
Securing a loan for a stranger will bring suffering, but by refusing to do so, one remains safe.
A man who lacks sense cosigns a loan, becoming a guarantor for his neighbor.
Take the garment of anyone who puts up collateral for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for an unfamiliar woman.
How terrible for me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and contention for the whole land! I've neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.