another Israelite you may not charge interest’’ (Deuteronomy
23:19–20 [23:20–21 in Hebrew Bibles]).Professor Goldingay states—in contrast to what Rabbi Kanefsky
stated—that the passage quoted above explicitly states that Israelites are
permitted to impose interest in lending to a foreigner, someone who is not a
member of ‘‘the people.’’ This is an example of a number of obligations that
did not apply to foreigners.
Beyond Moses’s (pp) teaching, Proverbs 28:8 promises that someone
who makes a profit by lending with interest ‘‘gathers it for another who is
kind to the poor’’ (i.e., they will not see the profit themselves). It is a per-
sonal experience of something that the prophet Habakkuk (pp) envisages
for the leading world power of his day. Psalm 15 asks the question,
LORD, who may abide in your tent?—(i.e., stay in your presence).
The answer includes the general requirement of a life of integrity and
truthfulness, and also some concrete expectations, such as avoiding slander,
keeping oaths, refusing bribes—and not lending money with interest. The
prophet Ezekiel (pp) speaks in similar terms, listing obligations that people
should fulfill if they wish God to treat them as righteous, such as not wor-
shiping by means of images, not defiling their neighbors’ wives, not robbing
people—and not lending with interest (Ezekiel 18:8, 13, 17). Ezekiel implies
that people were not fulfilling these obligations and later makes explicit that
the well-to-do in Jerusalem have committed many of the wrongs he lists,
including this one having to do with lending with interest (22:12).
Professor Goldingay goes further to say that Christians tend to under-
stand Moses’s (pp) teaching as ‘‘law,’’ but the wordTorahhas broader
meaning. While Moses’s (pp) Torah or teaching includes regulations that
look designed for quasilegal literalimplementation, other material in the
writings look more like illustrations of a particular lifestyle. We would miss
the point if we took it legally—we might fulfill the law’s letter, but not its
inner demand [the spirit of the law]. Similar issues are raised by Jesus’s (pp)
Sermon on the Mount.
Exodus 22 begins ‘‘If you lend... ,’’ but it presupposes that you will
do so. To refuse to lend would contravene other exhortations regarding
concern for the needy. The point is explicit in Deuteronomy 15, which urges
people to lend generously to poor members of their ‘‘family.’’ Righteous
people do well in life and are therefore in a position to give and to lend and
thus to be a blessing (Psalm 37:25–26). Things go well for the person who
deals generously and lends (Psalm 112:5).
The Faith-Based Judeo-Christian-Islamic Foundation 29