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Proverbs challenges the wealth gained from interest of the kind regulated by Hammurabi's laws. Treating loans as help for a struggling neighbor makes a fortune unjust when the lender profits from the poverty the loan was supposed to relieve.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi 1:101
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
78 If a merchant lends grain at interest, he shall take one hundred ka of grain per gur as interest, a rate of one-third; if he lends silver at interest, he shall take thirty-six barleycorns per shekel of silver, a rate of one-fifth. 79 If a man who owes an interest-bearing loan has no silver to repay it, the merchant shall take grain and silver according to the royal edict, with interest for the year at sixty ka per gur; if the merchant tries to raise and collect the interest beyond one hundred ka of grain per gur, or beyond thirty-six barleycorns per shekel of silver, he forfeits whatever he lent.
Proverbs 28:8
Hebrew Bible
6 A poor person who walks in his integrity is better than one who is perverse in his ways even though he is rich. 7 The one who keeps the law is a discerning child, but a companion of gluttons brings shame to his parents. 8 The one who increases his wealth by increasing interest gathers it for someone who is gracious to the needy. 9 The one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. 10 The one who leads the upright astray in an evil way will himself fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good. 11 A rich person is wise in his own opinion, but a discerning poor person can evaluate him properly.
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Notes and References
“... 28:8. exorbitant interest rates. The law forbade charging interest on money or commodities loaned to fellow Israelites (see comment on Ex 22:25). It was lawful to charge interest in transactions with non-Israelites (Deut 23:20), and there is ample evidence of interest rates as high as 20 percent in Hammurabi’s Code (see the comment on Ex 22:25). Usury as a means of building one’s own fortune was considered inappropriate for Israelites, since loans were designed to aid one’s fellow, not to take advantage of his financial difficulties (see comment on Neh 5:7). ...”
Walton, John H.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
(p. 569) InterVarsity Press, 2000
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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