1. interest, usury — Masculine noun denoting interest or usury charged on a loan, consistently condemned in biblical law (Exod 22:24, Lev 25:36-37, Deut 23:20, Ezek 18:8,13,17, 22:12). The etymological connection to nashakh 'to bite' reflects the predatory nature of exploitative lending. Multilingual glosses are uniform: eng 'interest', spa 'interés/usura', arb 'ربا', kor '이자', swa 'riba', hin 'ब्याज'. The two clusters differ only by the presence of the preposition beth prefix ('with/for interest'), not by lexical meaning. 12×
AR["بِ-رِبًا","بِ-رِبَا","بِـ-الرِّبَا","رِباً","رِبًا","رِبَا-","رِبَا-طَعَامٍ","رِبَا-فِضَّةٍ"]·ben["-তে-সুদে;","-সুদে-এবং-","সুদ","সুদ।","সুদে","সুদে-"]·DE["Zins","Zins-von","[בנשך]","[נשך]","bei-interest","fuer-Zins","interest"]·EN["at-interest","by-interest","for-interest","in-the-interest","interest","interest-of"]·FR["dans-intérêt","dans-בנשך","interest","interest-de","intérêt","pour-interest"]·heb["ב-נשך","נשך"]·HI["पर-ब्याज","ब्याज","ब्याज-से","में-ब्याज","में-ब्याज-पर"]·ID["bunga","bunga-uang","dengan-bunga","dengan-riba","riba"]·IT["[בנשך]","[נשך]","in-da-interest","interest","interest-di","per-interest"]·jav["Kanthi-anakan","anakan","kalayan-renten","mawi-renten","mawi-riba","riba","riba."]·KO["~으로-이자","이자-로","이자로","이자로-","이자를","이자와"]·PT["a-juros","com-juros","juros","juros-de"]·RU["в-рост","лихву","под-процент","процент","процента","проценты","роста","ростом"]·ES["Con-usura","a-usura","con-interés","con-usura","interés","interés-de","usura"]·SW["Kwa-riba","kwa-riba","riba"]·TR["-de-faiz","faiz","faizi","faizle","faizle-"]·urd["-سود-پر","سود","سود-پر","سے-سود"]
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† נֶ֫שֶׁךְ n.[m.] interest, usury (lit. something bitten off);—נ׳ abs. Ex 22:24 +; cstr. Dt 23:20;—c. שִׂים עַל־ Ex 22:24 (E); c. לָקַח מִן Lv 25:36, הֵשִׁיב מִן Ez 18:17, לָקַח 22:12 (no prep.), בְּנֶשֶׁךְ Lv 25:37 at interest, so ψ 15:5 Ez 18:8, 13; בְּנ׳ Pr 28:8 by usury; as acc. cogn. Dt 23:20(×3).