Debt, debtor (Hastings' Dictionary)

-^- is OT.— L Termt.—mh In Qal, EV bomnt, pu:p. b'Trvu^r^ LX5 lani^xr&at, Vulp, fotnus accipio, mxUuo tutno p<'cuniaft mutuor, mutuum accipio; in Hiph. EV Uni (i.e. cauae to borrow), ptcp. Under, LXX ietti^m, tJa»<C. ■''x/W*'i ^'uIk- pecuniam muluam do, Jmneror. m^ is also used in the sense o( ^oin, and the sense of borrow may be derived from the dependence of the borrower on the lender ; but ,'n'? join, and .n'y borrow, may be independent roots of different origin (so Fuerst).

'•^ Levi, Ltvite, is not necessarily connected with either. nuo (also in form kc'j) C^ and Hiph., EV fend on utury, take usury, exact {usury); Qo^ ptcp. creditor, extortioner, also given In Dt 153 (or in; .iffg ^yj ' possessor of a loan of his hand,' in Dt 24" thy debtor is 'la nyj .t^n 1^|j P'xn, »'•«. 'the man to whom thou are lending,' or *a creditor.' So Is 24^ \z »^i -if^, cf. 1 S 22> 'be to whom anyone is a usurer,' i.e. one who borrows on usury,' EV the giver of usury to him. LXJC m.

wmjrut, paraphrases with «tfijAjj* (3we), and (for ptcp.) imtitrriit, and in la 501 ^ij^^t^t (debtor^ Vulg. commodo, exiijo, vsuras exigo, and for ptcp. creditor, /cenerator. VJ 2 K 4~ E V debt, LXX «-«»mv, Vulg. ereditori (reading the ptcp.X ^^'^Q, EY dj^t, loan, LXZ iftiXrifut, Vulg. debitum. tqh}, EV usury, exaction, LXX ira.irrrii, Vulg. cu alienum, txaetio. This root has been connected with leJj bite, cf. H^^ In ref.

to the nature and effects of usury ; or with ,ic*3 forget, because payment of a debt is remitted for a time (Oes. Thts.l Tfj) (IB^J = bite) EV usury, LXX t«'««, Vulg. usura. In Dt 2S»' >l(Eng.l».«)thefftpA.of "PI is used for 'lend on usury," and the tial for ' borrow on usury.' LXX Hiph. i«r«m7(, Qal \mia.itrvn ; Vulg. Hiph. ftxnero, commodo. n'3"ifl, n'ST-p (HDl become great), EV increase (and in AV of Pr 281^ unjust gain), LXX w\u<m'ftii, iwi wXti»u, Vijlg. super- abundantia, foenus, amplius.

i^^r J and n'3in are often coupled together, Lv 25«i, Elk IS" etc'; Nowack,' Heb. Arch. i. 854, takes is^i as interest on a loan of money, and n'3'in as Interest cr a loan of cora, efc etc., but in Dt2320(Eng. I9)wehave-]e3 'of money ... of food ... of anything.' 3^n, Ezk 187, EV debtor, Oxt Heb. Lex. d«<>I, LXX ifilXsrrH, Vulg. debitori. ODV Q^< borrow on pledge, EV ftorrow, LXX 3«ij^«,u«i, Vulg. accipio mutuum ; Hiph. lend on pledge, EV tend, LXX 3«*i<'C«, Vulfg./cenero, mutuum do.

e'lay , anything given as security for the payment of a loan or the fulfilment of any obligation, EV pto^e, LXX iFixw^«», Vulg. pij7n««. In Dt 24^0 a Qaidenora. occurs ^secure (the security). B'pnjJ Hab 2«, BV pfedg« = Dby ; AV thick clay, Vulg. densum fu(«m, is due to a mistaken etymology. In Jl 27 ikelot cDy- twist, bind; so the root=' borrow,' because the borrower was bound to the lender ; but Wellhausen regards B3V as an Anun.

