Exodus 22:25

Summary

Exodus 22:25 sets out a conditional case regulating loans of money to a poor member of the community: if such a loan (Ke.sef, "money", H3701G) is made, the lender must not act like a creditor pressing for repayment, and must not impose interest (Ne.shekh, "interest", H5392) on the loan.

Key words

• tal.Veh ("you will lend to", H3867B) — Hiphil (causative) imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular: the causative stem indicates "causing to borrow," i.e., extending a loan, not simply giving.
• 'a.Ni ("poor [person]", H6041) — masculine singular adjective with definite article he. ("the", H9009), specifying the object of the loan as "the poor one," a defined category within 'a.M-i ("my people", H5971A + suffix "my").
• no.Sheh ("a creditor", H5383) — Qal active participle, masculine singular, describing an ongoing role/behavior ("the one demanding/pressing"), used with the preposition ke. ("like", H9004) to form a simile: "you must not be to him like a creditor."
• te.si.Mu-n ("you must put", H7760I) — Qal imperfect, 2nd masculine plural, with paragogic nun (H9013) adding emphasis; shifts grammatical number from singular (tal.Veh, "you" singular) to plural, addressing a broader collective audience for this specific prohibition.
• Ne.shekh ("interest", H5392) — masculine singular noun, the direct object of "you must not put... upon him," specifying what may not be imposed.

What the text says

The verse opens with the conditional particle 'im- ("if", H0518A) governing a protasis: Ke.sef tal.Veh 'et-'a.M-i 'et-he.-'a.Ni 'i.Ma-kh, "if money you lend [to] my people, the poor [one] with you." Both objects — "my people" and "the poor" — are marked by the direct object marker 'et (H0853), and the second phrase (he.-'a.Ni 'i.Ma-kh, "the poor with you") appears to specify or restate the first, narrowing "my people" to the poor person residing among the addressee.

The apodosis contains two prohibitions, each introduced by lo' ("not", H3808) plus an imperfect verb. The first, lo'-tih.Yeh lo kke.no.Sheh ("you must not be to him like a creditor"), uses the Qal participle no.Sheh in a comparative construction: the addressee is not forbidden from lending, but from adopting the manner or role of a pressing creditor. The second prohibition, lo'-te.si.Mu-n 'a.Lav Ne.shekh ("you must not put upon him interest"), shifts to plural address via the paragogic nun on te.si.Mu-n, broadening the command from the singular lender addressed earlier to a wider plural group, before naming the specific practice forbidden: placing Ne.shekh ("interest") upon the borrower.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'a.M-i ("my people") plus he.-'a.Ni ("the poor") as τῷ ἀδελφῷ τῷ πενιχρῷ ("the brother, the poor one"), introducing "brother" where the Hebrew has "my people." The Vulgate follows the Hebrew structure more closely with populo meo pauperi ("my people, poor"). For no.Sheh ("creditor"), the LXX uses the participle κατεπείγων ("pressing/oppressing"), while the Vulgate has exactor ("collector/enforcer"), both interpretive renderings of the comparative role described by the Hebrew participle.