Bible Dictionary: Loan

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Smith's Bible Dictionary

Loan

The law strictly forbade any interest to be taken for a loan to any poor person, and at first, as it seems, even in the case of a foreigner; but this prohibition was afterward limited to Hebrews only, from whom, of whatever rank, not only was no usury on any pretence to be exacted, but relief to the poor by way of loan was enjoined, and excuses for evading this duty were forbidden. (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35,37) As commerce increased, the practice of usury, and so also of suretyship, grew up; but the exaction of it from a Hebrew appears to have been regarded to a late period as discreditable. (Psalms 15:5; Proverbs 6:1,4; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; Jeremiah 15:10; Ezekiel 18:13) Systematic breach of the law in this respect was corrected by Nehemiah after the return from captivity. (Nehemiah 5:1,13) The money-changers, who had seats and tables in the temple, where traders whose profits arose chiefly from the exchange of money with those who came to pay their annual half-shekel. The Jewish law did not forbid temporary bondage in the case of debtors, but it forbade a Hebrew debtor to be detained as a bondman longer than the seventh year, or at farthest the year of jubilee. (Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:39,42; 15:9)

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The Mosaic law required that when an Israelite needed to borrow, what he asked was to be freely lent to him, and no interest was to be charged, although interest might be taken of a foreigner (Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19, 20; Leviticus 25:35-38). At the end of seven years all debts were remitted. Of a foreigner the loan might, however, be exacted. At a later period of the Hebrew commonwealth, when commerce increased, the practice of exacting usury or interest on loans, and of suretiship in the commercial sense, grew up. Yet the exaction of it from a Hebrew was regarded as discreditable (Psalm 15:5; Proverbs 6:1, 4; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 27:13; Jeremiah 15:10).

Limitations are prescribed by the law to the taking of a pledge from the borrower. The outer garment in which a man slept at night, if taken in pledge, was to be returned before sunset (Exodus 22:26, 27; Deuteronomy 24:12, 13). A widow's garment (Deuteronomy 24:17) and a millstone (6) could not be taken. A creditor could not enter the house to reclaim a pledge, but must remain outside till the borrower brought it (10, 11). The Hebrew debtor could not be retained in bondage longer than the seventh year, or at farthest the year of jubilee (Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:39, 42), but foreign sojourners were to be "bondmen for ever" (Leviticus 25:44-54).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A loaning.

2. (n.) The act of lending; a lending; permission to use; as, the loan of a book, money, services.

3. (n.) That which one lends or borrows, esp. a sum of money lent at interest; as, he repaid the loan.

4. (n. t.) To lend; -- sometimes with out.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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" (Exodus 22:25 Deuteronomy 28:12, 44 Psalm 37:26 Proverbs 19:17); nashah, "to bite," "lend" (Deuteronomy 24:11 Jeremiah 15:10); nashah (same root as last, though different verb stem, Hiphil), "to cause to bite," "lend on usury" (Deuteronomy 15:2; Deuteronomy 24:10); nashakh, "to bite," "lend" "(cause to lend) on usury" (Deuteronomy 23:19, 20); nathan, "to give" (Leviticus 25:37, the Revised Version (British and American) "to give"); `abhat (Hiphil), "to cause to borrow," "to lend" (Deuteronomy 15:6, 8); sha'al (Hiphil), "to cause to ask," "to lend" (Exodus 12:36, the Revised Version (British and American) "ask"; 1 Samuel 1:27). In Septuagint daneizo, danizo, "to lend," translates lawah, and `abaT in above passages and in Nehemiah 5:4 Proverbs 22:7, and Isaiah 24:2; kichrao, also translations lawah and sha'al (Psalm 112:5 Proverbs 13:11); daneion(-ion), "loan," occurs in Deuteronomy 15:8, 10; Deuteronomy 24:11; Deuteronomy 4 Maccabees 2:8. In the New Testament "lend" translations two Greek verbs, daneizo, "to lend money" (Luke 6:34, 35, usually in commercial sense); kichremi, "to lend (as a friendly act)" (Luke 11:5).The substantive "loan," she'elah, occurs only once in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 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 Exodus 22:25. (2) In the code in Deuteronomy 15:1-6; Deuteronomy 23:19, 20; 24:10, 11; 28:12, 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 Leviticus 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 (Isaiah 24:2 Jeremiah 15:10), was practiced on the return, and was an evil to be corrected by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:7, 10). (5) According to Psalm 37:26; Psalm 112:5 Proverbs 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 Maccabees 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 (Luke 6:34, 35). He did not discuss lending for commercial purposes, and so does not necessarily forbid it.

