USURY, INTEREST, INCREASE

naJly one and the same' (Muss-Arnolt, Urim and Thum-mim, 213 and passim), as haa been recently main-tained, lias yet to be proved. A. R. S. Kennedy.

USURY, INTEREST, INCREASE.— At the date of our AV 'usury* had not acquired its modern connota-tion of exorbitant interest ; hence it should be replaced in OT by 'interest,' as in Amer. RV, and as the English Revisers have done in NT (see below). The OT law-codes forbid the taking of interest on loans by one Hebrew from another, see Ex 22^5 (Book of the Cove-nant), Dt 23i"-, Lv 25»5-3' (Law of Holiness). Of the two terms constantly associated and in EV rendered 'usury' {neshek) and 'increase' (tarbufi), the former, to judge from Lv 25'', denotes interest on loans of money, the latter interest on other advances, such as food stuffs, seed-corn, and the like, which was paid in kind. In Dt 23^" neshek is applied to both kinds of loan. For the distinction in NT times, see Mishna, Baba mezia, v. 1. Cf. also Strack's art. 'Wucher' in PRE^ xxi. A large part of the Babylonian loan-system, which was fully developed before B.C. 2000, consisted of such loans (Johns, Bab. and Assyr. Laws, ch. xxiii. 'Loans and Deposits').

To appreciate the motives of the Hebrew legislators, it must be remembered that, until a late period in their history, the Hebrews were almost entirely devoted to agricultural and pastoral pursuits. The loans here contemplated are therefore not advances required for trading capital, but for the relief of a poor 'brother' temporarily in distress, who would otherwise be com-pelled to sell himself as a slave (Lv 25*™-). We have to do with an act of charity, not with a commercial transaction. In similar circumstances loans without Interest were made from the Babylonian temple funds and by private individuals, as is still done by the Arabs to-day (Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 318).

In NT times conditions had greatly changed, and capital was required for many trading concerns. Our Lord twice introduces with approbation the investment of money with 'the bankers,' so as to yield a proper 'interest' (Mt 25", Lk 19« both RV). The rate of Interest in the ancient world was very high. In Baby-lonia one shekel per mina per month, which is 20 per cent, per annum, was a usual rate; for advances of grain, for 400 or 300 ka the return was 100 ka, i.e. 25 to 33 per cent, per annum (Meissner, Aus d. altbab. Recht, 15). For short loans for 15 days or thereby the rate might rise as high as 300 per cent, per annum! (Johns, op. cit.). In Egypt 30 per cent, was not unusual. Even in Greece 12 per cent, was considered a low rate of interest. The recently discovered papyri from Ele-phantine in Egypt show members of the Jewish colony there already engaged (c. B.C. 430)in the characteristically Jewish business of money-lending. See also Debt. A. R. S. Kennedy.

UTA (1 Es 5'°) . — His sons returned among the Temple servants under Zerub. (Ezr. and Neh. omit).

UTHAI. — 1. A family of Judah after the Captivity (1 Ch 9«) = Neh 11« Athaiah. 2. One of the sons of Bigvai (Ezr 8") = 1 Es 8" Uthi.

UTHI (1 Es 8") = Ezr 8» Uthai.

UZ. — 1. A son of Aram, grandson of Shem (Gn 10" and 1 Ch 1" [in emended text]). 2. A son of Nahor (Gn 22M, AV Huz), whose descendants are placed in Aram-naharaim (Gn 24io). 3. One of the Horites in the land of Edom (Gn 362' [v.2t and v.™], 1 Ch 1«). 4. A region which is called the dwelling-place of the daughter of Edom (La i^). 5. A district containing a number of kings, situated between Philistia and Egypt, or, with a different pointing of the consonants of one word, between Philistia and the country of the Bedouin (Jer 25'^°: the name not in LXX). 6. Job's country (Job 1'). As the first three are probably tribal designations, all may be regarded as geographical terms. It is not certain that they all refer to the same region. Nos. 1 and 2 seem

