Bernie Sanders Takes a Bite out of Bible With Attack on ‘Usury’

Image by Getty Images
As election season heats up, candidates tend to turn to God, and specifically his favorite book, The Bible. Bernie Sanders put it this way Tuesday on the campaign trail: “In my view, it is unacceptable that Americans are paying a $4 or $5 fee each time they go to the ATM. It is unacceptable that millions of Americans are paying credit card interest rates of 20 to 30 percent. The Bible has a term for this practice. It’s called usury.”
It does? Many Bible readers may not encounter “usury.” The word “usury” appears nowhere in the New International Version, often the Bible of choice among evangelical Christians, who represent roughly a quarter of American voters. Sanders did not name the translation, but alert Bible readers know that the word “usury” is the translation choice of The King James Bible, which uses the word 17 times, of which only two mentions are in the New Testament. Any voters out there still paging through the Latin Vulgate will encounter the word usura, which was Jerome’s translation choice.
Other popular Bibles fall somewhere in the middle of these two poles: The New American Standard Bible has four mentions of the word “usury” — three in Nehemiah and one in Proverbs. (For those who want to play “find the Bible word” at home, BibleGateway.com is invaluable, though it tends to skimp on Jewish translations.)
Hebrew readers may be even more surprised by the word “usury.” The Hebrew word, neshech, shares the same three-letter root with the verb linshoch, or to bite. Certainly high interest rates do take a bite out of a budget, not to mention one’s sanity. The Talmud, in Baba Metziah 5a, spells out the connection: “neshech … mipnei sh’hu noshech.” Literally: neshech…because it bites.
Jewish translations, like the widely used Jewish Publication Society, translate neshech as “interest.” Unpleasant, perhaps, but not usury. And sadly, the word “interest” doesn’t have the bite of Biblical Hebrew’s magnificent word play of neshech (interest) and neshichah (bite).
In the Bible, the word neshech often appears with another term, marbit. That term, which comes from the root reish, vet, hey, which indicates increase, is used not only for money but also for other types of loans, like food. (Vayikrah/ Leviticus 25:37.) The Jewish Publication Society translates marbit as interest, too. Interestingly enough, the modern Hebrew term for interest is ribit, based on this second and less-biting root for increasing borrowing costs in the Bible. Perhaps ribit reflects a more positive view of commerce, which relies on borrowing.
But let’s get back to English. For centuries, “usury” and “interest” meant the same thing, but in today’s usage, there is a big difference. Today, “usury” means exorbitant borrowing costs. The Bible is against all interest — low and high, which may resonate with Sanders supporters. But quoting the Bible on this issue is a little misleading; Jewish law has elaborate workarounds to make a lending system possible despite this prohibition, but it is probably too much information for primary voters who don’t get high on ancient law. (For those who are fascinated, the sage Hillel’s actions probably laid the foundation for a modern lending system.)
In any case, the King James certainly makes the more dramatic choice, even if it’s less correct than plain old interest. By using the word “usury,” Sanders may have been hoping for the spirit of the Hebrew — going for a word with teeth.
Aviya Kushner is the author of “The Grammar of God” (Spiegel & Grau, 2015).
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Fast Forward NY attorney general orders car wash to stop ripping off Jews with antisemitic ‘Passover special’
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.