LITERATURE.

See Driver on Deuteronomy 15:1-6; Benzinger, Hebrew Archaeology, (1894), 350 f; Oehler, Old Testament Theology, 150, 10; Plummer on Luke 6:34, 35.

Charles B. Williams

Greek

1156. daneion -- a loan
... a loan. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: daneion Phonetic Spelling:
(dan'-i-on) Short Definition: a loan, debt Definition: a loan, debt. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1156.htm - 6k

1155. danizo -- to lend, borrow
... I borrow. Word Origin from danos (a loan) Definition to lend, borrow NASB
Word Usage borrow (1), lend (3). borrow, lend. From daneion ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1155.htm - 6k

5533. chreopheiletes -- a debtor
... debtor. From a derivative of chrao and opheiletes; a loan-ower, ie Indebted
person -- debtor. see GREEK chrao. see GREEK opheiletes. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5533.htm - 6k

5531. chrao -- to lend
... Word Origin akin to chre Definition to lend NASB Word Usage lend (1). lend. Probably
the same as the base of chraomai; to loan -- lend. see GREEK chraomai. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5531.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

4859. mashshaah -- a loan
... a loan. Transliteration: mashshaah Phonetic Spelling: (mash-shaw-aw') Short Definition:
debts. ... of mashsha Definition a loan NASB Word Usage debts (1), loan (1). ...
/hebrew/4859.htm - 6k

4874. mashsheh -- a loan
... 4873, 4874. mashsheh. 4875 . a loan. Transliteration: mashsheh Phonetic
Spelling: (mash-sheh') Short Definition: creditor. Word ...
/hebrew/4874.htm - 6k

7596. sheelah -- request, thing asked for
... loan, petition, request. Or shelah (1 Samuel 1:17) {shay-law'}; from sha'al; a petition;
by implication, a loan -- loan, petition, request. see HEBREW sha'al. ...
/hebrew/7596.htm - 6k

5391. nashak -- to bite
... bite, lend upon usury A primitive root; to strike with a sting (as a serpent);
figuratively, to oppress with interest on a loan -- bite, lend upon usury. ...
/hebrew/5391.htm - 5k

4855. mashsha -- lending on interest, usury
... exaction, usury. From nashah; a loan; by implication, interest on a debt -- exaction,
usury. see HEBREW nashah. 4854, 4855. mashsha. 4856 . Strong's Numbers
/hebrew/4855.htm - 6k

5383. nashah -- to lend, become a creditor
... Definition to lend, become a creditor NASB Word Usage creditor (4), creditors (1),
exacting (1), lending (1), lent (2), loaned (1), make (1), make the loan (1 ...
/hebrew/5383.htm - 6k

Library

Whether it is Lawful to Ask for any Other Kind of Consideration ...
... which he should be grateful. Therefore the recipient of a loan, is bound
by a natural debt to repay something. Now it does not seem ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether it is lawful to 16.htm

God's Jewels.
... She told him that some years before someone had lent her something very precious,
and she would know whether after fourteen years the loan became hers. ...
/.../the life of duty a years plain sermons v 2/sermon lxiii gods jewels.htm

Whether it is a Sin to Take Usury for Money Lent?
... But it is lawful to accept a price for the loan of a silver vessel. Therefore it
is also lawful to accept a price for the loan of a silver coin. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/aquinas/summa theologica/whether it is a sin.htm

Concerning Loans Prohibition of Usury and the Usurious Spirit. The ...
... And now, on the subject of a loan, when He asks, "And if ye lend to them of whom
ye hope to receive, what thank have ye?" [4093] compare with this the ...
/.../the five books against marcion/chapter xvii concerning loans prohibition of.htm

Whether the Judicial Precepts were Suitably Framed as to the ...
... and shall eat and be filled." And there was a transfer for a consideration, for
instance, by selling and buying, by letting out and hiring, by loan and also by ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the judicial precepts were 3.htm

Preface.
... Rev. N. Libbey, MA, Principal of the Moravian Theological College, Fairfield,
for the loan of valuable books; to the Rev. JT Müller ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hutton/history of the moravian church/preface.htm

