What does נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) mean in the Bible?
נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh): Prohibited interest on loans to fellow Israelites, marking economic justice as covenant obligation
Hebrew · H5392
נֶשֶׁךְ
Interest on a debt
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נֶשֶׁךְ H5392
Pronunciation neshekh
What does נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) mean in the Bible?
נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh): Prohibited interest on loans to fellow Israelites, marking economic justice as covenant obligation
Full entry for נֶשֶׁךְ (H5392) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5392?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include interest (4), in usury (3), . . . (2), any interest (1), at interest (1).
Where does נֶשֶׁךְ (neshekh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 22:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (4), Deuteronomy (3), Leviticus (2), Exodus (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It interest 4× Exodus 22:25, Deuteronomy 23:19, Psalms 15:5, Ezekiel 18:17
in usury 3× Ezekiel 18:8, Ezekiel 18:13, Ezekiel 22:12
. . . 2× Deuteronomy 23:19
any interest 1× Leviticus 25:36
at interest 1× Leviticus 25:37
by interest 1× Proverbs 28:8
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 22:25 נֶֽשֶׁךְ׃ to interest Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 25:36 נֶ֣שֶׁךְ to any interest Noun - masculine singular Leviticus 25:37 בְּנֶ֑שֶׁךְ to at interest Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 23:19 נֶ֥שֶׁךְ to interest Noun - masculine singular construct Deuteronomy 23:19 נֶ֣שֶׁךְ to . . . Noun - masculine singular construct Deuteronomy 23:19 נֶ֕שֶׁךְ to . . . Noun - masculine singular construct Psalms 15:5 בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ to interest Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Proverbs 28:8 בְּנֶ֣שֶׁךְ to by interest Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular Ezekiel 18:8 בַּנֶּ֣שֶׁךְ to in usury Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Ezekiel 18:13 בַּנֶּ֧שֶׁךְ to in usury Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 22:25
Aligned rows 12
Books represented 6
Exodus 1 Leviticus 2 Deuteronomy 3 Psalms 1 Proverbs 1 Ezekiel 4
Source forms
נֶ֣שֶׁךְ 2x ne·šeḵ Leviticus 25:36, Deuteronomy 23:19
בְּנֶ֑שֶׁךְ 1x bə·ne·šeḵ Leviticus 25:37
בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ 1x bə·ne·šeḵ Psalms 15:5
בְּנֶ֣שֶׁךְ 1x bə·ne·šeḵ Proverbs 28:8
בַּנֶּ֣שֶׁךְ 1x ban·ne·šeḵ Ezekiel 18:8
בַּנֶּ֧שֶׁךְ 1x ban·ne·šeḵ Ezekiel 18:13
נֶ֥שֶׁךְ 1x ne·šeḵ Deuteronomy 23:19
נֶ֕שֶׁךְ 1x ne·šeḵ Deuteronomy 23:19
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 4x Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36, Ezekiel 18:17, Ezekiel 22:12
Noun - masculine singular construct 3x Deuteronomy 23:19
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular 3x Leviticus 25:37, Psalms 15:5, Proverbs 28:8
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Ezekiel 18:8, Ezekiel 18:13
Evidence Summary
CovenantJustice
Hebrew word. Prohibited interest on loans to fellow Israelites, marking economic justice as covenant obligation
Source Gloss
interest on a debt
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Prohibited interest on loans to fellow Israelites, marking economic justice as covenant obligation
interest on a debt BDB: interest Usage: usury.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
Interest charged on loans, often exploitative in covenant context.
Showing 1 selected witness from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
נֶשֶׁךְ is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
The term signals violation of Mosaic law regarding treatment of fellow Israelites, highlighting the seriousness of internal injustice. Nehemiah 5:1-13
Canonical Themes
Covenant Justice
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain