Parshat Mishpatim: What the Bible Says About Money Lending

Parshat Mishpatim: What the Bible Says About Money Lending

Laws of lending money to the poor as found in Exodus 22:25 state:  “If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, do not act as a creditor.  You may not charge them interest.”

 

The video then asks “How is charging interest on a loan like a snake bite?”

For one thing, the word for interest in Hebrew sounds a lot like the word for snake-bite.

Secondly, Interest is like a tiny snake bite from which you may not recover. When someone who is poor has to pay back more than they borrowed, bit by bit the individual may never be able to come out of debt.

God who has been good to us, requires us to be good to others.

Written by Rina Goldhagen

 

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