Commerce Breeds Sin
Chapter 26
29A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing,
nor is a tradesman innocent of sin.
Chapter 27
1Many have committed sin for gain,
and those who seek to get rich will avert their eyes.
2As a stake is driven firmly into a fissure between stones,
so sin is wedged in between selling and buying.
3If a person is not steadfast in the fear of the Lord,
his house will be quickly overthrown.
Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.
Credits
New Revised Standard Version Bible copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
You may also like
Commerce Is Less Worthy than Agriculture
And no alien god is bound to him (Deuteronomy 32:12)—there shall not be among you any who engage in commerce of any sort.For it is stated: Let there be hands-full of grain in the Land (Psalm 72:16)…
Rising from Merchant Status
Sifre Deuteronomy 357
And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old [when he died] (Deuteronomy 34:7). He was one of four who died at the age of one hundred and twenty, and these were Moses, Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yoḥanan…
Fair Weights and Measures
Against Apion 2.216
Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he…
Merchant Behavior in the Marketplace
m. Bava Metsi‘a 4:12
A merchant may buy from five threshing floors and put the produce into a storage chamber, or from five winepresses and put [the wine] into one jug, as long as he does not intend to mix them [for…
Lending and the Prohibition of Interest
m. Bava Metsi‘a 5:1
What is usury [neshekh] and what is increase [tarbit]? It is usury when a man lends a sela for five dinars, or two se’ahs of wheat for three, because he bites [noshekh] [off too much]. And what is…
Jewish Seafarers
Epistle 4.3, 9–15
Hear my story then, that you may have no further leisure for your mocking wit, and I will tell you first of all how our crew was made up. Our skipper was willing to die on account of his bankrupt…
Engage with this Source
Related Guide
Economics, Labor, and Charity in Ancient Judaism
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
Jewish texts from late antiquity on labor, wealth, and poverty reflect a shift from the agrarian economy of the Bible to a more urban system of commerce.
You may also like
Commerce Is Less Worthy than Agriculture
And no alien god is bound to him (Deuteronomy 32:12)—there shall not be among you any who engage in commerce of any sort.For it is stated: Let there be hands-full of grain in the Land (Psalm 72:16)…
Rising from Merchant Status
Sifre Deuteronomy 357
And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old [when he died] (Deuteronomy 34:7). He was one of four who died at the age of one hundred and twenty, and these were Moses, Hillel the Elder, Rabban Yoḥanan…
Fair Weights and Measures
Against Apion 2.216
Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he…
Merchant Behavior in the Marketplace
m. Bava Metsi‘a 4:12
A merchant may buy from five threshing floors and put the produce into a storage chamber, or from five winepresses and put [the wine] into one jug, as long as he does not intend to mix them [for…
Lending and the Prohibition of Interest
m. Bava Metsi‘a 5:1
What is usury [neshekh] and what is increase [tarbit]? It is usury when a man lends a sela for five dinars, or two se’ahs of wheat for three, because he bites [noshekh] [off too much]. And what is…
Jewish Seafarers
Epistle 4.3, 9–15
Hear my story then, that you may have no further leisure for your mocking wit, and I will tell you first of all how our crew was made up. Our skipper was willing to die on account of his bankrupt…