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Biblical Roots of Modern Consumer Credit Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

Paul B. Rasor
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Extract

Modern consumer credit law is a large and complex body of law. Underneath the complexity, however, is a simple goal: to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and to prevent, or at least to redress, overreaching and abuse by creditors. To this extent, modern consumer law can be said to reflect a felt sense of societal responsibility to a particularly vulnerable group.

We tend to think of consumer credit law as a modern phenomenon; and indeed, the vast majority of consumer credit laws in this country have appeared since the late 1960s. But our generation did not invent consumer protection law; many of our modern rules have antecedents which date back for centuries. Indeed, consumer credit transactions are as old as civilization, and even the earliest societies regulated at least some lending and credit practices.

Ancient Israel was no exception; its legal codes contained many rules on lending practices. While these rules were not nearly as complex as our modern rules, they did address a remarkably wide range of issues which we would identify today as consumer protection issues. As part of a larger body of humanitarian laws and customs designed to protect against undue hardship, the rules on credit practices were similar in principle to our modern consumer laws in that they reflected a sense of responsibility toward the poor and most vulnerable members of society.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 157 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 1993

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References

1. For one attempt at organizing this law into a manageable framework and articulating the various philosophies of consumer protection, see Spanogle, John A., Rohner, Ralph J., Pridgen, Dee, and Rasor, Paul B., Consumer Law 1–3 (West, 2d ed 1991)Google Scholar.

2. See Rasor, Paul B., Consumer Finance Law v (M. Bender, 1985)Google Scholar.

3. See generally id at 2 et seq; Homer, Sidney, A History of Interest Rates 17 et seq (Rutgers Univ Press, 2d ed 1977)Google Scholar.

4. See Boecker, Hans J., Law and the Administration of Justice in the Old Testament and Ancient East 204 (Augsburg Pub House, 1980)Google Scholar.

5. Daube, David, Studies in Biblical Law 1 (KTAV Pub House, 1947, 1969 reprint)Google Scholar.

6. See Falk, Ze'ev W., Hebrew Law in Biblical Times 19 et seq (1964)Google Scholar; Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 144 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

7. The details differ, of course; what was good law for a primitive agricultural society will not necessarily be good law for a high-tech, post-industrial society. Moreover, no specific causal relationship can be identified; I make no claim that modern consumer credit law can be “traced” in any direct sense to Biblical law.

8. The Pentateuch consists of the first five books of the Bible, which are the same in both the Jewish and Christian Bibles. In Judaism, these books are also known as Torah, or law. See Pfeiffer, Robert H., Introduction to the Old Testament 129 et seq (Harper & Bros, 1941)Google Scholar. In current practice, most Biblical scholars seem to prefer the term “Hebrew Bible” over the term “Old Testament.” See Gottwald, Norman K., The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction 6 (Fortress Press, 1985)Google Scholar. I will follow this practice unless citing or quoting a source which uses the latter term. The term “Israelite” refers to the people of ancient Israel until the end of the Babylonian exile in 639 B.C.E.; “Jew” and “Jewish” are used with reference to the post-exilic period. Id at n.2.

9. Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 41, 210 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar; Soggin, J. Alberto, Introduction to the Old Testament 92 (John Knox Press, 4th ed 1987; 3d English ed 1989)Google Scholar.

10. Albrecht Alt, , The God of the Fathers, in Albrecht Alt, ed, Essays on Old Testament History and Religion 3 (Doubleday, 1953, 1989 English trans)Google Scholar.

11. See Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 210 et seq (cited in note 8)Google Scholar; Patrick, Dale, Old Testament Law 63 et seq (John Knox Press, 1985)Google Scholar; Soggin, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 167 (cited in note 9)Google Scholar; Vaux, Roland de, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions 143–44 (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961)Google Scholar.

12. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 135 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

13. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 18 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; see also Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 136 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

14. See Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 64–65 (cited in note 11) (eighth century)Google Scholar; Fohrer, Georg, Introduction to the Old Testament 137 (1968) (“about the ninth century”)Google Scholar. Much of the material within the Covenant Code dates from the period of Israelite settlement in Canaan, c. 1200-1000 B.C.E.. See Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 65 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 142 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar; Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 215 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar. Pfeiffer postulates the existence of an independent Canaanite code adopted by the Israelites after settlement. Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 218 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar.

15. Most scholars now agree that the Deuteronomic Code was the book of laws discovered in the temple in 621 B.C.E. 2 Kings 22-23. It was probably written during the previous century, although many of its provisions were derived from older source material, including the Covenant Code. See Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 19, 99 et seq (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 51 et seq, 237–38 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar; Soggin, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 99 (cited in note 9)Google Scholar; Fohrer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 167 et seq (cited in note 14)Google Scholar.

16. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 97 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. Others scholars, however, trace it to other sources. Pfeiffer, for example, attributes the civil legislation in Deuteronomy to the old Canaanite civil code. See Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 237 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar. The Holiness Code later expressly rejected the old Canaanite law. See Lev. 18:3-4.

17. The exile is normally dated from 586 B.C.E. to 539 B.C.E., and most scholars date the Holiness Code somewhere between the early exilic period and the middle of the following century. Pfeiffer, , Introduction to the Old Testament at 211, 241 (cited in note 8)Google Scholar; Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 145–46 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. Boecker places it between the seventh and fifth centuries. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 187 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

18. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 145 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. See also Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 186 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

19. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 15 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

20. The most well known is no doubt the code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws attributed to the Babylonian king Hammurabi, c. 1728 - 1686 B.C.E. Pritchard, James, ed, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament 163 (Princeton Univ Press, 3d ed 1969) (“ANET”)Google Scholar. More than two dozen of its 282 sections deal with various aspects of lending practices. Other early law collections include the laws of the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu, c. 2112 - 2095 B.C.E., and laws compiled by leaders of several Babylonian city-states during the next few centuries. In addition, there were other legal documents from as early as 3,000 B.C.E. ANET at 523. At least one of these texts, the laws of Eshnunna, contained several rules on credit practices. ANET dates Eshnunna as “between the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur (about 2000 B.C.E.) and the creation of Hammurabi's empire.” ANET at 161. See also Yaron, Reuven, The Laws of Eshnunna (Magnes Press, 1969)Google Scholar; Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 60 et seq (cited in note 4)Google Scholar. For a discussion of these and other early laws, see 1 Driver, G.R. and Miles, John C., The Babylonian Laws 5 et seq (1952), and 2 id at 305 et seq (1955)Google Scholar.

21. Driver and Miles, for example, assert that “the conclusion that there was a common customary law throughout the Fertile Crescent seems irresistible,” 1 Driver, & Miles, , The Babylonian Laws at 9 (cited in note 20)Google Scholar; and Finkelstein states that “the appearance in the Covenant Code of much of the subject matter found in the Mesopotamian law corpora cannot plausibly be explained as coincidental,” Finkelstein, J.J., The Ox That Gored 19 (American Philosophical Society, 1969)Google Scholar. De Vaux also supports the idea of a “single widespread customary law.” Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 146 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

22. Albrecht Alt, , The Origins of Israelite Law, in Alt, , Essays at 81 et seq (cited in note 10)Google Scholar. While later scholars have modified or challenged Alt's categories, his work was so influential that scholars ever since have felt obliged to use it as a starting point for analysis. See Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 21–24 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 150, 192–93 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar; Sonsino, Rifat, Motive Clauses in Hebrew Law 2–13 (Scholars Press, 1980)Google Scholar; Gilmer, Harry W., The If-You Form in Israelite Law 11–14 (Scholars Press, 1975)Google Scholar.

