Debts and Loans in the Bible

• Be indebted to no one, except to love one anotherRom 13:8
  The verses

  Rom 13:8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
• The borrower is slave to the lenderProv 22:7
  The verses

  Prov 22:7The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
• Do not put up security for debts, or your bed may be takenProv 22:26–27, Prov 11:15
  The verses

  Prov 22:26–27Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

  Prov 11:15He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
• Pledged for a neighbor? Go and free yourself at onceProv 6:1–5
  The verses

  Prov 6:1–5My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger, if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go, humble yourself, and press your plea with your neighbor. Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

In the Law

• No interest from a poor countryman; it was allowed from a foreignerExod 22:25, Deut 23:19–20
  The verses

  Exod 22:25If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

  Deut 23:19–20Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.
• A cloak taken as security is returned by sunsetExod 22:26–27, Deut 24:12–13
  The verses

  Exod 22:26–27If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

  Deut 24:12–13If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession; be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.
• The lender waits outside for the pledge to be brought outDeut 24:10–11
  The verses

  Deut 24:10–11When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security. You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.
• Millstones may not be taken as securityDeut 24:6
  The verses

  Deut 24:6Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
• Debts are canceled every seventh yearDeut 15:1–3
  The verses

  Deut 15:1–3At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed. You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.
• A countryman who sells himself works as a hired workerLev 25:39–41
  The verses

  Lev 25:39–41If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor. Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers.
• A borrowed animal that dies must be repaid in fullExod 22:14
  The verses

  Exod 22:14If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.

Examples

• Judah leaves his seal, cord and staff as a pledgeGen 38:17–18
  The verses

  Gen 38:17–18“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.” “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
• Everyone in debt rallies around David1 Sam 22:2
  The verses

  1 Sam 22:2And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
• A creditor comes to take a widow’s two sons as slaves2 Kgs 4:1–7
  The verses

  2 Kgs 4:1–7Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!” “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” “Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few. Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.” So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
• “It was borrowed!” — an axe head falls into the Jordan2 Kgs 6:4–6
  The verses

  2 Kgs 6:4–6So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” “Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.
• Famine: people mortgage fields and homes; Nehemiah stops the usuryNeh 5:3–5, Neh 5:10–12
  The verses

  Neh 5:3–5Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

  Neh 5:10–12I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.” “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.
• A poor family’s nursing child seized for a debtJob 24:9
  The verses

  Job 24:9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
• Garments taken in pledgeJob 22:6, Amos 2:8
  The verses

  Job 22:6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

  Amos 2:8They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
• Parable: a servant owing ten thousand talentsMatt 18:23–34
  The verses

  Matt 18:23–34Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned. Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master. Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.
• Parable: two debtors owing five hundred and fifty denariiLuke 7:41–42
  The verses

  Luke 7:41–42“Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”
• Settle with your adversary on the way to courtMatt 5:25–26
  The verses

  Matt 5:25–26Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
• Lend, expecting nothing in returnLuke 6:34–35
  The verses

  Luke 6:34–35And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
• Paul to Philemon: “Charge it to my account. I will repay it”Phlm 1:18–19
  The verses

  Phlm 1:18–19But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self.