Bible Dictionary
Creditor
A creditor is one who lends money or seeks repayment of a debt. Biblical law protected poor debtors by restricting interest and requiring release of debts in the appointed year, though Scripture also records oppressive practices.
Definition
A creditor is one who lends money or seeks repayment of a loan. Biblical terminology also identifies the lender, the money-lender, and the one who claims repayment or interest from a debtor.
Biblical Usage
Old Testament law protected the poor debtor by forbidding interest in the specified case and restricting collection when the year of release was near. Other passages portray creditors as extortioners or oppressors, showing that actual practice did not always follow the ideal.
Historical Background
Debt was ideally incurred because of poverty, and legislation addressed the treatment of poor people. The creditor’s bad reputation arose from oppressive collection and the hardships imposed on the poor.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Loan]
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kred'-i-ter:</p><p>(a) nosheh, participle of nashah: Ex 22:24 (English translation: 25); 2Ki 4:1; Isa 50:1; translated "extortioner," Ps 109:11; "taker of usury," Isa 24:2 the King James Version;</p><p>(b) malweh, participle of lawah, Isa 24:2 the Revised Version (British and American), the King James Version "lender";</p><p>(c) ba`al mashsheh yadho: "lord of the loan of his hand," De 15:2;</p><p>(d) danistes: Lu 7:41, "creditor" the King James Version, "lender" the Revised Version (British and American); compare further danistos, Sirach 29:28, "lender" the King James Version, "money-lender" the Revised Version (British and American):</p><p>In the ideal social system of the Old Testament, debts are incurred only because of poverty, and the law protected the poor debtor from his creditor, who in Ex 22:25 is forbidden to demand interest, and in De 15:2 to exact payment in view of the nearness of the year of release. 2Ki 4:1 shows that the actual practice was not so considerate, and in consequence the creditor fell into bad repute. In Ps 109:11 he is the extortioner; in Pr 29:13 the oppressor is evidently the creditor, though a different word is used; compare also Pr 22:7. In Sirach 29:28 the importunity of the creditor is one of the hardships of the poor man of understanding. The actual practice of the Jews may be gathered from Ne 5:1 ff; Jer 34:8 ff; and Sirach 29:1-11.</p><p>See also DEBT.</p><p>Walter R. Betteridge</p>