Deuteronomy 23 Business

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not charge a fellow Israelite interest, whether on money or food or anything else that may earn interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a fellow Israelite, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.

21 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

24 If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25 If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.​

This is from the easy English commentary.

Israelites sometimes lent money to other Israelites. But they must not charge people for money that they lent. Usually they lent money because people were poor. The Israelites could charge money for what they lent to foreigners. That was because foreigners were usually merchants or traders. They were not poor. They used the money for their business. Jesus told his followers to lend and to expect nothing back. (See Luke 6:35.)

Anybody was free to promise something to God. But he was also free not to promise something. However, if he did promise something, he must keep his promise. And he must not postpone the day when he did that.

The law allowed people to pick grapes. And they could pick from the fields the part of corn that contained seeds. People could pick them when they were hungry. But they must not take more than they could eat. That would rob their neighbour. The Pharisees spoke badly about Jesus’ followers. But Jesus said that they could eat the corn. (See Luke 6:1-5.) Those laws taught about how to look after other people.

This is from Bibletrack.org.

Hebrew bankers? NO! It's tough to make an income without interest. However, one could lend to non-Hebrews with interest. And another law: Don't promise it (make a vow) if you can't keep it in verses 21-23. We find these vows dealt with in Leviticus 27 and Numbers 30 (see notes).

And how about those poor people? Eat what you want out of the vineyard, but don't you dare carry any of it away in anything but your stomach! And regarding the corn field, only take what you can pluck by hand.

Incidentally, the Pharisees accused the disciples of Jesus of breaking the law when they gathered corn on the Sabbath day for personal consumption (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5,). They accused them of reaping corn on the Sabbath. We see from this passage of scripture that doing so in the field itself was simply feeding oneself, not reaping.


I've always wondered about the disciples in the grain field. I've always wondered why taking the grain was not stealing. I noticed that they were never charged with theft, only harvesting on the Sabbath. I told myself that the theft charge wasn't as great so they dropped it..... but now I see that the act of taking the grain was ok.... it was legal for travelers to gather enough to eat from the fields.

We don't have a law like that.... taking a head or two of corn from the field as you pass is illegal here and now.

:coffee:
 
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