23. Alt, , Essays at 89 (cited in note 10)Google Scholar.

24. Exodus 21:33-34. All Biblical quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (1990).

25. According to Alt, casuistic laws account for about half of the Covenant Code. Alt, , Essays at 88 (cited in note 10)Google Scholar. A quick glance through its provisions confirms this observation.

26. See ANET at 159 et seq (cited in note 20); Alt, , Essays at 92–93 (cited in note 10)Google Scholar; Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 58 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

27. Alt, , Essays at 114 (cited in note 10)Google Scholar.

28. Exodus 20:13, 21:15. Patrick suggests that these two examples belong in separate apodictic subcategories. See Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 23 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

29. Exodus 22:25. This rule is discussed infra in Part III, A.

30. Gilmer, , The If-You Form at 25 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar. Patrick would classify this rule into a separate subcategory of casuistic law, see Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 23–24 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar, but this view is criticized in Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 152 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar. See also Sonsino, , Motive Clauses at 13–17 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar, who offers his own elaborate classification scheme.

31. Gilmer, , The If-You Form at 46 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar.

32. See Deut. 1:1; 12:1.

33. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 180 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

34. Alt, , Essays at 91–92 (cited in note 10)Google Scholar.

35. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 153 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

36. Alt, , Essays at 110 et seq (cited in note 10)Google Scholar. Patrick argues that all the legal rules, both apodictic and casuistic, were provided for general moral instruction, and that none of them were intended for use by judges in ordinary civil cases. He concludes that Israelite judges did not use any of the written laws in their decisions, but instead relied on the higher moral principles that lay behind them. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 189 et seq (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

37. Modern usury laws often carry these forms of penalties. See Rasor, , Consumer Finance Law at 333–35 (cited in note 2)Google Scholar.

38. Gilmer, , The If-You Form at 54 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar.

39. See, for example, Deut. 24:17; Lev. 25:39. See Gilmer, , The If-You Form at 46–48 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar. Boecker suggests that these rules existed precisely because women, aliens, children, and slaves were not permitted to participate in normal legal proceedings. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 32 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

40. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 183 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

41. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 73 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. De Vaux notes that the general distribution of wealth was fairly equal when the Covenant Code was written, so it was not as concerned as Deuteronomy with broad humanitarian obligations. Id.

42. Gilmer, , The If-You Form at 52 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar.

43. Sonsino, , Motive Clauses at 65 (cited in note 22)Google Scholar.

44. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 85 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

45. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 205 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

46. Id.

47. Id at 182.

48. Exodus 22:26-27.

49. Deut. 24:13. These rules are discussed in more detail infra.

50. Pub L 93-495, Title V, § 502, 88 Stat 1521 (October 28, 1974).

51. Uniform Consumer Credit Code § 1.102(2)(d) (1974 official text) (hereafter U3C).

52. Deut. 15:7-11. See also Psalms 37:21 and 112:5.

53. Prov. 22:7. Whether the term “slave” in this context was meant literally or metaphorically is not clear. Debt slavery is discussed infra in Part III, A. Other sayings warning against borrowing can be found in Prov. 22:26-27; Sirach 18:33, 21:8.

54. Ezek. 22:12.

55. Neh. 5:1-12.

56. D. Caplovitz, Credit Card Mania in America and Personal Bankruptcy, Paper for Conference on Unemployment and Consumer Debts in Europe (1989), quoted in Spanogle, , et al, Consumer Law at 453 (cited in note 1)Google Scholar.

57. See id at 454 (“banks … never seem to deny credit to people who already have a high level of debt.”). See also Teresa Sullivan, A., Warren, Elizabeth, and Westbrook, Jay L., As We Forgive Our Debtors at 331 (Oxford U Press, 1989)Google Scholar.

58. See Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 170–73 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

59. “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24. The prophet was here chastising, among others, creditors “who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth.” Amos 2:7.

