It's buying shares against Usury?

There was a post yesterday about buying stocks of companies that made their workers break Sabbath which made me wonder if you should be buying stock at all?

I'm going to use stocks and savings accounts interchangeably here, as the concept is the same. You get more money than you give without working yourself.

Deuteronomy 23:19 King James Version 19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to XXXXX; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: 20 Unto a YYYYY thou mayest lend upon usury

I've used X and Y because the definition of these words can drastically change the underlying meaning.

X - seems to run from brother, countryman, Israelites.

Y - stranger, foreigner, Pagans/Gentiles

Brother would imply someone within your direct community, although it could be anyone of your own faith (which had it's own implications). So is lending to your local credit union or buying stock in local companies bad?

Countryman would obviously be more encompassing, especially paired with foreigner. Would lending to any bank or buying stock for companies in your country bad?

Israelites would make the whole Law obsolete, unless you were to take the idea that those following Jesus are now part of the circle and no longer part of the pagan side. Similar concept of lending to you country, but would now cover outside your country.

I doubt there is a good answer, I just like the thought process.

It also begs another question of how far removed you have to be from a sin for you to be culpable?

I once had to setup a very complex ljara lease structure (Muslim version of no usury) because they would be a mortgage. If there was usury in the deal anywhere, it would not work. But a complex ljara lease solved the problem, with the exact same outcome as a normal mortgage financial wise.

Disclaimer: I'm a former Christian turned agnostic that enjoys the discussion of theology.