(לה) וְכִֽי־יָמ֣וּךְ אָחִ֔יךָ וּמָ֥טָה יָד֖וֹ עִמָּ֑ךְ וְהֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתָּ בּ֔וֹ גֵּ֧ר וְתוֹשָׁ֛ב וָחַ֖י עִמָּֽךְ׃
(35) If your kinsman, being in straits, comes under your authority, and you hold him as though a resident alien, let him live by your side:
(לו) אַל־תִּקַּ֤ח מֵֽאִתּוֹ֙ נֶ֣שֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּ֔ית וְיָרֵ֖אתָ מֵֽאֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וְחֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ עִמָּֽךְ׃
(36) do not exact from him advance or accrued interest, but fear your God. Let him live by your side as your kinsman.
(לז) אֶ֨ת־כַּסְפְּךָ֔ לֹֽא־תִתֵּ֥ן ל֖וֹ בְּנֶ֑שֶׁךְ וּבְמַרְבִּ֖ית לֹא־תִתֵּ֥ן אָכְלֶֽךָ׃
(37) Do not lend him your money at advance interest, or give him your food at accrued interest.
(כד) אִם־כֶּ֣סֶף ׀ תַּלְוֶ֣ה אֶת־עַמִּ֗י אֶת־הֶֽעָנִי֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ לֹא־תִהְיֶ֥ה ל֖וֹ כְּנֹשֶׁ֑ה לֹֽא־תְשִׂימ֥וּן עָלָ֖יו נֶֽשֶׁךְ׃
(24) If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act toward them as a creditor; exact no interest from them.
(כ) לֹא־תַשִּׁ֣יךְ לְאָחִ֔יךָ נֶ֥שֶׁךְ כֶּ֖סֶף נֶ֣שֶׁךְ אֹ֑כֶל נֶ֕שֶׁךְ כָּל־דָּבָ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִשָּֽׁךְ׃
(20) You shall not deduct interest from loans to your countrymen, whether in money or food or anything else that can be deducted as interest;
(כא) לַנָּכְרִ֣י תַשִּׁ֔יךְ וּלְאָחִ֖יךָ לֹ֣א תַשִּׁ֑יךְ לְמַ֨עַן יְבָרֶכְךָ֜ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ בְּכֹל֙ מִשְׁלַ֣ח יָדֶ֔ךָ עַל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה בָא־שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃ (ס)
(21) but you may deduct interest from loans to foreigners. Do not deduct interest from loans to your countrymen, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
ולוין מהן ומלוין אותן ברבית וכן בגר תושב מלוה ישראל מעותיו של עכו"ם מדעת העכו"ם אבל לא מדעת ישראל:
And one may borrow money from them and one may lend money to them with interest. And similarly, with regard to a gentile who resides in Eretz Yisrael and observes the seven Noahide mitzvot [ger toshav], one may borrow money from him with interest and lend money to him with interest, since he is not a Jew. Also, a Jew may serve as a middleman and lend a gentile’s money to another Jew with the knowledge of the gentile, but not with the knowledge of a Jew, i.e., the middleman himself, as the Gemara will explain.
(משלי כח, ח) מרבה הונו בנשך ותרבית לחונן דלים יקבצנו מאי לחונן דלים אמר רב כגון שבור מלכא
§ Apropos the discussion concerning the halakhot of interest, the Gemara cites several aggadic statements on the subject. The verse states: “He who augments his substance by interest [beneshekh] and increase [vetarbit] gathers it for him who has pity on the poor” (Proverbs 28:8). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase “him who has pity on the poor”? How does this money ultimately reach someone who has pity on the poor? Rav said: This is referring to one such as King Shapur, for ultimately the money will reach the king, who provides for the poor from the possessions of the one who lends with interest.
אמר רב נחמן אמר לי הונא לא נצרכא אלא דאפילו רבית דעובד כוכבים איתיביה רבא לרב נחמן (דברים כג, כא) לנכרי תשיך מאי תשיך לאו תשוך לא תשיך
Rav Naḥman said: Rav Huna said to me that this verse is necessary only to state that even interest that a Jew took from a gentile will ultimately reach the government treasury, and the one who took it will not be successful. Rava raised an objection to the statement of Rav Naḥman: The verse states: “Unto a gentile tashikh” (Deuteronomy 23:21), which indicates that it is permitted for a Jew to take interest from a gentile, as what is the meaning of “tashikh”? Doesn’t it mean the same as tishokh, take interest, thereby teaching that one may take interest from a gentile? The Gemara refutes this claim: No, it means to pay interest, meaning that you must pay him interest.
