This mitzvah shapes the way a person thinks about money. Money is not only private power. It is also a tool Hashem gives a person to support others with dignity. When someone needs a loan, he is often already under pressure. The Torah commands the lender not to use that pressure as an opportunity for profit.

In modern life, this mitzvah requires real awareness. Personal loans, family loans, business advances, delayed payments, credit arrangements, and favors with financial return can all raise questions of רִבִּית — interest. A person may think he is only being practical, but the Torah asks whether the arrangement turns help into hidden gain.

The mitzvah builds a generous heart and clean financial habits. It teaches that חֶסֶד — kindness must remain kind even when money is involved. It also trains the borrower and lender to seek halachic guidance before entering complex arrangements, especially where investment, profit-sharing, or a הֶתֵּר עִסְקָא — halachic business-investment structure may be needed.

Not lending with interest teaches that a Torah economy is not built on taking advantage of weakness. It is built on responsibility, trust, and the belief that another Jew’s financial struggle is not a marketplace for gain.

Rambam

• Source: Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Negative Mitzvah 235; Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Malveh V’Loveh 4:1–2.
• Rambam defines this mitzvah as the prohibition against lending to a Jew with רִבִּית — interest. In Mishneh Torah, he explains that the lender violates a Torah prohibition when he structures the loan so the borrower must return more than he received. Rambam’s framing shows that the Torah treats the lender’s gain as a spiritual and legal corruption of the loan itself.

Sefer HaChinuch

• Source: Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 343.
• Sefer HaChinuch explains that the root of this mitzvah is to train Israel in חֶסֶד — kindness and compassion. A loan is meant to help a person recover from need. Charging interest turns the borrower’s distress into the lender’s increase. The mitzvah forms a society where financial strength is used to support, not squeeze, the vulnerable.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Bava Metzia 60b–61b.
• The Gemara explains the Torah’s language of נֶשֶׁךְ — biting interest and תַּרְבִּית — increase. It shows that the Torah forbids interest even when both sides agree, because the problem is not only unfair consent. The problem is that the loan itself becomes distorted when help is turned into guaranteed profit.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Bava Metzia 75b.
• The Gemara teaches that the lender, borrower, witnesses, scribe, and guarantor can become connected to the prohibition of רִבִּית — interest. This shows how serious the Torah is about protecting the loan. רִבִּית — interest is not only a private arrangement between two people. It is a financial structure that the Torah refuses to validate.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Bava Metzia 71a.
• The Gemara contrasts lending to a Jew with interest and lending in other halachic contexts. The core point is that a fellow Jew must be treated as a brother inside the covenant. Financial help must carry the dignity of shared responsibility, not the coldness of profit from need.

Sifra

• Source: Sifra, Behar, Parashah 5.
• Sifra reads the laws of רִבִּית — interest inside the section of “וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ” — “when your brother becomes poor.” This context is essential. The Torah is not speaking about abstract finance first. It is speaking about a brother who is falling, and the mitzvah requires the lender to help him stand rather than benefit from his weakness.

Shemos Rabbah

• Source: Shemos Rabbah 31:6.
• The Midrash connects lending without pressure to Hashem’s concern for the poor. A lender who helps without exploiting need reflects Divine compassion. Charging interest does the opposite: it turns another person’s hardship into a source of gain.

Rashi

• Source: Rashi on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Rashi explains נֶשֶׁךְ — biting interest as interest that resembles a snake bite: small at first, but spreading damage over time. His image gives the mitzvah emotional force. Interest may look manageable at the beginning, but it can slowly consume the borrower.

Ramban

• Source: Ramban on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Ramban places the prohibition of רִבִּית — interest inside the Torah’s command to strengthen a struggling brother. The lender must not see the borrower as a business opening. He must see him as a fellow Jew whose stability matters. The mitzvah protects the brotherhood of Israel within financial life.

Ibn Ezra

• Source: Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 25:37.
• Ibn Ezra explains the plain meaning of the verse as a prohibition against giving money or food in a way that demands increase. His reading keeps the mitzvah concrete. Whether the loan is cash or produce, the lender may not arrange repayment so that the borrower returns more because of the loan.

