Thematic Bible: Creditor


Thematic Bible



For thou takest a pledge of thy brother for nought, And the garments of the naked Thou dost strip off.

The ass of the fatherless they lead away, They take in pledge the ox of the widow,

And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, 'Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'


'Be agreeing with thy opponent quickly, while thou art in the way with him, that the opponent may not deliver thee to the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and to prison thou mayest be cast, verily I say to thee, thou mayest not come forth thence till that thou mayest pay the last farthing.

for, as thou art going away with thy opponent to the ruler, in the way give diligence to be released from him, lest he may drag thee unto the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and the officer may cast thee into prison; I say to thee, thou mayest not come forth thence till even the last mite thou mayest give back.'

And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews, yea, there are who are saying, 'Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.' And there are who are saying, 'Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.' read more.
And there are who are saying, 'We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, on our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren is our flesh, as their sons are our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards are to others.' And it is very displeasing to me when I have heard their cry and these words, and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, 'Usury one upon another ye are exacting;' and I set against them a great assembly, and say to them, 'We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that is in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word. And I say, 'Not good is the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies? And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury. Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.' And they say, 'We give back, and of them we seek nothing; so we do as thou art saying.' And I call the priests, and cause them to swear to do according to this thing; also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, 'Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, 'Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.

He is giving back what he laboured for, And doth not consume it; As a bulwark is his exchange, and he exults not. For he oppressed -- he forsook the poor, A house he hath taken violently away, And he doth not build it. For he hath not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he delivereth not himself.

Be not thou among those striking hands, Among sureties for burdens. If thou hast nothing to pay, Why doth he take thy bed from under thee?

'And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest. His fellow-servant then, having fallen down at his feet, was calling on him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; and he would not, but having gone away, he cast him into prison, till he might pay that which was owing. read more.
'And his fellow-servants having seen the things that were done, were grieved exceedingly, and having come, shewed fully to their lord all the things that were done; then having called him, his lord saith to him, Evil servant! all that debt I did forgive thee, seeing thou didst call upon me, did it not behove also thee to have dealt kindly with thy fellow-servant, as I also dealt kindly with thee? 'And having been wroth, his lord delivered him to the inquisitors, till he might pay all that was owing to him; so also my heavenly Father will do to you, if ye may not forgive each one his brother from your hearts their trespasses.'




None doth take in pledge millstones, and rider, for life it is he is taking in pledge.

When thou buyest a Hebrew servant -- six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought; if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he is owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him; if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters -- the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself. read more.
And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons -- I do not go out free; then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him -- to the age.

'If thou dost lend My poor people with thee money, thou art not to him as a usurer; thou dost not lay on him usury; if thou dost at all take in pledge the garment of thy neighbour, during the going in of the sun thou dost return it to him: for it alone is his covering, it is his garment for his skin; wherein doth he lie down? and it hath come to pass, when he doth cry unto Me, that I have heard, for I am gracious.

'And when thou sellest anything to thy fellow, or buyest from the hand of thy fellow, ye do not oppress one another; by the number of years after the jubilee thou dost buy from thy fellow; by the number of the years of increase he doth sell to thee; according to the multitude of the years thou dost multiply its price, and according to the fewness of the years thou dost diminish its price; for a number of increases he is selling to thee; read more.
and ye do not oppress one another, and thou hast been afraid of thy God; for I am Jehovah your God.

'And when thy brother is become poor, and his hand hath failed with thee, then thou hast kept hold on him, sojourner and settler, and he hath lived with thee; thou takest no usury from him, or increase; and thou hast been afraid of thy God; and thy brother hath lived with thee; thy money thou givest not to him in usury, and for increase thou givest not thy food;

and this is the matter of the release: Every owner of a loan is to release his hand which he doth lift up against his neighbour, he doth not exact of his neighbour and of his brother, but hath proclaimed a release to Jehovah; of the stranger thou mayest exact, and that which is thine with thy brother doth thy hand release;

'Thou dost not lend in usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of food, usury of anything which is lent on usury. To a stranger thou mayest lend in usury, and to thy brother thou dost not lend in usury, so that Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in every putting forth of thy hand on the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

'When thou liftest up on thy brother a debt of anything, thou dost not go in unto his house to obtain his pledge; at the outside thou dost stand, and the man on whom thou art lifting it up is bringing out unto thee the pledge at the outside. 'And if he is a poor man, thou dost not lie down with his pledge; read more.
thou dost certainly give back to him the pledge at the going in of the sun, and he hath lain down in his own raiment, and hath blessed thee; and to thee it is righteousness before Jehovah thy God.

and if ye lend to those of whom ye hope to receive back, what grace have ye? for also the sinful lend to sinners -- that they may receive again as much.



'Because of this was the reign of the heavens likened to a man, a king, who did will to take reckoning with his servants, and he having begun to take account, there was brought near to him one debtor of a myriad of talents, and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made. read more.
The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all; and the lord of that servant having been moved with compassion did release him, and the debt he forgave him.

'Two debtors were to a certain creditor; the one was owing five hundred denaries, and the other fifty; and they not having wherewith to give back, he forgave both; which then of them, say thou, will love him more?' And Simon answering said, 'I suppose that to whom he forgave the more;' and he said to him, 'Rightly thou didst judge.'