Biblical Law Against Usury Cover Image

Il diritto biblico contro l’usura
Biblical Law Against Usury

A Comparative Study of Tora Passages (Ex 22:24; Lv 25:35-38; Dtr 23:20-21)

Author(s): Anna Rambiert-Kwaśniewska
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Jewish studies, Theology and Religion, History of Judaism, Biblical studies
Published by: Uniwersytet Opolski
Keywords: Usura; nešek and tarbît; Biblical Law; Holiness Code; Covenant Code; Deuteronomic Code;

Summary/Abstract: Among other moral or law regulations in ancient Close East, biblical law against usury should be treated as an exception due to the fact, that Tora recognized borrowing money at interest, especially to the compatriots, as definitively wrong. In order to present this exceptional status of biblical codifications, a careful exegesis as well as insightful analysis of terms nešek and tarbît has been performed. Both words turned out to be unclear when it comes to their origin and semantics. Besides mentioned analysis, a comparison of passages from three different Codes of Pentateuch has been performed. All above led to an attempt of explaining if – and how – differences between codifications can be brought together, as well as answering the question: why all three regulations were treated by Jews as obligatory, despite a serious internal incompatibilities.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 85-96
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: English, Italian