Sforno

• Source: Sforno on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Sforno explains that the lender must fear Hashem and allow the borrower to live. The mitzvah is not only about avoiding a forbidden charge. It is about preserving another person’s ability to stand. A financial system with יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם — awe of Heaven does not crush the weak.

Rabbeinu Bachya

• Source: Rabbeinu Bachya on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Rabbeinu Bachya teaches that the Torah ties רִבִּית — interest to fear of Hashem because interest can be hidden, subtle, and socially accepted. A person may justify it as normal gain. The mitzvah demands inner honesty before Hashem, especially where financial advantage is easy to disguise.

Chizkuni

• Source: Chizkuni on Vayikra 25:37.
• Chizkuni explains that the Torah mentions both money and food because interest can appear in many forms. The prohibition is not limited to formal banking language. Any loan where extra return is required because of the loan can fall under the concern of רִבִּית — interest.

Kuzari

• Source: Kuzari 3:11.
• The Kuzari describes mitzvos as shaping a holy national life, not only private piety. רִבִּית — interest fits this system because money can either bind a people together or break them apart. The mitzvah forms a society where financial relationships remain within covenantal responsibility.

Maharal

• Source: Maharal, Nesivos Olam, Nesiv HaTzedakah, Chapter 6.
• Maharal explains that giving and lending express the unity of Israel. When one Jew supports another, he reveals that the community is not a collection of separate individuals. רִבִּית — interest damages that unity by turning another person’s need into a path of separation and self-gain.

Ran

• Source: Ran, Derashos HaRan, Derush 11.
• Ran explains that Torah law builds a national order rooted in justice and Divine purpose. The prohibition of רִבִּית — interest reflects that order. The Torah does not allow financial structures to be governed only by market advantage. They must also reflect brotherhood, mercy, and fear of Hashem.

Rashba

• Source: Rashba, Teshuvos 2:232.
• Rashba discusses financial arrangements where the line between loan, sale, and investment must be clarified. His approach shows that רִבִּית — interest is not only about obvious cases. Halacha examines the real structure of the transaction: whether money is a loan with guaranteed increase, or a valid business risk.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 160:1.
• Shulchan Aruch rules that lending to a Jew with רִבִּית — interest is forbidden, whether the interest is money, food, or another form of added benefit. This establishes the practical foundation: a lender may not require extra return because he gave a loan.

Rema

• Source: Rema, Yoreh De’ah 160:1.
• Rema adds practical applications and cautions about forms of benefit connected to a loan. The prohibition is not limited to written interest clauses. Even extra favors, gifts, or benefits connected to the loan can raise concerns, depending on the case.

Shach

• Source: Shach, Yoreh De’ah 160:1–2.
• Shach clarifies the scope of רִבִּית — interest, including the difference between Torah-level and rabbinic forms of interest. His analysis shows that halacha builds protective fences around the loan, because financial benefit can be subtle and easily rationalized.

Taz

• Source: Taz, Yoreh De’ah 160:1.
• Taz explains that even when both parties are willing, the Torah still forbids רִבִּית — interest. Consent does not remove the prohibition. The Torah defines what a loan between Jews is meant to be, and the parties cannot turn it into a guaranteed profit structure.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 177:1.
• Shulchan Aruch discusses business arrangements that can avoid רִבִּית — interest when structured properly, such as forms of partnership or investment. This is the basis for later הֶתֵּר עִסְקָא — halachic business-investment structure, where the transaction is not treated as a simple interest-bearing loan.

Chasam Sofer

• Source: Chasam Sofer, Toras Moshe, Behar, s.v. “אַל תִּקַּח מֵאִתּוֹ נֶשֶׁךְ.”
• Chasam Sofer emphasizes that the Torah places רִבִּית — interest beside the command to strengthen a struggling brother. The lender must not ask, “How much can I gain from this?” He must ask, “How can I help him live?” The mitzvah turns money into a test of covenantal responsibility.

