Usury
Summary
In biblical usage, any interest charged on a loan, which the Mosaic law forbade Israelites to exact from fellow Israelites but permitted with foreigners.
☩The Old Testament Prohibition
The Hebrew law concerning interest was humane: Israelites were to lend to their brethren without interest. Two Hebrew terms are used: nashah and the more picturesque nashakh, meaning 'to bite' or 'to vex.' This prohibition grew out of Israel's agricultural status, where ordinary business loans were not needed and loans should be made as to friends and brothers in need. Help was to be given without making a gain of another's poverty.
☩Exception for Foreigners
While forbidden among Israelites, interest could be charged to foreigners. Israel was originally not a mercantile people, and the law aimed at an equal diffusion of wealth rather than enriching some while impoverishing others. Nehemiah sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers for taking interest from poorer brethren after the return from exile, where rates had reached one percent per month (12 percent annually).
☩New Testament Perspective
In the New Testament, the Greek word tokos (literally 'offspring,' interest springing from the principal) appears in Jesus' parables of the Talents and Pounds. Christ represents the lord rebuking the slothful servant for not putting money to interest. The spirit of the law remains obligatory—that we should help those in need without exploiting their distress—but commerce requires the accommodation of loans at moderate interest, which can benefit the poor.
Related Verses19 mentions
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Usury," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. V (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.George Morrish, "Usury," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Usury," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).