60. Exodus 22:25.

61. Lev. 25:35-38.

62. Deut. 23:19-20.

63. See discussion supra; see also Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 85–86 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

64. See discussion in text accompanying notes 39-58.

65. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 86–87 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

66. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 76–79 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. Note that D and H both contain rules addressing the problem of dishonest weights and measures used in business. See Deut. 25:13-16; Lev. 19:35-36. There is no counterpart in the earlier C.

67. See Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 78–79 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. Section 88 of the laws of Hammurabi, for example, sets interest rates on loans of both grain and money, and §§ 99-107 are addressed specifically to merchant loans. ANET at 169-70 (cited in note 20). See also Homer, , A History of Interest Rates at 25–31 (cited in note 3)Google Scholar, discussing interest rates throughout Mesopotamia during this period.

68. Note that the first Western law to distinguish between commercial and consumer loans for interest rate purposes did not appear until the Code of Justinian in 533 C.E. Note, Interest Rates and the Law: A History of Usury, 1981 Ariz St LJ 61, 71; Homer, , A History of Interest Rates at 55 (cited in note 3)Google Scholar. This is also the pattern of modern usury laws, which almost universally state different rate ceilings for business loans than for consumer loans. See, for example, Kan Stat Ann § 16-207(f) (1988).

69. See also, for example, Deut. 24:19.

70. See, for example, Deut. 24:18 (“remember that you were a slave in Egypt,”); Deut. 24:22 (same).

71. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 204 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

72. Id at 182-83.

73. See Spanogle, , et al, Consumer Law at 108–10 (cited in note 1)Google Scholar, for a discussion of the various methods of interest calculation in consumer transactions. Many modern consumer laws, contrary to the rule in Leviticus, expressly allow interest to be taken in advance. See, for example, ND Cent Code § 47-14-08 (1978); Ark Stat Ann § 4-57-102 (1987).

74. Ezek. 22:12; see also id at 18:8 and 18:17. For a discussion of the difficulties in translating these terms, see 1 The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible 809 (1962)Google Scholar.

75. This is the common understanding of these rules. See Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 170 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. See also the rule on debt release, Deut. 15:1-3, which makes the same distinction.

76. Nelson, Benjamin, The Idea of Usury: From Tribal Brotherhood to Universal Otherhood xix (U Chicago Press, 2d ed, 1969)Google Scholar, speaking in particular of the Deuteronomic rule.

77. 15 USC § 1691(a) (1988); see Bhandari v First Nat. Bank of Commerce, 808 F2d 1082 (5th Cir 1987).

78. Nelson, , The Idea of Usury at xxi–xxii (cited in note 76)Google Scholar.

79. Id at 3.

80. Id.

81. Noonan, John T., The Scholastic Analysis of Usury 11 (Harvard U Press, 1957)Google Scholar.

82. Noonan has stated that “[u]sury analysis would not have begun if the Church had not prohibited usury, and no other intellectual or economic force exerted so strong a pressure on the formation of the early theory.” Id.

83. Id at 2.

84. See id at 51 et seq

85. Id at 11.

86. See generally id at 14 et seq; Nelson, , The Idea of Usury at 3 et seq (cited in note 76)Google Scholar; Homer, , A History of Interest Rates at 70–72, 82 et seq (cited in note 3)Google Scholar.

87. Homer, , A History of Interest Rates at 104 et seq (cited in note 3)Google Scholar.

88. Nelson, , The Idea of Usury at 29 et seq (cited in note 76)Google Scholar.

89. See Noonan, , Scholastic Analysis at 365 et seq (cited in note 81)Google Scholar.

90. Note, 1981 Ariz St LJ at 79 (cited in note 68).

91. See id at 83-84.

92. Usury Laws Repeal Act, 1854, 17 & 18 Vict., c. 90 (1854). See generally Note, 1981 Ariz St LJ at 79-85 et seq (cited in note 68).