Netziv

• Source: Netziv, HaEmek Davar on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Netziv explains that the Torah’s language stresses life and brotherhood. The borrower must be allowed to live with the lender, not under him. רִבִּית — interest creates a relationship of pressure, while the Torah wants a relationship of support.

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch

• Source: Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Rav Hirsch teaches that the prohibition of רִבִּית — interest transforms the meaning of property. Wealth is not only a private possession. It is held under Hashem’s command and must serve moral purpose. The lender’s money must not become a weapon against the borrower’s weakness.

Malbim

• Source: Malbim on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Malbim distinguishes the Torah’s terms נֶשֶׁךְ — biting interest and תַּרְבִּית — increase. The first describes the harm to the borrower; the second describes the lender’s added gain. The Torah names both because the sin must be seen from both sides: damage below and profit above.

Meshech Chochmah

• Source: Meshech Chochmah on Vayikra 25:36–37.
• Meshech Chochmah reads the mitzvah as part of the Torah’s effort to create social trust within Israel. A society where need becomes profit loses its inner brotherhood. By forbidding רִבִּית — interest, the Torah keeps economic life from becoming detached from mercy.

Rav Moshe Feinstein

• Source: Igros Moshe, Yoreh De’ah 2:62.
• Rav Moshe Feinstein discusses modern financial structures and the need to define transactions carefully so they do not become forbidden רִבִּית — interest. His rulings show that the mitzvah remains fully active in contemporary finance. Modern documents, businesses, and banks do not remove the need for Torah structure.

Tanya

• Source: Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 16.
• Tanya teaches that giving to another Jew draws down compassion and reveals the unity of souls. Lending without interest fits this inner world. The lender does not stand over the borrower as a separate power. He recognizes that helping another Jew is part of serving Hashem.

Sfas Emes

• Source: Sfas Emes, Behar 5635.
• Sfas Emes explains that Parshas Behar teaches trust that livelihood comes from Hashem. רִבִּית — interest can come from the feeling that a person must extract gain wherever possible. The mitzvah trains the heart to trust Hashem enough to help without turning every need into profit.

Kedushas Levi

• Source: Kedushas Levi, Behar, s.v. “וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ.”
• Kedushas Levi reads the Torah’s language of “your brother” as a call to compassion. A Jew must see the borrower with love, not calculation alone. The prohibition of רִבִּית — interest protects that warmth, so lending remains an act of care.

Shem MiShmuel

• Source: Shem MiShmuel, Behar 5672.
• Shem MiShmuel explains that money can either attach a person to Hashem or trap him in self-interest. Lending without interest refines the desire for gain. It teaches the person to use material resources in a way that reveals holiness rather than ego.

Ramchal

• Source: Ramchal, Mesillas Yesharim, Chapter 11.
• Ramchal warns that monetary desire can lead a person to justify actions that are spiritually dangerous. רִבִּית — interest belongs to this area because it can seem ordinary and reasonable. Cleanliness in money requires more than avoiding theft. It requires guarding even subtle forms of forbidden gain.

This mitzvah appears in Parshas Behar, in the section that begins with a fellow Jew becoming poor: “וְכִי יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ” — “when your brother becomes poor” (Vayikra 25:35). The Torah first commands support, then warns against taking נֶשֶׁךְ — biting interest or תַּרְבִּית — increase. The placement teaches that the prohibition is rooted in brotherhood.

Mitzvah 534 is part of a larger רִבִּית — interest cluster. Mitzvah 534 forbids lending with interest. Mitzvah 535 forbids borrowing with interest. Mitzvah 536 forbids helping create an interest-bearing loan as a witness, guarantor, scribe, or middleman. Together, they show that the Torah rejects the entire structure, not only the lender’s private profit.

The mitzvah also belongs to the broader system of Torah finance. The Torah permits normal business profit, sales, wages, rent, partnerships, and investments when structured properly. What it forbids here is a loan that demands guaranteed increase from the borrower. This distinction is central to understanding modern applications and the need for proper halachic guidance.