The Torah prohibits interest in specified loans to fellow Israelites and restricts seizure of necessities such as a millstone or a poor person's cloak. Debt nevertheless remained a serious source of vulnerability.
Customs & Culture
Loans, Interest and Pledges
Loans to impoverished Israelites were regulated to prevent creditors from exploiting desperation. Biblical law also protected essential pledged property.
Primary Scripture
Historical and Cultural Background
Biblical Examples
Nehemiah confronts wealthy Judeans over debt exploitation, while Torah laws regulate interest and collateral.
Biblical Significance
These laws explain why debt, redemption, release, clothing, and household survival are often linked in biblical ethics.
Common Misconceptions
Biblical interest laws occur in a particular covenant and social setting and should not be converted simplistically into a claim that every form of commercial interest in every context was forbidden.
Historical Setting and Evidence
Culture: Israelite
Period: Exodus and Wilderness, Conquest and Judges, United Monarchy, Divided Monarchy, Kingdom of Judah, Babylonian Exile, Persian Period
Evidence: Well Attested
Interpretive Importance: Essential
The laws are explicit and comparable debt protections occur elsewhere in the ancient Near East.
Scripture References
Related Information
Sources
Exodus 22; Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 23-24; Nehemiah 5