93. See Note, 1981 Ariz St LJ at 84-85 (cited in note 68).

94. See Rasor, , Consumer Finance Law at 313 (cited in note 2)Google Scholar; CCH Consumer Credit Guide ¶ 510.

95. Wash Rev Code Ann § 19.52.005 (1989), captioned “declaration of policy.”

96. Brown, Kevin W. and Keest, Kathleen E., Usury and Consumer Credit Regulation 13 (National Consumer Law Center, 1987)Google Scholar.

97. Wallace, , The Uses of Usury: Low Rate Ceilings Reexamined, 56 BU L Rev 451, 458 (1976)Google Scholar. See also National Commission on Consumer Finance, Consumer Credit in the United States 95 et seq (1972) (“NCCF Report”)Google Scholar.

98. Neh. 5:1-5.

99. Note, Usury Legislation - Its Effects on the Economy and a Proposal for Reform, 33 Vand L Rev 199, 213 (1980)Google Scholar.

100. See, for example, Crafton, Steven M., An Empirical Test of the Effect of Usury Laws, 23 J L & Econ 135 (1980)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Boyes, William J. and Roberts, Nancy, Economic Effects of Usury Laws in Arizona, 1981 Ariz St L J 35Google Scholar.

101. Note, 33 Vand L Rev at 214 (cited in note 99).

102. Morris, Robin A., Consumer Debt and Usury: A New Rationale for Usury, 15 Pepperdine L Rev 151, 158 (1988)Google Scholar.

103. NCCF Report at 101 (cited in note 97).

104. Morris, , 15 Pepperdine L Rev at 159 (cited in note 102)Google Scholar.

105. Wallace, , 56 B U L Rev at 497 (cited in note 97)Google Scholar.

106. Ezek. 22:12.

107. Neh. 5:3-5.

108. NCCF Report at 104 (cited in note 97); Note, 33 Vand L Rev at 218 (cited in note 99).

109. NCCF Report at 104 (cited in note 97), quoting statement of Capt. John M. Seidl, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., Hearings on Consumer Credit Regulations (Proposed Uniform Consumer Credit Code) before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, House of Representatives, 91st Cong, 1st Sess, Part 1, 182.

110. Neh. 5:5.

111. Boyd v Layher, 427 NW2d 593, 595 (Mich App 1988), quoting Wilcox v Moore, 93 NW2d 288 (Mich 1958).

112. Taylor v Major Finance Co., Inc., 268 So2d 738, 744 (Ala 1972), citing Exodus 22:25, (Maddox, J., concurring). See also Havens v Woodfill, 266 NE2d 221, 225 (Ind App 1971) (“Usury statutes or the condemnation of usurious rates have very deep roots into American society, indeed, all of western civilization.”), citing Exodus 22:25; and Kramer v McCormick, 474 A2d 1346 (Md App 1984), citing Exodus 22:24.

113. See, for example, Prov. 20:16, 27:13. Most references counsel against becoming a surety, for example, Prov. 11:15, 17:18 and 22:26; but some suggest that a good man will stand as surety for his neighbor, for example, Sirach. 29:14-20. See also Job's cry “who is there that will give surety for me?” in Job 17:3.

114. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 172 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

115. Neh. 5:3. There are references in Hammurabi's laws to pledges of fields and the like, but these are primarily concerned with the crops that are to be produced. Laws of Hammurabi § 49 et seq, in ANET at 168 (cited in note 20). See also Homer, , A History of Interest Rates at 26–27 (cited in note 3)Google Scholar. The transactional understanding seems to have been that the creditor was to take the crop, not the land, to satisfy the debt. It is possible that Biblical references to pledges of fields and vineyards were understood in the same way, but this is pure speculation. In modern law, growing crops are treated as goods, not as land, for purposes of both sale and security, see Uniform Commercial Code §§2-107(2), 9-105(1)(h) (1978 official text) (“U.C.C.”); perhaps the ancient understanding was the same.