לא סגי דלאו הכי לאפוקי אחיך דלא
The Gemara asks: Is it not sufficient without this? In other words, can the verse actually require Jews to borrow money from a gentile and to pay him interest? This cannot be. The Gemara answers: It does not mean that borrowing money with interest is a mitzva; rather, the verse mentions paying interest to a gentile in order to exclude your brother, to teach that although one may pay interest to a gentile, one may not pay interest to a Jew.
אחיך בהדיא כתב ביה ולאחיך לא תשיך לעבור עליו בעשה ולא תעשה
The Gemara challenges this explanation of the verse: The prohibition against paying interest to your brother is written explicitly in the continuation of that same verse in Deuteronomy: “Unto your brother you shall not lend with interest.” Consequently, there is no need to learn this halakha from an inference. The Gemara responds: It is necessary in order to teach that if one pays interest to a Jew he violates both the positive mitzva to pay interest to a gentile but not to a Jew, and the prohibition against paying interest to a Jew.
איתיביה לוין מהן ומלוין אותם ברבית וכן בגר תושב אמר רב חייא בריה דרב הונא לא נצרכא אלא
Rava raised an objection to the statement of Rav Naḥman based on another difficulty in the mishna, which teaches: One may borrow money from them and one may lend money to them with interest. And similarly, with regard to a ger toshav, one may borrow money from him and lend money to him with interest, since he is not a Jew. The mishna indicates that a Jew may lend money with interest to a gentile ab initio. Rav Ḥiyya, son of Rav Huna, said: This ruling of the mishna is necessary only
בכדי חייו
to teach that one may lend money with interest to a ger toshav only to the extent required to provide a livelihood to the lender, but not to do so as a regular business.
רבינא אמר הכא בתלמידי חכמים עסקינן טעמא מאי גזור רבנן שמא ילמוד ממעשיו וכיון דתלמיד חכם הוא לא ילמוד ממעשיו
Ravina said: Here in the mishna we are dealing with Torah scholars, for whom it is permitted to lend money to a gentile with interest. The Gemara explains: What is the reason the Sages decreed that one should not lend money to a gentile with interest? The reason is that perhaps the Jew will learn from the gentile’s actions. Continuous interactions with gentiles for the sake of financial dealings may have a negative influence on a Jew. And since in this case the lender is a Torah scholar, he will not learn from the gentile’s actions.
איכא דמתני לה להא דרב הונא אהא דתני רב יוסף (שמות כב, כד) אם כסף תלוה את עמי את העני עמך עמי ונכרי עמי קודם עני ועשיר עני קודם ענייך ועניי עירך ענייך קודמין עניי עירך ועניי עיר אחרת עניי עירך קודמין
There are those who teach that which Rav Huna said in connection with that which Rav Yosef taught: The verse states: “If you lend money to any of My people, even to the poor person who is with you” (Exodus 22:24). The term “My people” teaches that if one of My people, i.e., a Jew, and a gentile both come to borrow money from you, My people take precedence. The term “the poor person” teaches that if a poor person and a rich person come to borrow money, the poor person takes precedence. And from the term: “Who is with you,” it is derived: If your poor person, meaning one of your relatives, and one of the poor of your city come to borrow money, your poor person takes precedence. If it is between one of the poor of your city and one of the poor of another city, the one of the poor of your city takes precedence.
אמר מר עמי ונכרי עמי קודם פשיטא אמר רב נחמן אמר לי הונא לא נצרכא דאפילו לנכרי ברבית ולישראל בחנם
The Master said above: If one of My people and a gentile come to you for a loan, My people take precedence. The Gemara asks: Isn’t this obvious? Is there any reason to think that a gentile would take precedence over a Jew? Rav Naḥman said that Rav Huna said to me: It is necessary only to teach that even if the choice is to lend money to a gentile with interest or to a Jew for free, without interest, one must still give preference to the Jew and lend the money to him, even though this will entail a lack of profit.
