Lend, Loan
Lend, Loan
lon: The translation of 7 Hebrew and 2 Greek vbs.:
1. Lexical Usages:
In the Old Testament: , lawah, to join, cause to join, lend (Exo 22:25; Deu 28:12, Deu 28:44; Psa 37:26; Pro 19:17); , nashah, to bite, lend (Deu 24:11; Jer 15:10); , nashah (same root as last, though different verb stem, Hiphil), to cause to bite, lend on usury (Deu 15:2; Deu 24:10); , nashakh, to bite, lend (cause to lend) on usury (Deu 23:19, Deu 23:20); , nathan, to give (Lev 25:37, the Revised Version (British and American) to give); , abhat (Hiphil), to cause to borrow, to lend (Deu 15:6, Deu 15:8); , sha’al (Hiphil), to cause to ask, to lend (Exo 12:36, the Revised Version (British and American) ask; 1Sa 1:27). In Septuagint , danezo, , danzo, to lend, translates , , and in above passages and in Neh 5:4; Pro 22:7, and Isa 24:2; , kichrao, also translations and (Psa 112:5; Pro 13:11); (-), daneion(-ion), loan, occurs in Deu 15:8, Deu 15:10; Deu 24:11; 4 Macc 2:8. In the New Testament lend translations two Greek verbs, daneizo, to lend money (Luk 6:34, Luk 6:35, usually in commercial sense); , kchremi, to lend (as a friendly act) (Luk 11:5).The substantive loan, , she’elah, occurs only once in the Old Testament (1Sa 2:20 the King James Version and the English Revised Version), not at all in the New Testament.
2. History of Lending in the Bible and Apocrypha:
(1) Lending on interest to the poor is prohibited in the code in Exo 22:25. (2) In the code in Deu 15:1-6; Deu 23:19, Deu 23:20; Deu 24:10, Deu 24:11; Deu 28:12, Deu 28:44, borrowing and lending are taken for granted as existing in Israel, but the creditor is required to release his Hebrew brother as debtor in the 7th year (either the cancellation of the loan (so in Jewish literature and early Christian scholars) or suspension of payment that year (so most modern scholars)), though he may exact payment from a foreigner. Israel may lend, and will be able to lend, because of Yahweh’s blessing, to other nations, but must not borrow from them. A pledge, or security, must not be taken in person by the creditor from the house of the debtor, nor kept overnight, if the debtor be poor. (3) The code in Lev 25:35-38 requires that the Israelite receive no interest from his poor brother, because of the goodness of Yahweh to Israel. (4) Notwithstanding the prohibition of the early laws against lending on interest or usury, the same seems to have become common in Israel before the exile (Isa 24:2; Jer 15:10), was practiced on the return, and was an evil to be corrected by Nehemiah (Neh 5:7, Neh 5:10). (5) According to Psa 37:26; Psa 112:5; Pro 19:17, lending to the needy was regarded as a mark of the pious Hebrew, but no interest is to be charged. (6) According to Apocrypha (The Wisdom of Solomon 15:16; Sirach 8:12; 18:33; 20:15, 29; 4 Macc 2:8), borrowing is discouraged, and lending is exalted as a mark of the merciful man. (7) Jesus teaches that His followers should lend, even to enemies, to men from whom they have no reasonable hope of expecting anything in return, because thus to do is to be like the Most High (Luk 6:34, Luk 6:35). He did not discuss lending for commercial purposes, and so does not necessarily forbid it.
Literature.
See Driver on Deu 15:1-6; Benzinger, Hebrew Archaeology, (1894), 350 f; Oehler, Old Testament Theology, 150, 10; Plummer on Luk 6:34, Luk 6:35.