UZAL

to point to Mesopotamia. Nos. 3 and 4, and perhaps 6, indicate Edom or its neighbourhood. The locality of No. 6 is obscure. Ancient tradition is threefold. In LXX of Job 42" Uz is affirmed, on the authority of ' the Syriao book,' to lie on the borders of Idumaea and Arabia. In V.2S it is located on the borders of the Euphrates. Josephus {Ant. i. vi. 4) associates the Vz of No. 1 with Damascus and Trachonitis. The evidence of the Book of Job itself about its hero's home seems to favour the neighbourhood of Edom or N. Arabia. Teman (2") was an Edomite district containing the city of Bozrah (Am 1'2), and Eliphaz was an Edomite name (Gn 36<). The Sdbwans (Job 1" 6") were a S. Arabian people who had settlements in the north. Tema (6") lay in N. Arabia, about 250 miles S.E. of Edom. The description of Job, however, as one of ' the children of the East ' (!') is most naturally understood to refer to the east of Palestine. The cuneiform inscriptions have a name Uzzai, which has been identified with Uz, but the identification is extremely uncertain.

Modern tradition, which can be traced back to early Christian times, locates Job in the Hauran, where the German explorer J. G. Wetzstein found a monastery of Job, a tomb and fountain and stone of Job, and small round stones called 'worms of Job.' Another German explorer, Glaser, finds Uz in W. Arabia, at a considerable distance to the N.W. of Medina. Decision at present is unattainable, both on the general question of the signification of Uz in OT and on the special question of its meaning in the Book of Job. All that can be said is that the name points to the E. and S.E. of Palestine, and that the Book of Job appears to represent its hero as living in the neighbourhood of the Arabian or Syro-Arabian desert. W. Taylor Smith.

UZAI.— Father of Palal (Neh 3»).

UZAL.— 1. A son of Joktan (Gn 10", 1 Ch 1«). 2. A place named in Ezk 27" (RVra 'from Uzal,' AVm ' Meuzal ' )— a difficult passage, the text being in disorder. Davidson (Bzekiel, in loc.) suggests that, although the most serious objections occur to the rendering, it might read, ' Vedan and Javan of Uzal furnished their wares, etc' Uzal is thought to be the ancient name of San'a, the capital of d-Yemen. The name San'a may have been given by the Abyssinians, in whose tongue it means ' fortress.' The modern Jewish inhabitants, who occupy a separate quarter, are reported to have come from India. But although none of the pre-Islamic Jewish stock remains, they were infiuential in the century before Mohammed (Harris, d-Yemen, 313). Probably the name Azal or IzaJ, by which the town was then known, may have been due to their revival of the ancient name (Glaser, Skizze, ii. 427). In Arabic azal means 'eternity.' This may account for the Arabs' belief that it is the world's oldest city (Margoliouth in Hastings' DB, s.v.). Iron is found in several districts of Central Arabia (Doughty, Arabia Deserta). The steel made in San'a is still highly esteemed, especially the sword- and dagger-blades (Harris, op. dt. 310 ft.).

Standing on the floor of a spacious valley, 7250 feet above the level of the sea, San'a is dominated by a fortress on Jebd Nujnm, which rises abruptly to the east. The height renders the climate delightful. The gardens and orchards are luxurious and fruitful. A river bed lies through the city, and in the rainy season is full of water. In the dry months water is supplied by deep wells. The splendid palace of Ghumdan, and the adjoining temple dedicated to Zahrah, the Arabian Venus, were destroyed by Othman, the third Caliph. The same fate befell the famous Christian church built by Abraha el-Ashran, viceroy of el- Yemen under the Abyssinian king Aryat, for the building of which the Emperor of Rome is said to have sent marble and workmen (Harris, op. cit. 291-322). According to Ibn Khaldun, San'a was the seat of the Himyarite kings for centuries before Islam. W. Ewing.

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