| Exodus 22:25
| If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor, that dwelleth with thee, thou shalt not be hard upon them as an extortioner, nor oppress them with usuries.
| Poor. Such are often most in want. Usury is not lawful, even with respect to the rich. The Hebrew terms it a bite. (Menochius) --- "What is usury, said Cato, but to kill a man." The Romans required thieves to restore double, but usurers were to render four times as much as they had taken. (Varro, Rustic. I.) --- Restitution is prescribed, 2 Esdras 5:11. Some Calvinists have stood up in its defence, in opposition to the Scriptures, fathers, and Councils of the Catholic Church. Lend, hoping to gain nothing by it, Luke 6:35. "Let him who loves money,.…lend (in the persons of the poor) to Him who says, Give, and it shall be given to you." (St. Leo, ser.) The Jews themselves have reprobated usury in any use. (Calmet)
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