Lexical Summary nashah: To lend, to borrow, to exact, to deceive Original Word: נָשָׁה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance creditor, exact, extortioner, lend, usurer, lend on taker on usury A primitive root (rather identical with nashah, in the sense of nasha'); to lend or (by reciprocity) borrow on security or interest -- creditor, exact, extortioner, lend, usurer, lend on (taker on) usury. see HEBREW nashah see HEBREW nasha' NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origina prim. root Definition to lend, become a creditor NASB Translation creditor (4), creditors (1), exacting (1), lending (1), lent (2), loaned (1), make (1), make the loan (1). Topical Lexicon Root Usage and Canonical Distribution נָשָׁה is found thirteen times, exclusively in contexts that govern or describe the relationship between lender and debtor. From covenant legislation (Exodus, Deuteronomy) to historical narrative (2 Kings), post-exilic reform (Nehemiah), poetic lament (Psalms), prophetic oracle (Isaiah, Jeremiah), and eschatological judgment (Isaiah 24), the word gathers a consistent ethical field: the power held by a creditor and the divine demand that such power be used righteously. Covenant Legislation: Guardrails for Economic Power Exodus 22:25 sets the tone: “If you lend money to one of My people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest”. Here lending is permitted but tightly regulated to protect the vulnerable. Deuteronomy sharpens the same concern. A Sabbath-year remission is mandated: “Every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor” (Deuteronomy 15:2). Later, personal dignity must be respected even when securing collateral—“You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you” (Deuteronomy 24:11). Together these statutes reveal the heart of God: compassion, justice, and personal freedom outweigh commercial gain. Historical Narrative: A Widow, Her Sons, and the Prophetic Intervention In 2 Kings 4:1 the tragic consequences of unchecked debt reach their climax: a widow faces the loss of her sons to slavery. The same lexeme marks the creditor as the human agent of the crisis, while Elisha becomes the divine agent of deliverance. What the law envisioned—protection of the poor—had broken down; prophetic ministry steps in to restore God’s intention. Post-Exilic Reform: Nehemiah’s Confrontation After the exile, Nehemiah confronts the nobles: “You are exacting usury, each from his brother” (Nehemiah 5:7). Three rapid-fire uses of נָשָׁה (verses 7, 10, 11) show a community in which covenant identity is threatened by internal economic oppression. Nehemiah’s solution—public repentance, restitution, and oath—re-establishes social solidarity and demonstrates that spiritual renewal must touch financial practices. Worship and Wisdom: The Psalmic Curse Psalm 109:11 adds an imprecatory dimension: “May the creditor seize all he owns”. The psalmist invokes the power of the lender against the wicked, revealing that, in Israel’s thought world, the role could be either protective (when ruled by Torah) or punitive (when unleashed against the unrepentant). Prophetic Oracles: Cosmic Levelling and Redemptive Analogy Isaiah 24:2 folds creditor and debtor alike into a sweeping judgment: no status mitigates the coming desolation; economic distinctions collapse before divine holiness. In Isaiah 50:1 the motif becomes redemptive: “To which of My creditors did I sell you? … you were sold because of your sins”. The rhetorical question nullifies any claim against God’s people; their exile is moral, not financial. The vocabulary of debt prepares the way for the gospel proclamation that sin itself is a liability only God can cancel. Jeremiah’s Personal Lament: Innocence and Hostility Twice in Jeremiah 15:10 the prophet protests, “I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me”. His isolation underscores that social animosity can arise even when no literal debt exists; prophetic truth-telling provokes hostility more fierce than any financial quarrel. Theological Trajectory Toward the New Testament The Old Covenant’s strictures on lending anticipate the New Covenant’s deeper ethic of sacrificial generosity (Luke 6:34-35) and the climactic cancellation of sin-debt at the cross (Colossians 2:14). The creditor-debtor vocabulary of נָשָׁה lays the linguistic and conceptual groundwork for Jesus’ petition, “forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). Ministry and Discipleship Implications 1. Stewardship with Compassion: Lending remains a legitimate service, yet Scripture insists that the image-bearer across the table is never to be exploited. Contemporary Application Whether managing micro-loans in developing contexts or navigating consumer credit in affluent societies, the biblical ethic behind נָשָׁה calls for lending that advances human flourishing, honors covenant loyalty, and points unmistakably to the gracious God who releases every believer from the greatest debt of all. Forms and Transliterations וְהַ֨נֹּשֶׁ֔ה והנשה יַשֶּׁ֖ה ישה כְּנֹשֶׁ֑ה כַּנֹּשֶׁ֕ה כנשה מִנּוֹשַׁ֔י מנושי נ֭וֹשֶׁה נָֽשׁוּ־ נָשִׁ֥יתִי נֹשִׁ֑אים נֹשִׁ֥ים נֹשֶׁ֣ה נושה נשאים נשה נשו־ נשים נשיתי תַשֶּׁ֥ה תשה kan·nō·šeh kannōšeh kannoSheh kə·nō·šeh kənōšeh kenoSheh min·nō·wō·šay minnoShai minnōwōšay nā·šî·ṯî nā·šū- naShiti nashu nāšîṯî nāšū- nō·šeh nō·šim nō·šîm nō·wō·šeh Noosheh nōšeh noSheh noShim nōšim nōšîm nōwōšeh ṯaš·šeh tashSheh ṯaššeh veHannoSheh wə·han·nō·šeh wəhannōšeh yaš·šeh yashSheh yaššehLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Exodus 22:25 HEB: תִהְיֶ֥ה ל֖וֹ כְּנֹשֶׁ֑ה לֹֽא־ תְשִׂימ֥וּן NAS: you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge KJV: [that is] poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay INT: are not to act A creditor not lay Deuteronomy 15:2 Deuteronomy 24:10 Deuteronomy 24:11 2 Kings 4:1 Nehemiah 5:7 Nehemiah 5:10 Nehemiah 5:11 Psalm 109:11 Isaiah 24:2 Isaiah 50:1 Jeremiah 15:10 Jeremiah 15:10 13 Occurrences |
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