If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee thou shalt not be to him as an usurer neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.Exodus 22:25 Explainer ## Introduction - In Plain Language: If you lend money to a poor person among your people, don’t act like a moneylender — don’t charge them interest. - Big idea: In the covenant community, loans to the needy are meant for help, not profit. - Key points: - The law protects the vulnerable by forbidding exploitative lending within the community. - Lending is treated as a moral and communal responsibility, not a business opportunity when it concerns the poor. - This rule is part of a broader Biblical ethic that values compassion, remembering Israel’s own history of oppression, and community solidarity. ## Context - Where this verse fits in: Exodus 22:25 is part of the Covenant Code (Exodus 21–23), a set of laws given to shape everyday life for Israel. These laws cover justice, property, family, and social responsibility. - Story timeline: Given during the time of Moses as Israel organized itself after leaving Egypt. The immediate audience was the Israelite community about to live as a distinct people under God’s rule. The speaker is God, issuing laws through Moses. - Surrounding passage: - Verses immediately before: The chapter warns against oppressing migrants, widows, and orphans and emphasizes God’s concern for the helpless (e.g., promises to hear their cry). - Verses immediately after: The next law says if someone takes a poor person’s cloak as collateral, it must be returned by evening because it’s their only covering (Exodus 22:26–27). Together these verses form a short block focused on protecting needy people from hardship and exploitation. ## Explanation - Quick take: This law commands the community to lend to the poor without charging interest — the loan should help, not harm. It places the well-being of needy neighbors above profit-making when dealing within the covenant community. - In Depth: - Ancient loans were often informal and personal; charging interest could turn a temporary need into long-term bondage. By forbidding interest on loans to the poor, the law aims to prevent the wealthy from taking economic advantage of the vulnerable. - This command connects to a historic memory — Israel’s own slavery in Egypt — and to covenant identity: God’s people are to treat each other with compassion and justice because they themselves were once oppressed. - The verse doesn’t speak to every modern financial situation in a direct technical way (banking, investment, inflation). Instead, it sets a moral principle: when neighbors are in need, the community’s response should be supportive rather than exploitative. Later biblical texts develop and qualify how interest is treated in different situations (see Deuteronomy 23:19–20, Leviticus 25:35–37). - Over time Jewish and Christian interpreters wrestled with how to apply this in commerce. Rabbinic solutions and later church/medieval debates show a long history of balancing economic reality with the moral concern to protect the poor. ## Key Words - aniy (עָנִי) — “poor, needy”; denotes people lacking basic means in the community. - nashakh (נָשַׁךְ) — verb often used for charging interest; literally “to bite,” used figuratively for interest that “bites” the poor. - natan (נָתַן) / sha'al (שָׁאַל) — common Hebrew words used for “give” or “lend/borrow”; they show how loans are often described as giving or providing in the Old Testament. - ribit (רְבִית) — a later/biblical-term for “interest” or “excess gain”; helps explain the general category of interest/usury in the Hebrew Bible. ## Background - In the ancient Near East, lending and interest were common; interest could be a normal part of commerce or a mechanism of oppression depending on context. By contrast, Israel’s law places limits on interest within the community to safeguard neighbors. - The Covenant Code emphasizes social cohesion: laws are less about abstract economics and more about how a people live together under God. Protecting those with no means prevents households from collapsing into slavery or loss of survival essentials (food, clothing, land). - The Jubilee and Sabbath-year laws (e.g., Leviticus 25) and later laws about debt cancellation show that Israelite economics included structural protections for the poor. ## Theology - Theological insights in plain language: - God’s law values community compassion: financial arrangements should uphold human dignity. - Remembering God’s rescue of Israel (from slavery) shapes how Israel treats the weak — mercy is rooted in memory of mercy received. - Economic justice is a spiritual issue: how we handle money reveals our relationship with God and neighbor. ## Application To Your Life - For workers/employers: Treat salary advances, small loans, and hardship aid as acts of care, not opportunities for profit. Create workplace policies that protect employees from predatory debt. - For parents: Teach children the difference between fair lending and exploitation. Model generosity and explain why helping those in need is a family value. - For church leaders: Consider church-based benevolence programs, no-interest loans, or emergency funds to help members without creating dependency. - For borrowers/consumers: Seek fair, transparent lending; know your rights; advocate against payday or predatory lending that targets the vulnerable. - Reflection questions: - When I lend help (time, money, resources), am I doing it to truly help or to benefit myself? - Who in my community is vulnerable to economic exploitation, and what can I or my community