What is usury in the Bible?

This word does not in scripture signify, as now, undue interest, but simply interest of any kind. The Israelites were forbidden to require interest from their brethren, always supposing the person having the loan to be poor, otherwise he would not need to borrow; to strangers, however, they were allowed to lend on interest. Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:35-38; Deut. 23:19-20. On the return of the Jews, Nehemiah sharply rebuked the nobles and the rulers for taking interest of their poorer brethren. Neh. 5:3-13. Scripture strictly enjoins the rich to help the poor. The only mention of usury in the N.T. is in the parables of the Talents and the Pounds, where the master blamed the servant for not putting the gifts into use, so that he might have received his own with interest, or increase. Matt. 25:27; Luke 19:23.

"And there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, [are] many: let us get corn, that we may eat and live. There were also that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards. Yet now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: 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 power [to help it]; for other men have our fields and our vineyards. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I held a great assembly against them" (vers. 1-7).

Usury was forbidden among the Israelites one with another, not as a thing in itself wrong, but as inconsistent with their exceptional standing and their relation as brethren after the flesh. They were at liberty to lend at interest to Gentiles, not to Jews; and if a Jew sold himself into servitude, at the seventh year he was set free, as land reverted to its true tenant at the jubilee. So did the law check and regulate a failing people on Jehovah's behalf. Alas! self governed the nobles and rulers in the land. And Nehemiah proved his moral courage as well as faith and love in detestation of their misconduct. He conferred not with flesh and blood. "I consulted with myself" is his remarkable language and made his remonstrance with themselves. He also set a great assembly against them.

"And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found never a word. Also I said, The thing that ye do [is] not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? And I likewise, my brethren and my servants, might lend them money and corn on usury. I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them even this day their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth [part] of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise. Also I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not his promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise" (vers. 8-13).

(d) The need of the poor is next considered; and as, on the one hand, liberality to them had been enjoined, so to take usury from them is forbidden. The stranger, from whom it was allowed to take it, probably borrowed for purposes of trade, but Israel were not themselves intended to be a commercial people, and certainly not to thrive upon the necessities of their brethren.

The man of Psalm 15 would not put out his money to unjust usury, nor take reward against the innocent. A sum of money lent may be a great boon to the borrower in times of great difficulty, but if an exhorbitant rate of interest is charged, the transaction becomes very evil indeed. How many a Shylock has ruined his clients by this means, fastening on them shackles they cannot break. The man of our Psalm would not operate in “the Black Market,” taking unscrupulous advantage of a time of famine in commodities.

If he lends money, he does not charge interest (v. 5). Exodus 22:25 explicitly warns Israelites against charging interest when lending money to the poor. Of course, it is only proper business to expect interest from a bank, as Luke 19:23 tells us, but if one is in need and requires monetary help, it is certainly cruelty to charge him interest. By faith a believer would be glad to lend without such a stipulation, and in fact may be glad to give without restrictions (2 Cor. 9:7), not expecting anything in - return.

"Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent." Ungodly judges have often been guilty of taking bribes from wealthy men to pervert the judgment of the innocent. The true believer refuses bribes intended to influence him in one way or another.

Such things as these are characteristic of those who have been born of God. One who has such character will never be moved. They will abide in God's tabernacle and in His holy hill. This will be true for the godly in Israel during the millennium, and in a higher way still for all believers of the present age, for they will enjoy the presence of the Lord for eternity in the place of highest exaltation.

