thinking bible.

You asked

how does this law's focus on lending compare with jesus's teaching on giving without expecting return?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20

You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. To a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to in the land into which you are entering to possess it.

This passage comes from the book of Deuteronomy, presented as Moses's final instructions to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. It's part of a collection of laws intended to establish a just and compassionate society among them.

What does it mean for your community to distinguish between how you treat insiders versus outsiders financially?

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Read alongside it

  • Exodus 22:25

    This earlier law also prohibits charging interest to the poor among the Israelites.

  • Leviticus 25:35-37

    This passage similarly instructs not to exploit a poor Israelite brother financially, including by taking interest.

  • Luke 6:34-35

    Jesus here explicitly encourages lending without expecting to be repaid, extending generosity beyond the community.

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