116. Laws of Hammurabi § 49 et seq, in ANET at 168 (cited in note 20)Google Scholar.

117. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 171 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

118. Gen. 38:12-26.

119. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 171 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. See also Ezek. 18:5-7, speaking of the righteous man who “restores the debtor to his pledge.”

120. See Brown, Ray A., The Law of Personal Property 487 (Callaghan, 3d ed 1975)Google Scholar. In modern law, a creditor who does not return pledged property is liable in conversion. Ezekiel was somewhat more harsh: the creditor “who does not restore the pledge … shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.” 18:11-13.

121. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 81 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

122. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 156 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

123. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 83, 172 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

124. Id at 83.

125. The few references in the law to debt slavery concern release; these provisions will be discussed infra in Part III, C, dealing with the question of debt forgiveness.

126. Gen. 42:18-25, 37. See also Gen. 44:32, using the term “surety” in a related context.

127. Gen. 47:19.

128. Job 24:9.

129. Amos 2:6; compare 8:6. See also Isaiah 50:1, “which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?”

130. Neh. 5:5.

131. 2 Kings 4:1.

132. See, for example, Deut. 24:6, “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge.”

133. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 135 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. But see Psalms 109:11, “may the creditor seize all that he has.”

134. Neh. 5:3.

135. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 172 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

136. Neh. 5:5. Nehemiah required the creditors to make restitution by “Restoring] to them … their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses.” 5:11.

137. Exodus 22:26-27.

138. Deut. 24:6, 12-13, 17-18.

139. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 135 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

140. Deut. 24:6.

141. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 171 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

142. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 183 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

143. U3C at § 5.116 comment 1 (cited in note 51).

144. Amos 2:8.

145. Job 22:6.

146. De Vaux suggests that a cloak's value would rarely have been adequate to secure a loan, and that the idea of symbolic pledge “seems to have been generally true of movable pledges in Israel.” Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 171 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

147. Mayhugh v Coon, 331 A2d 452, 455 (Pa 1975).

148. Sullivan, et al., As We Forgive Our Debtors at 8 (cited in note 57)Google Scholar.

149. 16 CFR § 444.2(a)(4). Other restrictions are discussed in Rasor, Paul B., Limitations on Taking and Enforcing Security Interests in Consumer Credit Transactions, in 1 Coogan, B Peter F., et al, Secured Transactions Under the Uniform Commercial Code, ch. 20AA (M. Bender, n.d.)Google Scholar.

150. FTC, Credit Practices Rule, Statement of Basis and Purpose and Regulatory Analysis, 49 Fed Reg 7740, at 7762 et seq (03 1, 1984)Google Scholar.

151. Id at 7764.

152. American Financial Services v FTC, 767 F2d 957, 982 (DC Cir 1985).

153. Neh. 5:1-12.

154. See U.C.C. §§ 9-503, 9-504 (cited in note 115).

155. U.C.C. §§ 9-503, 9-504 (cited in note 115). Of course in true pledge cases, the creditor already has possession of the collateral, so the first step is unnecessary.

156. U.C.C. § 9-504(2) (cited in note 115).

157. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 135 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

158. Gen. 38:23. Under the circumstances, since his creditor could not be found (and because of his embarrassment after she was found), there may have been little else he could do.

159. Neh. 5:5.

160. U.C.C. § 9-505 (cited in note 115).

161. 1 Driver, and Miles, , The Babylonian Laws at 146–47 (cited in note 20)Google Scholar.

162. These technical points may have been of less concern in Israelite law than they are today; indeed, the existence of debt slavery may well have made the whole question of property remedies less important.

163. See, for example, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 USC § 1692 et seq

164. U.C.C. § 9-503 (cited in note 115).

165. See, for example, Kimble v Universal TV Rental, Inc., 417 NE2d 597 (Ohio Misc 1980); Girard v Anderson, 257 NW 400 (Iowa 1934)Google Scholar.

