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Proverbs 28:8

Interest, unjust gain and the poor

"He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor." Two Hebrew words for interest, neshekh ("bite") and tarbit ("increase"), are those of Leviticus 25:36–37. The library's Hebrew shows a ketiv/qere in the second word. The witnesses agree in sense.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

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✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The proverb as first composedCollections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed
  3. Leviticus 25:36 (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Proverbs
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation

    Every witness, in order

    1. Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)

      The proverb as first composed

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).

    2. Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592

      Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

      Qui coacervat divitias usuris et fœnore, liberali in pauperes congregat eas.

      Latin position: Proverbs 28:8. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398).

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      מַרְבֶּ֣ה ה֭וֹנוֹ בְּנֶ֣שֶׁךְ ובתרבית וְתַרְבִּ֑ית לְחוֹנֵ֖ן דַּלִּ֣ים יִקְבְּצֶֽנּוּ׃

      One who increases his wealth by interest and by increase [ketiv: and by increase / qere: and increase] gathers it for one who is gracious to the poor

      Hebrew position: Proverbs 28:8.

    4. AD 1008

      Leviticus 25:36 (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      אַל־תִּקַּ֤ח מֵֽאִתּוֹ֙ נֶ֣שֶׁךְ וְתַרְבִּ֔ית וְיָרֵ֖אתָ מֽ͏ֵאֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וְחֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ עִמָּֽךְ׃

      Take no interest (neshekh) or increase (tarbit) from him, but fear your God

      The law behind the proverb's two words.

    5. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

    6. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

      Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Proverbs

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Augmenter sa richesse par l’usure et les biens illicites, c’est thésauriser pour l’homme miséricordieux envers les pauvres.

      Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 28:8. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). In chapters 24–31 the Greek follows a different order of collections, which the digital file squeezes into Hebrew slots; the matching line was found by content. No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies.

    What changed, and why

    Torah forbids taking interest from a poor fellow Israelite (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35–37; Deuteronomy 23:19–20, which permits it from a foreigner). Psalm 15:5 counts the one who "putteth not out his money to usury" among those who may dwell on God's holy hill. Ezekiel 18:8, 13 lists interest among the sins of the wicked. Nehemiah 5:1–13 shows creditors taking fields and children in a famine.

    In the ancient Near East interest was normal and often high (Hammurabi's laws set maximums of about 20% on silver and 33⅓% on grain). Israel's law treated loans to the poor as charity, not business. The proverb says such gains end up with someone who shows mercy to the poor: the money returns to its proper purpose. Later Jewish and Christian debates about usury and modern lending draw on these texts but go beyond them.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe library's Hebrew shows a ketiv/qere in 28:8.
    • Independently documentedTorah forbade interest on loans to poor Israelites.
    • Conflicts with current evidenceProverbs 28:8 addresses modern banking.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Proverbs 28: The Righteous Are Bold as a Lion →Proverbs 28 is a chapter about justice and power. It opens "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion" (v. 1). It speaks often of torah, "the law" (vv. 4, 7, 9), of the poor and of those who exploit them (vv. 3, 6, 8, 11, 15–16, 27), of rulers good and bad (vv. 2, 12, 15–16, 28), of interest-taking (v. 8), and of confession: "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (v. 13). Several sayings warn against haste to get rich (vv. 20, 22).