If thou lend money to [any of] my people [that is] poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
Ver. 25. Thou shalt not be to him as a usurer.] Heb., As an exacting creditor, Qui nullum diem gratis occidere creditori permittit. The usurer's money is to necessity, like cold water to a hot ague, that for a time refresheth, but prolongeth the disease.
Lay upon him usury.] Heb., Biting usury. Usurer's are men eaters. Psa 14:4 Like pickrels in a pond, or sharks in the sea, that devour the lesser fishes. These ostriches can digest any metal, especially money. Aristotle in one page condemneth the usurer and the dicer; a and yet some Christians blush at neither.
a Arist., Ethic, lib. iv. cap. 1.