do to help? - Short prayer: Lord, give us compassion and wisdom to help those in need without exploiting them; teach us to lend with mercy and to build a community that protects the vulnerable. ## Translation Comparison - KJV: “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” - NIV: “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.” - ESV: “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, nor shall you charge him interest.” - NRSV: “If you lend money to any of my people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a lender to them; you shall not charge them interest.” - Why differences matter: Older translations (like KJV) use the word “usurer,” which historically meant charging interest, often with the connotation of excessive interest. Modern translations prefer “interest” or “moneylender,” which are clearer for contemporary readers. Translators also choose between “among you,” “with you,” or “by thee” to stress that this law applies within the community, not necessarily to foreigners or strangers (see Deuteronomy 23:19–20 for distinctions). ## FAQs - Q: Does this verse mean Christians must never charge interest for loans? - Short answer: The verse sets a strong moral principle: don’t exploit the poor by charging interest on loans meant to meet basic needs. Historically, many communities interpreted this to forbid usury (excessive or exploitative interest). In modern contexts, the situation is more complex: banks, inflation, and business loans operate differently than a neighbor-to-neighbor loan in an agrarian society. Many Christians read Exodus 22:25 as calling for special care toward vulnerable people (interest-free emergency assistance, fair terms, debt relief) rather than a blanket ban on all interest. The underlying ethic — protect the needy, prevent exploitation, and practice generosity — is what carries forward into modern decisions about lending, regulation, and charity. - Q: How should this verse inform modern issues like payday lending or credit card interest? - Short answer: Exodus 22:25 speaks to the heart of those modern issues: when lending targets the poor and traps them in cycles of debt, it violates the spirit of the law. Payday lending, very high-interest installment loans, and other predatory practices disproportionately hurt vulnerable people — the same category this verse seeks to protect. Biblically informed responses might include supporting fair-lending laws, offering community-based alternatives (credit unions, no-interest loan funds), advocating for consumer protections, and encouraging churches to provide emergency aid rather than pushing members toward predatory credit. ## Cross References - Leviticus 25:35–37 — Commands to support poor relatives and not charge interest. - Deuteronomy 23:19–20 — Prohibits charging interest to fellow Israelites but allows lending for profit to foreigners. - Nehemiah 5 — Reform episode where Nehemiah confronts nobles for charging interest and buying fields from fellow Israelites; he orders relief. - Proverbs 22:7 — “The borrower is servant to the lender” — a warning about the power imbalance created by debt. - Deuteronomy 15:7–11 — Calls for open-handed generosity to the poor and promises God’s blessing when people are generous. ## Deeper Study - Commentary synthesis (high-level): Scholars generally read Exodus 22:25 as part of the Covenant Code’s program to create a just, tightly-knit community. The interest ban focuses on protecting the poor from becoming permanently impoverished or enslaved through debt. Later texts (Deuteronomy, Leviticus) repeat and expand the concern; post-biblical Jewish rulings and Christian thought wrestled with how to handle commerce without violating the moral core. Modern interpreters emphasize the verse’s ethical thrust rather than offering a straight rule for modern banking; many call it a prophetic critique of systems that prey on the vulnerable. - 3–4 bullets for group study: - Discuss a modern example of lending that helps versus lending that harms (e.g., church emergency loan vs. payday loan). Which aspects make the difference? - Role-play: one person is a neighbor who needs a small loan for heating; one is a lender. What terms honor Exodus 22:25? - Study Deuteronomy 23:19–20 and Leviticus 25: compare and contrast how interest and lending are treated across texts. - Action step: brainstorm one practical way your group can provide relief or fair lending in your community (partner with a credit union, create an emergency fund, financial counseling). ## Related verses (compare and contrast) - Leviticus 25:35–37 — Similar: both insist the community support the poor and avoid interest. Leviticus emphasizes neighborly help as a moral duty. - Deuteronomy 23:19–20 — Contrast/clarify: prohibits interest on loans to fellow Israelites but permits it with foreigners; this shows the law’s focus on intra-community protection. - Nehemiah 5:1–13 — Practical contrast: a historical example where charging interest and seizing property led to social crisis; Nehemiah forces cancellation of debts and restoration, showing how the community applies the law in crisis. ## Talk to the Bible Try the “Talk to the Bible” feature to explore how this verse intersects with today's financial realities. Suggested prompts: - “Show me all Old Testament passages about lending, interest, and debt and summarize their main points.” - “How would Exodus 22:25 inform a church program to help people trapped by payday loans? Give practical steps.” - “Can you role-play a conversation where a pastor explains Exodus 22:25 to a congregation concerned about credit card debt?”
