Money or property of some kind owed to another person. Israelite law forbade charging fellow Israelites interest on loans (Exod 22:24; Deut 23:20; Lev 25:35-38). The prohibition against charging interest, however, was not observed (Prov 28:8; Ezek 18:8; Ezek 18:13; Ezek 18:17; Ezek 22:12; Neh 5:1-13; Matt 25:27; Luke 19:23). (Neh 5:1-13) speaks of the people as burdened with debts. Movable goods might be taken as a pledge to repay, though the law forbade taking a person’s means of livelihood (Deut 24:6-13). Such goods may have represented persons who stood to guarantee a pledge, often the debtor’s children, who would become enslaved to the creditor if the debt was not paid (2Kgs 4:1-7; Neh 5:2-7; Exod 22:24; Isa 50:1). Others could intervene as surety on behalf of an insolvent debtor and assume the responsibility for getting the debtor to pay or be liable to seizure themselves (Prov 6:3-5; Prov 20:16).
