Something lent or furnished on condition of being returned. Biblical legislation concerning loans prohibits creditors from charging interest to the needy (Exod 22:24; Lev 25:35-37; Deut 23:20). Numerous references depicting the plight of debtors, however, suggest that this prohibition was often violated (1Sam 22:2; Jer 15:10). Ezekiel brands creditors who take interest as wicked, while praising those who refrain as pious (Ezek 18:8, Ezek 18:13, Ezek 17, Ezek 22:12, cf. Ps 15:5). Biblical law also instituted a cyclical cancellation of debts by decreeing the remission of all outstanding loans in the Sabbatical (i.e., seventh) Year (Deut 15:1-11), though, again, it is not clear that this was actually followed with strict regularity. Biblical law also recognizes the right of lenders to take a pledge, with certain restrictions: creditors may not enter the debtor’s home to seize a pledge, but must wait outside (Deut 24:10-11); they may not seize what is needed for one’s daily living (Deut 24:6; Job 24:3); they may not seize the garment of a widow (Deut 24:17); and the pledged garment of the poor must be returned by nightfall (Deut 24:12-13; Exod 22:25-26; Amos 2:8). Other biblical materials, however, attest to the seizing of members of the defaulting debtor’s family and to the taking of real estate to secure and satisfy a loan (2Kgs 4:1; Isa 50:1; Neh 5:3-5; Matt 18:25). There are no laws regulating surety in the biblical materials, but references to the practice of surety are found (Gen 44:32; Prov 6:1; Prov 11:15; Prov 17:18; Prov 22:26-27; Prov 27:13).
