|
|
Post by Mark on Sept 11, 2008 4:05:08 GMT -8
Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
(Deuteronomy 23:19-20)
If we are to treat a stranger as one who is born among us (Leviticus 19:34), is this passage conflicting with other Scripture?
Is it okay to "stick it" to those who are outside of the community of faith?
|
|
|
|
Post by Prodigal Girl on Sept 11, 2008 4:33:33 GMT -8
I think the key word here is "may". You "may" lend at interest to strangers. Just as you "may" divorce. Do you understand where I am coming from with this?
I also think that there is a difference between a "stranger" who has converted, and the stranger who has not.
I have read that there were periods of time when employment was so restricted to Jews that the only way they could survive, was to lend money at interest. So it became kind of a traditional thing to lend to "Gentiles".
There always have been and still are, segments of certain cultures where certain jobs are relegated/restricted depending on which ethnicity (or gender) you are.
|
|
|
|
Post by lawrenceofisrael on Dec 15, 2008 2:31:19 GMT -8
I guess the reason why one is allowed to do so is because the strangers ( who were not permanently dwelling in Israel) first of all weren´t necessarily trustworthy and probably took a long time to pay the money back ( when being in other areas for a time).
This meant that it´d often take a long time to where you´d miss some money and probably would have to make debts yourself. I think it´s only fair if you get some extra money back then.
Peace and blessings be upon you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mark on Dec 15, 2008 5:35:44 GMT -8
This still does not explain the apparent contradiction: in one place it commands that we are to treat the stranger with the same law that we do the native born; but here, we are told that it is okay to treat the stranger differently.
|
|
|
|
Post by Eliora on Dec 20, 2008 6:22:30 GMT -8
Well actually you're supposed to treat the stranger that lives among you as a native-born. So maybe it's only okay to lend at usury to strangers that don't live among you... in other words, non-Jews that haven't joined themselves to Israel.
|
|
|
|
Post by lawrenceofisrael on Dec 20, 2008 7:13:27 GMT -8
Exactly Eliora. That´s what it is all about. The german translation differs between Stranger (One who is not a born Israelite but lives with the God of Israel and is circumcised) and the foreigner ( a paganist who comes to Israel for trade etc.
|
|
