Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• Romans 13:8

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 2 Corinthians 8:14
• 1 John 3:17
• Luke 3:11
• Luke 6:34-35
• Matthew 5:42
• Romans 12:13
• Romans 13:7
• 1 Timothy 6:18

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 15:1-3
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 15:6-8
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 23:20-21
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 22:13
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 22:24-26
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 25:35-37
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 3:27-28
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 11:15
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 19:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 22:26-27
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 28:8
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 37:21
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 112:5
  Jewish Commentary

Bible verses copyright: PUBLIC DOMAIN except in the United Kingdom, where a Crown Copyright applies to printing the KJV. See http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/queens-printers-patent

Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

There are several ways that we can be indebted to another person – some financial and some non-financial. In early days, unpaid debts were generally paid by the debtor working off his debt as an indentured servant. A person who owed a debt was not free of his work obligation until the debt was paid. In the mid nineteenth century, debtor’s prisons substantially replaced the practice of indentured servitude in the western world, and today, while there are no longer debtor’s prisons, owing a debt that one cannot pay nevertheless results in a bondage of obligation that God does not want us to have. That is why Romans 13:8 instructs us: “Don't owe anyone anything- except to love one another.” In today’s world, buying on credit for personal or business reasons is commonplace, which raises the question as to whether it is permissible for believers to borrow money or acquire property or services for which payment is deferred. The answer is complex because of the various kinds of loans and circumstances that exist. In general, I would say that collateralized loans are not biblically prohibited. Because the collateral is there to repay the loan should the lender not be able to repay it, a true debt (ie. an obligation without means of repayment) never really exists. I am of the opinion that, except for debt incurred in emergencies and for humanitarian reasons, unsecured debt with no clear means of repayment is what Romans 13:8 prohibits. The stated exception “to love one another” actually requires that we lend to people (especially to brothers) who are in need even when there is a risk of the loan not being repaid (see “Supportive Tanakh Scriptures” supra, and “Related Mitzvot in Volumes 1 & 2” infra). Typical of the kind of debt we are not to incur is that which is created by the elective use of credit cards where the borrower has no immediate means of repayment. Our desire to have things that are not necessary and that we cannot afford is what most often lures us into financial bondage, and is what Romans 13:8 is mostly speaking against.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 3

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Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

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Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 3

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 3