Ezekiel 18:8

18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, ¹  but refrains ²  from wrongdoing, promotes true justice ³  between men,

Ezekiel 18:13

18:13 engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. ⁴  He will bear the responsibility for his own death. ⁵ 

Exodus 22:25-26

22:25 “If you lend money to any of ⁶  my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender ⁷  to him; do not charge ⁸  him interest. ⁹  22:26 If you do take ¹⁰  the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, ¹¹ 

Leviticus 25:35-36

Debt and Slave Regulations

25:35 “‘If your brother ¹²  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ¹³  you must support ¹⁴  him; he must live ¹⁵  with you like a foreign resident. ¹⁶  25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, ¹⁷  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ¹⁸  with you.

Deuteronomy 23:19

Respect for Others’ Property

23:19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite, ¹⁹  whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest.

Nehemiah 5:1

Nehemiah Intervenes on behalf of the Oppressed

5:1 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ²⁰ 

Nehemiah 5:7

5:7 I considered these things carefully ²¹  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²²  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ²³  from your own countrymen!” ²⁴  Because of them I called for ²⁵  a great public assembly.

Psalms 15:5

15:5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money. ²⁶ 

He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. ²⁷ 

The one who lives like this ²⁸  will never be upended.

[18:8]  ¹ sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.

[18:8]  ² tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”

[18:8]  ³ tn Heb “justice of truth.”

[18:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “be put to death.” The translation follows an alternative reading that appears in several ancient textual witnesses.

[18:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “his blood will be upon him.”

[22:25]  ⁶ tn “any of” has been supplied.

[22:25]  ⁷ sn The moneylender will be demanding and exacting. In Ps 109:11 and 2 Kgs 4:1 the word is rendered as “extortioner.”

[22:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “set.”

[22:25]  ⁹ sn In ancient times money was lent primarily for poverty and not for commercial ventures (H. Gamoran, “The Biblical Law against Loans on Interest,” JNES 30 [1971]: 127-34). The lending to the poor was essentially a charity, and so not to be an opportunity to make money from another person’s misfortune. The word נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) may be derived from a verb that means “to bite,” and so the idea of usury or interest was that of putting out one’s money with a bite in it (See S. Stein, “The Laws on Interest in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 161-70; and E. Neufeld, “The Prohibition against Loans at Interest in the Old Testament,” HUCA 26 [1955]: 355-412).

[22:26]  ¹⁰ tn The construction again uses the infinitive absolute with the verb in the conditional clause to stress the condition.

[22:26]  ¹¹ tn The clause uses the preposition, the infinitive construct, and the noun that is the subjective genitive – “at the going in of the sun.”

[25:35]  ¹² tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).

[25:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”

[25:35]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”

[25:35]  ¹⁵ tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).

[25:35]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).

[25:36]  ¹⁷ tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).

[25:36]  ¹⁸ tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).

[23:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to your brother” (likewise in the following verse). Since this is not limited to actual siblings, “fellow Israelite” is used in the translation (cf. NAB, NASB “countrymen”).

[5:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their brothers the Jews.”

[5:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ²² tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I gave.”

[15:5]  ²⁶ sn He does not charge interest. Such an individual is truly generous, and not simply concerned with making a profit.

[15:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a bribe against the innocent he does not take.” For other texts condemning the practice of a judge or witness taking a bribe, see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; 1 Sam 8:3; Ezek 22:12; Prov 17:23.

[15:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “does these things.”