Lending

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningExodus 22:25–27Leviticus 25:35–37Deuteronomy 15:1–11Deuteronomy 23:19Deuteronomy 23:20Deuteronomy 24:6Deuteronomy 24:10–13Deuteronomy 24:17Nehemiah 5:1–13Psalms 37:25Psalms 37:26Psalms 112:5Proverbs 19:17Proverbs 22:7Proverbs 28:8Isaiah 24:1Isaiah 24:2Ezekiel 18:13Matthew 5:42Luke 6:34
• See Borrowing
• See Interest
• See Money

The passages, in Bible order (21)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 22:25–27

   If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 22:25–272 voices

   “There is a great deal about sharing and exchanging, but it is enough to say that the law forbids lending at interest to a brother. By brother it means not merely one born of the same parents but a member of the same tribe or one of the same faith, who shares in the same Logos. The law does not deem it right to collect interest on the capital. It seeks to enable free giving to those in need, with hands and minds wide open. God is the creator of this free gift.

   “And such provision the law made for the preserving estates to their families by the year of Jubilee, that a people who had little concern in trade could not be supposed to borrow money but for necessity; therefore it was generally forbidden among themselves; but to a stranger they were allowed to lend upon usury.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 22:25–27→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Leviticus 25:35–37

   Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 25:35–371 voice

   “Rather, And if thy brother (an Israelite) becomes poor and falls into decay with thee, thou shalt assist him and let him live with thee like a resident foreigner. He was not to be regarded as an outcast, but was to be treated with the same respect and consideration as a resident foreigner who, like him, could possess no land, but could accumulate property and live in comfort as a free man. See Lev 16:29 note.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 25:35–37→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Deuteronomy 15:1–11

   At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:1–112 voices

   “On that day something really extraordinary happened — all debts are wiped out! All credits are wiped out. The financial realm is wiped clean every seven years.

   “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. Not of servants, for they were not to be dismissed from their service until they had served six years, as is directed to in a following law; for if they were to be set free whenever a sabbatical year came, they might be discharged when they had not served more than a year, or than half a year, or than a month or two.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 15:1–11→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Deuteronomy 23:19

   Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:192 voices

   “[Scripture] orders money to be returned without usury. It is a mark of kindly feeling to help one who has nothing. It is a sign of a hard nature to extort more than one has given. If one has need of your assistance because he has not enough of his own wherewith to repay a debt, is it not a wicked thing to demand under the guise of kindly feeling a larger sum from him who has not the means to pay off a lesser amount?

   “By this it appears that usury is not in itself oppressive; for they must not oppress a stranger, and yet might exact usury from him. The performance of the vows wherewith we have bound our souls is here required; and it is a branch of the law of nature,

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 23:19→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Deuteronomy 23:20

   You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:201 voice

   “By this it appears that usury is not in itself oppressive; for they must not oppress a stranger, and yet might exact usury from him. The performance of the vows wherewith we have bound our souls is here required; and it is a branch of the law of nature,

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 23:20→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Deuteronomy 24:6

   Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 24:62 voices

   “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge--The "upper" stone being concave, covers the "nether" like a lid; and it has a small aperture, through which the corn is poured, as well as a handle by which it is turned. The propriety of the law was founded on the custom of grinding corn every morning for daily consumption.

   “The nether or the upper mill-stone - Small hand-mills which can be worked by a single person were formerly in use among the Jews, and are still used in many parts of the East. As therefore the day’s meal was generally ground for each day, they keeping no stock beforehand, hence they were forbidden to take either of the stones to pledge, because in such a case the family must be without bread. On this account the text terms the millstone the man’s life.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 24:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Deuteronomy 24:10–13

   When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 24:10–131 voice

   “The borrower (says Solomon) is servant to the lender; therefore lest the lender should abuse the advantage he has against him, and improve it for his own interest, it is provided that he shall take not what he pleases, but what the borrower can best spare. A man's house is his castle, even the poor man's house is so, and is here taken under the protection of the law.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 24:10–13→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Deuteronomy 24:17

   Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Nehemiah 5:1–13

   About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 5:1–131 voice

   “The condition of the poorer inhabitants was indeed deplorable; for, besides the deficient harvests caused by the great rains (Ezr 10:9; also Hag 1:6-11), a dearth was now threatened by the enemy keeping such a multitude pent up in the city, and preventing the country people bringing in provisions.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 5:1–13→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Psalms 37:25

    I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:252 voices

    “This was David's observation, I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. It is not my observation just as it stands, for I have relieved the children of undoubtedly good men, who have appealed to me as common mendicants. But this does not cast a doubt upon the observation of David. He lived under a dispensation more outward, and more of this world than the present rule of personal faith. Never are the righteous forsaken; that is a rule without exception.

