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. He may redeem it within a full year. And if it is not redeemed within the time of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be made sure forever to its buyer throughout his generations. It shall not go out in the jubilee. read more. But the houses of the villages which have no walls around them shall be counted as the field of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. As to the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites shall have a never-ending redemption. And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold and the city of his possession shall go out in the year of jubilee. For the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. But the field of the open land of their cities may not be sold, for it is theirs forever. And if your brother has become poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall help him; yes, even if he is a stranger or a tenant, so that he may live with you. You shall take no interest from him, or increase. But you shall fear your God, so that your brother may live with you. You shall not give him your silver on interest, nor lend him your food for increase. I am Jehovah 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 your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant. As a hired servant, as a temporary resident, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee. And he shall depart from you, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his own family. And he shall return to the possession of his fathers.
Some also said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses. Let us buy grain because of the famine. And some said, We have borrowed money on our lands and vineyards for the king's tax. read more. Yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons. And, lo, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, for other men have our lands and vineyards.
Woe to you, blind guides, saying, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.
I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise.
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 you at all take your neighbor's clothing as a pledge, you shall deliver it to him by the time the sun goes down. For that is his covering only, it is his clothing for his skin. In what shall he sleep? And it will be, when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
And if you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another.
As to the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites shall have a never-ending redemption.
And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant.
At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every man who has a loan to his neighbor shall release it. He shall not exact it from his neighbor, or from his brother, because it is called Jehovah's release. read more. You may exact it from a foreigner, but your hand shall release that which is yours with your brother, except when there shall be no poor among you. For Jehovah shall greatly bless you in the land which Jehovah your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, only if you carefully listen to the voice of Jehovah your God to be careful to do all these commandments which I command you today. For Jehovah your God blesses you as He promised you. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers inside any of your gates in your land which Jehovah your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him enough for his need, that which he lacks. Beware that there is not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye may be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing. And he may cry to Jehovah against you, and it is sin to you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing Jehovah your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand to. For the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore, I command you saying, You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land. If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty. You shall richly bestow on him from your flock, and from your grain floor, and from your winepress; with what Jehovah your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today.
When you loan a loan of any kind to your brother, you shall not go into his house to bring forth his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you loan shall bring the pledge outside to you.
He who is surety for a stranger shall be ruined; and he who hates suretyship is safe.
A man lacking heart strikes hands; he pledges in the presence of his friend.
But as he had nothing to pay, his lord commanded that he, and his wife and children, and all that he had, be sold, and payment be made.
And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him.
Smith
Debtor.
[LOAN]
See Loan