loan word, and Driver proposes to connect with B3i 'hold firmly.' San Qal (lit. Wnd, cl D3P), EV taJce or lay a pledge, LXX Ifi^i/^Ca, Vuig. phrases with pignus ; Siq, 't^iq, EV pledge, LXX iuxl'l"'!^, -h^i, Voif. pirtnus. 3-1V Qal, Hithpa., EY t» imrety, give pledges, mortgage, make m vager, LXX 3h»viii, Vulg. spondo, fidem facio, fidejv^mr srsto, vadtm me ojfero. p3iy, EV pledge, LXX it-^f^fiir, Vulg. urrhabo, pignus. itj'iy ^li' 0r 1718), EV beeometh surety, LXX iyyvmtUftt \yyvmr6tu, Vulg.

fpondo. Sh^ {ask) obtains from the context the sense of borrow in Ex 22", 2 K 4> EV, and similarly the Hiph. may -fend In I 8 1» EVm. ii. In History. — 1. Causa of Debt. — There is no trace in OT of any system of commercial credit. Loans of money or large purchases on credit do not occur as ordinary and natural incidents of trade. Debt (except of the most temporary character, see below on Pledges, and on Gn 38" ; and cf.

E,\ 22") is an exceptional misfortune ; it is always the poor man who iMjrrows, Ex 22*'. The existence of a developed credit system in Babylonia is no proof of the existence of any similar system in Israel. In such, as in many other matters, it is as iirefjirious to argue from Babylon to Israel as it would lie now from England to Afghanistan.

This absence of com- mercial credit naturally resulted from the fact that the Israelites of the monarchy were not a commercial people, and that their trade was mostly in the hands of the Phoen. and other foreigners. The other ordinary causes of debt must have operated in Israel. Passing exigencies would create debts speedily paid (Gn 38'") ; misfortune, extravagance, and suretyship gave rise to more serious indebted- ness.

Such misiortunes specially arose from failure of crops (Neh 5^), foreign raids, pressure of taxa- tion for the home government or for the payment of foreign tribute (Neh 5^). Though debt cannot be said to have been uncommon in Israel, — Is 24' mentions the borrower and the lender as social tj'pes, — yet it seems to have been comparatively rare, so that it was never accepted as natural and legitimate.

This appears from the paucity of refer- ences to debt, and of terras connected with debt, and also from the primitive character of these terms, e.g. 'he who has a creditor' for 'debtor' (1 S 22"). 2. Leading Cases. — In Gn 38'" .ludah promi.sua Tamar a kid, and gives her his signet, etc., as a pledge that he wUl discharge the debt thus created. He forthwith sends her the kid.

In 2 K 4'"' a widow's late husband had incurred a moderate debt, — it could be paid by selling a quantity of oil, — his family were still liable for tlie debt. 'I'he creditors were expected to recoup themselves by selling her two sons for slaves. Elisha accepts this as a matter of course, and can only relieve his friend by a miracle. In Neh 5 the farmers are in distress through drought and taxes, they have borrowed money at 1 p. c. per month on their land. (Nowack, i.

354, proposes to read nttvo for nuD.) The debtors had defaulted, their lands had been seized, and some had been compelled to sell their children. In response to a solemn appeal from Nehemiah (he and his suite being among the leiickr^l the lands and interest were restored, possibly the debts were wholly or partially cancelled. The only other mention of actual debt is 1 S 22*, where debtors resort to David in his exile. iii. In the Law, Prophets, etc.

— The necessity of borrowing is regarded as a misfortune, sometimes a punishment for sin (Dt 15' 28'- "), oftener un- deserved, and therefore entitling the borrower to assistance. His richer brethren should assist him with loans (Dt 15'""), even in view of the approach- ing year of release (Ps 37'"' 112», Pr 10"); with- out interest (Ex 22» [JE], Dt 23«'- ' [Eng. '»• »<], Lv 053.1. S7 [H], Ps 15», Pr 28', Ezk IS*-" 22", Neh 5). Nowack, i.

354, and Benzinger, 350, understand that Ex 22° only forbids excessive usurv (B. takes "■ as gloss), so that the abso'ute proliiliition of interest first appears in Dt. Such proliibitions do not extend to loans to foreigners. No provision is made in the law for the recovery of debt, tut non- payment of debt is condemned in Ps 37". Both the law and the prophets are chiefly concerned to protect the debtor.