First Day. Compassion.
... water, or the kindly look and word when there is neither mite nor cup to give, yet,
if done in His name, it is entered in the "book of life" as a "loan to the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/macduff/the mind of jesus/first day compassion.htm

Account of St. Spyridon: his Modesty and Steadfastness.
... A certain man who had borrowed in this way, came as though he were about to return
it, and when as usual he was directed to replace his loan in the storehouse ...
/.../the ecclesiastical history of sozomenus/chapter xi account of st spyridon .htm

Book I.
... be paid. And so, as long as I might, I enjoyed the loan entrusted to me,
now He Who deposited the pledge has taken it back. There ...
//christianbookshelf.org/ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/book i.htm

Exegetic.
... in refusal, invoking curses on his own head if he has any money about him, and swearing
that he is himself on the lookout for a friend to furnish him a loan. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/basil/basil letters and select works/ii exegetic.htm

Thesaurus

Loan (9 Occurrences)
... Of a foreigner the loan might, however, be exacted. ... 2. (n.) The act of lending; a
lending; permission to use; as, the loan of a book, money, services. ...
/l/loan.htm - 16k

Lend (21 Occurrences)
... influence. 4. (vt) To let for hire or compensation; as, to lend a horse or
gig. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. LEND, LOAN. lon: The ...
/l/lend.htm - 18k

Loaned (2 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (imp. & pp) of Loan. Multi-Version Concordance
Loaned (2 Occurrences). Deuteronomy 15:2 and this 'is' the ...
/l/loaned.htm - 7k

Refund (3 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (vt) To fund again or anew; to replace (a fund or loan)
by a new fund; as, to refund a railroad loan. 2. (vt) To pour back. ...
/r/refund.htm - 7k

Lo-ammi (2 Occurrences)
Lo-ammi. Loammi, Lo-ammi. Loan . Easton's Bible Dictionary Not my people ... say,
My God. (DBY YLT). Loammi, Lo-ammi. Loan . Reference Bible.
/l/lo-ammi.htm - 8k

Borrow (10 Occurrences)
... depart. (see LOAN.). Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1. (vt) To receive from
another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention ...
/b/borrow.htm - 11k

Pledge (55 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary see LOAN. ... Deuteronomy 24:10 When you do lend your neighbor
any manner of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. ...
/p/pledge.htm - 28k

Nightmonster
... night-monster," margin "Lilith." The term "night-monster" is also an interpretation,
inasmuch as it implies that the Hebrew word is a Babylonian loan-word, and ...
/n/nightmonster.htm - 17k

Night-monster
... night-monster," margin "Lilith." The term "night-monster" is also an interpretation,
inasmuch as it implies that the Hebrew word is a Babylonian loan-word, and ...
/n/night-monster.htm - 17k

Lily (9 Occurrences)
... Songs 2:16; Songs 4:5; Songs 5:13; Songs 6:2; 7:02; Ecclesiasticus 39:14; 50:8);
krinon (Matthew 6:28 Luke 12:27)): The Hebrew is probably a loan word from the ...
/l/lily.htm - 15k

Bible Concordance

Loan (9 Occurrences)

Matthew 18:27 And the lord of that bondman, being moved with compassion, loosed him and forgave him the loan.
(DBY)

Deuteronomy 15:2 and this is the manner of the release: Every creditor shall relax his hand from the loan which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not demand it of his neighbour, or of his brother; for a release to Jehovah hath been proclaimed.
(DBY YLT NAS NIV(

Deuteronomy 24:10 When you do lend your neighbor any manner of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 24:11 Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou hast made a loan shall bring out the pledge to thee without.
(DBY NAS RSV NIV)

1 Samuel 2:20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.
(KJV JPS DBY WBS RSV)

2 Kings 4:7 And she cometh and declareth to the man of God, and he saith, 'Go, sell the oil, and repay thy loan; and thou 'and' thy sons do live of the rest.'
(YLT)

Ezekiel 18:7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 18:16 neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 33:15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Loan

Related Terms

Lend (21 Occurrences)

Loaned (2 Occurrences)

Refund (3 Occurrences)

Lo-ammi (2 Occurrences)

Borrow (10 Occurrences)

Pledge (55 Occurrences)

Nightmonster

Night-monster

Lily (9 Occurrences)