Reference: Debtor
American
One under obligations, whether pecuniary or moral, Mt 23:16; Ro 1:14; Ga 5:3. If the house, cattle, or goods of a Hebrew would not meet his debts, his land might be appropriate for this purpose until the year of Jubilee, or his person might be reduced into servitude till he had paid his debt by his labor, or till the year of Jubilee, which terminated Hebrew bondage in all cases, Le 25:29-41; 2Ki 4:1; Ne 5:3-5.
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And if a man sells a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not go out in the jubilee. read more. But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. And if a man purchases from the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee. For the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession. And if thy brother becomes poor, and his hand fails with thee, then thou shall uphold him; he shall live with thee [as] a stranger and a sojourner. Take thou no interest from him or increase, but fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shall not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy food for profit. I am LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] to be your God. And if thy brother becomes poor with thee, and sells himself to thee, thou shall not make him to serve as a bondman. He shall be with thee as a hired servant, and as a sojourner. He shall serve with thee to the year of jubilee. Then he shall go out from thee, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his own family. And he shall return to the possession of his fathers.
There were some also who said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain because of the dearth. There were also who said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards. read more. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our sons as their sons. And, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage [already]. Neither is it in our
Woe to you, ye blind guides, who say, Whoever may swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever may swear by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.
I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
And I solemnly declare again to every man who is circumcised, that he is obligated to do the whole law.
Easton
Various regulations as to the relation between debtor and creditor are laid down in the Scriptures.
(1.) The debtor was to deliver up as a pledge to the creditor what he could most easily dispense with (De 24:10-11).
(2.) A mill, or millstone, or upper garment, when given as a pledge, could not be kept over night (Ex 22:26-27).
(3.) A debt could not be exacted during the Sabbatic year (De 15:1-15).
For other laws bearing on this relation see Le 25:14,32,39; Mt 18:25,34.
(4.) A surety was liable in the same way as the original debtor (Pr 11:15; 17:18).
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If thou at all take thy neighbor's garment to pledge, thou shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering. It is his garment for his skin. How shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
And if thou sell anything to thy neighbor, or buy of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not wrong each other.
Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
And if thy brother becomes poor with thee, and sells himself to thee, thou shall not make him to serve as a bondman.
At the end of every seven years thou shall make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it from his neighbor and his brother, because LORD's release has been proclaimed. read more. From a foreigner thou may exact it, but whatever of thine is with thy brother, thy hand shall release. However there shall be no poor with thee (for LORD will surely bless thee in the land which LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance to possess it), if only thou diligently hearken to the voice of LORD thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day. For LORD thy God will bless thee as he promised thee, and thou shall lend to many nations, but thou shall not borrow, and thou shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee. If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brothers, within any of thy gates in thy land which LORD thy God gives thee, thou shall not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother, but thou shall surely open thy hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need which he wants. Beware that there not be a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nothing, and he cry to LORD against thee, and it be Thou shall surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou give to him, because for this thing LORD thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou put thy hand to. For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall surely open thy hand to thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land. If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to thee, and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shall let him go free from thee. And when thou let him go free from thee, thou shall not let him go empty. Thou shall furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy winepress. As LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shall give to him. And thou shall remember that thou were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and LORD thy God redeemed thee. Therefore I command thee this thing today.
When thou do lend thy neighbor any manner of loan, thou shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge. Thou shall stand outside, and the man to whom thou lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to thee.
He who is surety for a stranger shall smart for it, but he who hates suretyship is secure.
A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor.
But of him not having to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all things, as many as he had, and payment to be made.
And having become angry, his lord delivered him to the tormentors until he would pay all that was due to him.
Smith
Debtor.
[LOAN]
See Loan