Covenant Matters and Honest Dealings (Deuteronomy 23:19-25).
The section on what should be welcomed and what should not was then followed by the approach to covenant responsibilities fulfilled out of honest goodness; such as not taking from the poor interest on loans (Deuteronomy 23:19-20), not taking from God was has been avowed to Him (Deuteronomy 23:21-23), and not taking from their neighbours what belongs to them (Deuteronomy 23:24-25). Honesty was required in all their affairs. There is the presumption in the first that the poor will have loans made available to them, in the second that freewill offerings will be made available for others to partake of, and in the third of the making available to all of ‘ready meals' from growing grapes and grain (Deuteronomy 23:24-25). The three are thus closely connected by the thought of honesty of purpose and a readiness to provide.
Lending On Interest Allowable Only To Foreigners (Deuteronomy 23:19-20).
Lending by one Israelite to another on interest was not to be allowed. Such borrowing would normally be by those in desperate straits, for it was to be an agricultural society. To add interest would be to make such a person's situation worse. The debt must not be added to in this way. (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36-37). But it covered all such loans. This regulation is unique in the Ancient Near East.
‘ You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of silver, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent on interest,'
The principle of not charging interest (or any extra payment) applied to all lending whether of silver or of goods or of food. Such were to be lent freely out of gratitude to Yahweh (compare Deuteronomy 15:1-11). This did not necessarily indicate extortionate interest, although interest was usually very high in those days, it signified anything that would increase the debt. The helping hand must not be accompanied by the grasping fist. Any loan was to be an expression of love to Yahweh. Such an offering was acceptable to Yahweh.
‘ To a foreigner you may lend on interest, but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land to which you go in to possess it.'
It was permissible to lend on interest to foreigners, demonstrating that there was nothing inherently wrong in lending on interest. In that case it would be commercial. The point was that advantage should not be taken of a fellow-Israelite's hard luck. But they had no such covenant responsibility towards foreigners, and the foreigners would mainly be merchants and traders (which did not, however, justify extortionate interest rates). Then Yahweh their God would bless them in all that they put their hand to in the land ‘which they were entering in order to possess it'. They would from this see how Yahweh was the great lender, He was ‘giving' them the land, they must behave in the same way towards the poor, and Yahweh Himself would then reward them.
Vows To Yahweh Must Be Honoured But Are Not Demanded.
‘ When you shall vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin in you.'
To make a vow to Yahweh was a serious matter. Once made there should be no hesitation about fulfilling it. There was provision for those who made unauthorised vows, for example a rash vow by a young woman or a wife (Numbers 30:4-5; Numbers 30:8 etc.). Apart from this Yahweh would expect the vow to be fulfilled, and not to fulfil it would be a breach of the covenant.
‘ But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you.'
However, it is made quite clear that vows were not demanded. They were totally a matter of freewill and love for Yahweh. There was no breach of covenant for the one who never made a vow.
‘ What is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to Yahweh your God, a freewill-offering, which you have promised with your mouth.'
However, once a vow of a freewill offering had been made, it was expected that it would be fulfilled. Note how the vow is seen as connected with and accompanied by a freewill offering, a ‘peace/wellbeing offering'. Apart from anything else a good number of people would benefit from the freewill offering, from which a feast would be prepared for family and friends, not to overlook Levites (Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:17; Leviticus 7:16-20; Leviticus 22:21-22; Leviticus 23:38; Numbers 15:3; Numbers 29:39). What was promised with the lips, and came from the mouth, must be observed (compare Numbers 30:2). A man could not get credit to himself by his vow, and then change his mind afterwards.
One of the prime requirements for those who would enter Yahweh's presence was that having given their word they fulfilled it, even to their own cost (Psalms 15:4), an attitude we could do well to heed.