But lastly the question comes in, How much are we to give to the Lord? Now, dear reader, this question would never come in, if you understood that you and all yours are entirely bought for the Lord. Israel's men, women, and children, and cattle, were all for Jehovah. All had to come out of Egypt. Moses would not hear of the compromise, that the men were to come out of Egypt, and the wives, children, and cattle to be left behind. Not a jot or tittle was to be left in Egypt or to be lavished on Egyptians. All was for Jehovah, and for the support of their families and other Israelites through the wilderness, but for nothing more. And so in a much higher sense all that the Christian possesses is the Lord's. The Lord says as to the principle of it in Luke 12:33, Sell that ye have and give alms; provide yourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. On the day of Pentecost all was given up, and laid down at the apostles' feet, to be distributed equally amongst all. Truly this did not go on in the later times of the church. But the principle surely remains, and so in 1 Timothy 6 the rich are exhorted to do good, to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life. And such principles as are shown in 2 Corinthians 9:8-11, and Ephesians 4:28, would surely be a check to saints who seek to get rich, as showing that the only purpose of labouring, and getting the blessings of God on it should be for the purpose of being an increased blessing to others, to abound in every good work, to have to give to him that needeth. As to usury, it was absolutely forbidden between Jewish brethren: to the stranger they might lend on interest, but not to their brethren. If they took a pledge it was to be restored before evening, lest their poor brother should cry to God and He would hear him for He was gracious. Dreadful is it to hear of brethren who boast of their high standing and privileges in a heavenly Christ, yet lowering themselves below the level of the righteous Jew in their walk, leading their poor brethren into sin, in the matter of buying farms or land, which they cannot pay for, and then exacting interest, notes, and all kinds of things afterwards, for the payment of it, thus becoming their oppressors. May the Lord lead His beloved saints to consider His principles in giving, and to abound individually in every good work!

Others said: "We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth" (v. 3). Now, who had taken advantage of them when, in their hunger, they needed bread? It was their brothers: and nevertheless the law of Moses prohibited them from doing this. The Israelite was allowed to lend to the nations, but he was not permitted to charge his brother interest (Deut. 23:19-20; Ex. 22:25). Thus the love of money caused them to commit this great sin.

Others said: "We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards; yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold we must 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 the power of our hand [to redeem them], for other men have our fields and our vineyards" (vv. 4, 5). This king's tribute (Middah. Ezra 6:8; Ezra 4:20) was exacted of them. Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards — and in this way, since they could not repay the debt, not only was the land no longer their own, but they also had to employ their children as slaves, without being able to redeem them, since the fields were in the hands of their brothers. What a miserable predicament! And how forcefully this demonstrates that a testimony which is outwardly in order is no security for us, and that it may even be a great snare to us in relation to our practical life, for the satisfaction of occupying a position of separation from the world may feed our spiritual pride, and cause us to pass lightly over our moral laxity in our relationships with our brothers. Jeremiah also warned the people against this same danger: "Confide ye not in words of falsehood, saying, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple is this. But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbor, [if] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow … then will I cause you to dwell in this place" (Jer. 7:4-7).

If one loaned money to another Israelite who was poor, no interest was to be charged (v. 25). If there were no question of poverty involved, the situation would be different, of course, for one may borrow money in order to promote a business venture, though he himself is not in need at all.

(3) But there was also the powerful influence of hope, which governs the regulations of all this chapter. The Jew was called to act in view of the jubilee, and was inexcusable if he put it from his eyes in his conduct. When a brother was decayed, he was to bear in mind the deliverance that ere long would surely come, and thereby be strengthened to assist the need, and not to make it an occasion for selfish greed by interest for a loan, or return of food to increase his own store. For Israel in the land was not to be a merchant like the Canaanite; but it is the striking contrast of the Jews now among the nations, enriching themselves in this way beyond all others, the banking masters of the world. They have for the time lost their true place, because they became apostate from God, first by idolatry, then by rejecting Jesus the Christ; as they will descend lower still by receiving the Antichrist. Even on their return from Babylon, which was to see the Messiah in humiliation, they made the divine command of no effect by their tradition; and selfish interest prevailed over goodness and mercy, till unbelief wrought to the utmost.

In lending money or goods to a brother Israelite, the Jews were not allowed to charge interest (v.19). Christians too should consider it wise not to charge interest to another Christian or to a close relative if lending to them because of an occasion of need. Business practices such as mortgages are of a different character, of course, but the Lord takes account of the unselfish treatment we show toward others, and will repay this in His own way (v.20).