166. Kan Stat Ann § 16a-5-112 (1988).

167. Deut. 24:10-11.

168. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 135 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

169. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 171 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. Boecker goes further and takes the rule to mean that the “debtor himself must choose the pledge.” Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 183 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

170. See Girard v Anderson, speaking of “the jealous care with which our law guards the sacredness of every man's house and his lawful possession of property against invasion or disturbance,” 257 NW at 402, quoting Van Wren v Flynn, 34 La Ann 1158, 1159 (n.d.).

171. Lev. 25:4; see also Exodus 23:10-11.

172. Ex. 23:11. Whether law professors were given the year off is not stated.

173. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 173 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

174. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 112 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

175. Deut. 15:1-3. Concerning the distinction between Israelites and foreigners, see the discussion of the rules on interest, supra.

176. Exodus 21:2.

177. Deut. 15:12-18. There are also rules on debt slavery in H, but they are considerably different from the rules in C and D, and they occur only in the jubilee year material. Most scholars believe that the jubilee institution, which required a general release of debts and slaves every 50 years, was purely Utopian. For general discussion, see Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 175–77 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 181–85 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

178. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 158 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

179. See Exodus 21:5-6; Deut. 15:16-17a.

180. Exodus 21:7-11; see Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 69 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar; Falk, , Hebrew Law at 120–21 (cited in note 6)Google Scholar; Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 83 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

181. Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 83 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. On rules relating to women captured in war, see Deut. 21:10-14.

182. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 113 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar. It has also been noted that the change in D “seems to mean that by this period there were no slave-concubines.” Vaux, De, Ancient Israel at 86 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

183. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 181 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

184. On the status of women generally, see De Vaux, supra, at 39-40; on the treatment of female slaves, see Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 159–60 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

185. Boecker calls the use of “you” in the first sentence “stylistically extraneous.” Id at 157.

186. See discussion and text accompanying notes 22-38.

187. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 156 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

188. Id. Note, however, that Hammurabi's laws had centuries earlier limited debt slavery to three years, Laws of Hammurabi § 117, in ANET at 170-71 (cited in note 20); and that the Biblical law was not always followed, Jer. 34:8-22.

189. Deut. 15:13-17b.

190. Boecker, , Law and the Administration of Justice at 182 (cited in note 4)Google Scholar.

191. ANET at 526 (cited in note 20). See the Edict of Ammisaduqa (1646-1626 B.C.E.), reproduced in id at 526 et seq

192. Patrick, , Old Testament Law at 112 (cited in note 11)Google Scholar.

193. See, for example, Kan Stat Ann § 60-511(1): “An action upon any agreement, contract or promise in writing shall be brought within five (5) years” (clauses rearranged). The fact that they must be plead affirmatively does not change their basic character. See FRCP 8.

194. See Neh. 10:31. On composition agreements, see Lawrence King, P. and Cook, Michael L., Creditors' Rights, Debtors' Protection and Bankruptcy 576–80 (Bender, M., 2d ed 1989)Google Scholar.

195. Deut. 15:9.

196. Bankruptcy Code, 11 USC, §§ 727 and 1328 (1988); see also § 523. Different rules and exceptions apply in different types of bankruptcy proceedings; there is no need in this paper to discuss the details.

197. Id at § 727(a)(8) and (9).

198. Sullivan, , et al., As We Forgive Our Debtors at 20 (cited in note 57)Google Scholar.

199. Id.

200. Id.

201. Id at 341.

202. Bankruptcy Code, 11 USC §§ 523 and 727.

203. Id at § 523(a)(2).

204. Sullivan, , et al, As We Forgive Our Debtors at 200 (cited in note 57)Google Scholar.

205. Lev. 19:13. See also Prov. 21:6, which puts it more poetically: “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.”

206. Lev. 6:2-5.

207. Spanogle, , et al, Consumer Law at 39 (cited in note 1)Google Scholar.

208. 15 USC § 45(a).

209. Kan Stat Ann § 50-623(b) (1983).