כספו לא נתן בנשך אפילו ברבית עובד כוכבים
“He neither gives his money with interest”; meaning he does not lend money with interest even to a gentile, which is permitted by Torah law.
Ramb"m laws of Malveh veLoveh chapter 5
1. One may lend money to and borrow money from a gentile and a resident alien at interest, as implied by Deuteronomy 23:20: "Do not offer interest to your brother." We may infer: Offering - and taking - interest from "your brother" is prohibited; from people at large, by contrast, it is permitted.
It is a positive mitzvah to lend money to a gentile at interest, as Ibid:21 states: "You may offer interest to a gentile." The Oral Tradition teaches that this is a positive commandment. This is the Scriptural Law.
2. Our Sages, however, forbade a Jew from lending money to a gentile at a fixed rate of interest beyond what is necessary for him to earn his livelihood. They enacted this decree lest, the lender learn from the gentile's deeds as a result of the large extent of his contact with him. Therefore even according to the Sages, it is permitted to borrow money from a gentile at interest, for the Jew will flee from him, and will not frequent his company.
Torah scholars will not learn from a gentile's conduct. . Hence, it is permitted for them to lend money to a gentile at interest, even to make a profit. Any transactions in the category of "the shade of interest" that involve gentiles are permitted for everyone.
1. One may lend money to and borrow money from a gentile and a resident alien at interest, as implied by Deuteronomy 23:20: "Do not offer interest to your brother." We may infer: Offering - and taking - interest from "your brother" is prohibited; from people at large, by contrast, it is permitted.
It is a positive mitzvah to lend money to a gentile at interest, as Ibid:21 states: "You may offer interest to a gentile." The Oral Tradition teaches that this is a positive commandment. This is the Scriptural Law.
2. Our Sages, however, forbade a Jew from lending money to a gentile at a fixed rate of interest beyond what is necessary for him to earn his livelihood. They enacted this decree lest, the lender learn from the gentile's deeds as a result of the large extent of his contact with him. Therefore even according to the Sages, it is permitted to borrow money from a gentile at interest, for the Jew will flee from him, and will not frequent his company.
Torah scholars will not learn from a gentile's conduct. . Hence, it is permitted for them to lend money to a gentile at interest, even to make a profit. Any transactions in the category of "the shade of interest" that involve gentiles are permitted for everyone.
(א) שמותר להלוות לעובד כוכבים ולמומר ברבית. ובו ג' סעיפים:
דבר תורה מותר להלוות לעובד כוכבים ברבית וחכמים אסרוהו אם לא כדי חייו או לת"ח או ברבית דרבנן והאידנא מותר (בכל ענין) (הטור):
(1) That it is permitted to lend to gentiles and apostates with usury, in three parts: The Law declared it is permitted to lend to gentiles with usury, but the Sages proscribed it except for one's living or by a scholar or if it is only rabbinical usury. And nowadays it is permitted.
Chokhmat Adam
מ"הת מותר להלוות לנכרי ברבית וללות מהן כדכתיב לנכרי תשיך. ובזמן התנאים אסרו חכמים באיסור גמור. אך בזמ"הז התירו. אבל ראוי לכל איש ישר הולך אם באפשר לו שימנע את עצמו גם מהלוואת נכרי וישלך על ה' יהבו:
Free Translation
From the Torah its permitted to lend a Non Jew with usury and to borrow as it is written "Lnochri Tasich" In the times of the Tannoim it was forbidden by the sages a complete Issur. It is worthy that any upright going person if possible to hold himself back from lending [with interest] to a Non Jew and place his worries on Hashem.
מ"הת מותר להלוות לנכרי ברבית וללות מהן כדכתיב לנכרי תשיך. ובזמן התנאים אסרו חכמים באיסור גמור. אך בזמ"הז התירו. אבל ראוי לכל איש ישר הולך אם באפשר לו שימנע את עצמו גם מהלוואת נכרי וישלך על ה' יהבו:
Free Translation
From the Torah its permitted to lend a Non Jew with usury and to borrow as it is written "Lnochri Tasich" In the times of the Tannoim it was forbidden by the sages a complete Issur. It is worthy that any upright going person if possible to hold himself back from lending [with interest] to a Non Jew and place his worries on Hashem.