    “If you take it at face value, the meaning is obvious: in his own lifetime, David never saw the just forsaken. But a lifespan is brief, and the statement is moreover incredible. We have seen plenty of just people in this world who have been forsaken by people as soon as those just ones are persecuted by people in power. No one dares to go near them so long as they are subject to fear and injury.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:25→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Psalms 37:26

    They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 37:262 voices

    “(Verse 26.) But how can he be in need who has mercy and lends all day? What is it that the righteous person lends? Not bronze, not iron, not lead, but silver purified by fire. He brings this to the table of the Lord, and distributes it to those who seek it: to one person, to two, to five minas daily he distributes, and it never runs out. But we have heard that lending at interest is condemned in the Law, with Moses saying: You shall not lend at interest (Deuteronomy 23:19).

    “He is ever merciful, and lendeth. The righteous are constantly under generous impulses; they do not prosper through parsimony, but through bounty. Like the bounteous giver of all good, of whom they are the beloved sons, they delight in doing good. How stingy covetous professors can hope for salvation is a marvel to those who read such verses as this in the Bible. And his seed is blessed. God pays back with interest in the next generation.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 37:26→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Psalms 112:5

    It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 112:52 voices

    “A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth. Having passed beyond stern integrity into open handed benevolence he looks kindly upon all around him, and finding himself in circumstances which enable him to spare a little of his wealth he lends judiciously where a loan will be of permanent service. Providence has made him able to lend, and grace makes him willing to lend. He is not a borrower, for God has lifted him above that necessity; neither is he a hoarder, for his new nature saves him from that temptation; but he wisely uses the talents committed to him.

    “Generosity, sound judgment in business, and confidence in God, form a character which preserves from fear of evil and ensures success against enemies. While a man thus truly pious is liberal, he increases in substance.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 112:5→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Proverbs 19:17

    Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 19:172 voices

    “If you help a poor person in the Name of the Lord, you are making a gift and at the same time granting a loan. You are making a gift because you have no expectation of being reimbursed by that poor person. You are granting a loan because the Lord will settle the account. It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but He will pay a great deal on their behalf.

    “Note the original greatness of the thought. We give to the poor. Have we lost our gift? No, what we gave, we have lent to One who will repay with usury. Compare the yet nobler truth of our Lord’s teaching Mat 25:40.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 19:17→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Proverbs 22:7

    The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Proverbs 28:8

    He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 28:81 voice

    “He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance,.... By biting and oppressing the poor; letting him have money at an exorbitant interest, and goods at an exorbitant price, and so increases his substance in this scandalous manner; hence usury is in Lev 25:36, called "increase", and by the Greeks τοκος, a "birth", because money is the birth of money, as Aristotle (e) observes; and so by the Latins "foenus", as if it was "foetus" (f), "a birth".

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 28:8→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Isaiah 24:1

    Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

    ›Commentary on Isaiah 24:12 voices

    “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty,.... Some, by the "earth", only understand the land of Israel or Judea, and interpret the prophecy of the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, as Kimchi, and other Jewish writers; and others, of the destruction of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; but some take in along with them the neighbouring nations who suffered by the same princes at the same time.

    “Maketh the earth empty - That is, will depopulate it, or take away its inhabitants, and its wealth. The word ‘earth’ here (ארץ 'ārets) is used evidently not to denote the whole world, but the land to which the prophet particularly refers - the land of Judea. It should have been translated the land (see Joe 1:2). It is possible, however, that the word here may be intended to include so much of the nations that surrounded Palestine as were allied with it, or as were connected with it in the desolations under Nebuchadnezzar.

    Everything gathered on Isaiah 24:1→

    Verse page →Original language →