Creditors

1. Defined. Phm 1:18.

2. Might demand

b. Security of others. Pr 6:1; 22:26.

c. Mortgages on property. Ne 5:3.

d. Bills or promissory notes. Lu 16:6,7.

3. To return before sunset, garments taken in pledge. Ex 22:26,27; De 24:12,13; Eze 18:7,12.

4. Prohibited from

a. Taking millstones in pledge. De 24:6.

b. Violently selecting pledges. De 24:10.

c. Exacting usury from brethren. Ex 22:25; Le 25:36,37.

d. Exacting debts from brethren during sabbatical year. De 15:2,3.

5. Might take interest from strangers. De 23:20.

6. Sometimes entirely remitted debts. Ne 5:10-12; Mt 18:27; Lu 7:42.

7. Often cruel in exacting debts. Ne 5:7-9; Job 24:3-9; Mt 18:28-30.

8. Often exacted debts

a. By selling the debtor or taking him for a servant. Mt 18:25; Ex 21:2.

b. By selling the debtor’s property. Mt 18:25.

c. By selling the debtor’s family. 2Ki 4:1; Job 24:9; Mt 18:25.

d. By imprisonment. Mt 5:25,26; 18:34.

e. From the sureties. Pr 11:15; 22:26,27.

9. Were often defrauded. 1Sa 22:2; Lu 16:5-7.

10. Illustrative of

a. God’s claim upon men. Mt 5:25,26; 18:23,25; Lu 7:41,47.

b. The demands of the law. Ga 5:3.