hand, Deut xv, 2: the Talmudic precepts on ioch pa- per are given in the Mishna, Baba Bathra, c 10) were, at least in the poet-exilian period, regularly in vogue (Tobit i, 17 ; Josephus, Ant. xvi, 10, 8 ; War, U, 17, 6; comp. xviii, 6, 8; Luke xvi, 6 sq.). Distraint was al- lowed, but under certain restrictions (Exod. xxii, 16 sq. ; Deut xxiv, 6, 10 sq.). See Plbdob. Severity against debtors being regarded as imperious among the Israelites (comp. Job xxii, 6 ; xxiv, 8), especially in the collection of debts, the law scarcely enjoined Buyihing dhrectly on the treatment of bankrupts ; it is merely indicated (Lev. xv, 89) that he who was total- ly insolvent might be sold into temporary bondage ni order to satisfy the debt by his wages. (On the rigor towards this class among the Romans, see Heineccius, Antiq. jur, Rom. iii, 80, 2. They were often subjected to the harshest usage as slaves, Livy, ii, 23; vi, 86; Gell. XX, 1, 19; Appul. Jtal. ix, p. 40, ed. Schweigh. In Athens, b^ore Solon's time, the creditor could even lay claim to the person of his debtor, Plutarch, Ft/. S6L c. 15 ; later, there prevailed a summaiy process of seiz- ure, which the creditor himself was authorized to exe- cute [see Schl&ger, De deUctore, etc. Helmstadt, 1741]. Tet certain mitigations, not unlike the Mosaic, exist- ed ; see Heffter, Athen. Gerichttverf. p. 455 sq. On the Egyptian legislation, see Died. Sic i, 79; Wilkinson, ii, 49 sq.) This rule was often still further exercised in practice with such hardheartedness as to involve wife and children in the poor debtor's fate (2 Kings iv, 1 ; Neh. v, 5 ; Isa. 1, 1 ; Matt, xviii, 25) ; nay, tiie sureties likewise were exposed to the same mode of reparation (Prov. xx, 16 ; xxii, 26 sq. ; xxvii, 18). Debtors were liable to punbhment by imprisonment (Matt V, 26; xviii, 80), probably a Romap usage. The Talmudic rules concerning debt are mUd (Bcita Mezia, ix, 18). On the Sabbatical year (q. v.) all pe- cuniary obligations were cancelled (Deut. xv, 1 sq., 9). — Winer, i, 251. See Loan ; Debtob ; Usury ; Cbbditob, etc.
Debtor (tlin, chob, debt, Ezek. xviii, 7 ; xpc<*^* \sTrjg, oicer of money, Luke vii, 41 ; xvi, 5 ; elsewhere 3imply 6i^ikkTf)Q. See generally the prop. Hebrew words K^9, tX^, Gesenins, Thee. Heb. p. 920). The Mosaic laws respecting pecuniary obligations differ in many points from those of modem nations, but this is no proof that they were not suitable to the people for whom they were designed, and it is certain that they are pervaded by a spirit of kindness to the debtor to which no parallel is to be found in the codes of antiq- uity. See Loan. Though they at least tadtiy allow of the sal& of a debtor as a slave (Lev. xxv, 89, 40), they also direct that his treatment shall be that of '^ an hired servant and a sojourner," whil^ the law of the Twelve Tables authorized putting an insolvent debtor to death, and both Grecian and Roman history abound with instances of the disturbances caused in those states by the severity with which this class was dealt with. The laws of Moses are, however, by no means regardless of the rights of creditors, as we find that persons who had property due to them might, if they chose, secure it either by means of a mortgage, or by a pledge, or by a bondsman or surety. The chief provisions hi the Scripture on the subject are the following:
1. The creditor, when about to receive a pledge for a debt, was not allowed to enter the debtor's house and take what he pleased, but was to wait before the door till the debtor should deliver up the pledge with which he could most easily dispense (Deut xxiv, 10, 11 ; Job xxii, 6 ; xxiv, 8, 7, 9).
2. When a mill, or mill-stone, or an upper garment was given as a pledge, it was not to be kept all night These articles appear to be mentioned as examples for all other thUigs which the debtor could not without great inconvenience dispense with (Exod. xxii, 26, 27;
^ Deut. Txiv, 6, 12).
DECALOGUE
718
DECALOGUE
. 8. The debt which remmined unpaid until the sev- enth or Sabbatic year (during which the soil was to be left without cultivation, and, consequently, a person was not supposed to be in a condition to make pay- ments) could not be exacted during that period (Deut XV, 1-11). But at other times, in case the debt was not paid, the creditors might seize, first, the hereditary land of the debtor, and e^joy its produce until the debt was paid, or at least until the year of jubilee ; or, sec- ondly, his houses. These might be sold in perpetuity, except those belonging to the Levites (Lev. xxv, 14, 82). Thirdly, in case the house or land was not suffi- cient to cancel the debt, or if it so happened that the debtor had none, the person d the debtor might be sold, together with his wife and children, if he had any. This is implied Sn Lev. xxv, 89, and this custom is al- luded to in Job xxiv, 9. It existed in the time of Elisha (2 Kings iv, 1), and on the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity some rich persons ex- ercised this right over their poor debtors (Neh. v, 1- 18). Our Lord alludes to the same custom in Matt, zviii, 25. As the person of the debtor might thus be seized and sold, his cattle and furniture were undoubt- edly liable for liis debts (Prov. xxii, 27). It does not appear that imprisonment for debt existed in the age of Moses, but it seems to have prevailed in the time of our Saviour (Matt xviii, 84).