The law restricts the exaction of pledges : a widow's clothing (Ut24"), the nether or upper millstone (Dt 24"), the widow's ox (Job 24'), should not be taken in pledge. The creditor (Dt 24'"'") may not go into the debtor's house to fetch a pledge, but must wait outside till the debtor brings him a pledge of the debtor's choosing (Dillm., Benz.) This pledge would often consist of clothing (Am 2». Pr '20'" 27", Job 22«); and might not be kept overnight (Ex 2'2*" [JE], Dt 24").

Pledges are rather tolerated than approved of ; » pious Israelite would not require a idcdgo (Job 22* '24°), or, at any rate, would promptly restore it (Ezk I8'"33")— whetlicr with or willioul payment is not obvious. The law also limits claims on debtors by the laws of .lubilee and of the Seventh Year. In Ex 23'"- ""• (JE) the land is to be reliiised (.ij20;;'n 'thou shalt relea.'ie it'), i.e left fallow, every seventh year; cf. Lv 25 '"' {)!)

Thi» 560 DECALOGUE DECALOGUE provision does not occur in Dt, but Dt 15'"" appoints a release, ■•!'», of debt every seventh year.

This nc-:fi has been understood (a) as a cancelling of interest during the seventh year, which is im- possible in view of the absolute prohibition of interest in the inunediate context ; (b) as mora- torium, the creditor being forbidden to demand payment during the seventh year, but being allowed to do so at its close ; (c) as an absolute and final cancelling of debt, as in Solon's xp^^" ajroKOTri).

In any case, some relief in the matter of debt would be specially welcome for the year during which the land lay fallow. The nspf' did not extend to foreigners. As the debtor or his family might be sold to pay debt (cf. above and Lv 25^'- •*', Is 50'), the provisions for the humane treatment of Heb. slaves, for their release in the seventh year (Ex 21'), or (with the land) at the Jubilee (Lv 25'""), are a further limitation of the rights of creditors. iv. Actual Practice.

— Apart from Neh 5 and the vague engagement in Neh 10" we do not read of these benevolent laws being observed. Probably, they were never consistently enforced as public law for any long period. When the Jews con- ceived themselves bound by the letter of the law, they at once devised a means of systematically evading the Deuteronomic rmzi^. This and other laws represent a standard favoured by public opinion and sometimes observed by generous and pious Israelites (Ezk IS').

Creditors generally took pledges, required sureties, exacted interest, and seized the land, family, and person of their debtors. Is 24' mentions the giver and taker of usury as social types. The warnings against suretyship (Pr 6' 111* 20" 22=»27") indicate severe treatment of debtors ; according to Pr 22' the borrower is the slave of the lender, and Jer 15'° indicates a bitter feeling between borrower and lender quite at variance with the ideal of charitable loans. B. Apocr. and NT.

— No actual case of debt occurs in either. Both, like OT, inculcate duty of lending and paying (Sir 29, Lk &^- ■», Ro 13«). Mt 6" suggests a generous treatment of debtors. Sir IS'' points out the danger of borrowing. In NT debt occurs chiefly in the parables, The Two Debtors (Lk 7"- «), the Two Creditors (Mt jgan») Iq jijg latter we find that, as in Greece and Rome, the slave could have property of his ONvn, and thus become a debtor to his master.

The treatment of a defaulter is entirely at his master's disposal. Here too, however, the person of the ordinary debtor may be seized for debt. In the iiarables of the Talents (Mt 25"-'") and Pounds (Lk 19""^), and the narratives of the Cleansing of the Temple (Mt21i"-, Mk ll'i>-'9,Lk 19«-«, Jn2""), we come upon the advanced commercial system of the Rom. Empire, with money-changers, bankers, and commercial usury, which Christ mentions with- out condemning.

In the parable of the Unjust Steward (Lk 16''") we trace a credit system in con- nexion witli agriculture. Interest is not con- demned in NT. LiTRRATCRB. — See oommentaries on passages cited, eep. Driver on Dt IS'-fl, and gectious on debt in Heb. Arch, of Bcnzinger and o( Nowaclc W. H. BENNETT.