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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Matthew 25:27 - 25:27
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Put (βαλεῖν)
Lit., throw or fling down, as one would throw a bag of coin upon the exchanger's table.
Exchangers (τραπεζίταις)
Taking their name from the table or counter at which they sat (τράπεζα). The Jewish bankers bore precisely the same name.
Usury (τόκῳ)
A very graphic word, meaning first child-birth, and then offspring. Hence of interest, which is the produce or offspring of capital. Originally it was only what was paid for the use of money; hence usury; but it became synonymous with extortionate interest. Rev., better, with interest. The Jewish law distinguished between interest and increase. In Rome very high interest seems to have been charged in early times. Practically usury was unlimited. It soon became the custom to charge monthly interest at one per cent a month. During the early empire legal interest stood at eight per cent., but in usurious transactions it was lent at twelve, twenty-four, and even forty-eight. The Jewish bankers of Palestine and elsewhere were engaged in the same undertakings. The law of Moses denounced usury in the transactions of Hebrews with Hebrews, but permitted it in dealing with strangers (Deu 23:19, Deu 23:20; Psa 15:5).