On Borrowing and Lending

In His instructions to the Saints on the trail, the Lord said this: “If thou borrowest of thy neighbor, thou shalt restore that which thou hast borrowed; and if thou canst not repay then go straightway and tell thy neighbor, lest he condemn thee” (Doctrine and Covenants 136:25). The counsel is pretty straitforward: when you borrow something, you should return it. And if you can’t return it you should at least admit it to your neighbor from whom you have borrowed. While perhaps not the most interesting thing to read about in a revelation, surely in practice on that trail for hundreds of miles with hundreds of people people in close quarters, respecting others’ property was paramount to maintaining peace among them on their journey. Interestingly, several other scriptures also speak about this topic of borrowing. For example, King Benjamin similarly taught his people towards the end of his incredible teachings on the Savior and the atonement: “And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also” (Mosiah 4:28). His hope was to help the people not to commit sin, and apparently making sure they respected each others’ possessions was an important part of that. In the Law of Moses the Lord also gave instructions about borrowing: “And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good” (Exodus 22:14). Again the spirit of the counsel is the same: if you borrow something, you are responsible for it and need to return it or “make it good.”

                There is a somewhat comical story about borrowing in the Old Testament. Elisha and the sons of the prophets went to Jordan and “they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.” The man lost his axe head in the water, and he was particularly worried about losing it because he had borrowed it from another. This is indeed the kind of concern which these other scriptures suggest that we should have when we use something that is borrowed from someone else. Apparently it was not easy to find the axe head in the water, and Elisha came to help: “The man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it” (2 Kings 6:4-7). The prophet caused the axe to float so that this man could find it. It was important enough for Elisha that the man be able to have his axe and return it to its original owner that he was willing to perform a miracle to get it. It represents perhaps the level of respect that we should have for others and their possessions.  

                On the other hand, the Savior also encouraged in the Sermon on the Mount for those who have to lend to others who ask to borrow something: “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:42). We should, as Jacob taught, “Think of [our] brethren like unto [ourselves], and be familiar with all and free with [our] substance” (Jacob 2:17). If we borrow we should be diligent in taking care of and returning the item; if we lend we should do so freely and give to others as much as we can. Both of these attitudes facilitate peace and harmony in communities and nations, and perhaps how we borrow and lend as a society is an indicator for the righteousness of the people. At least, we see in the Book of Mormon that when they were extremely wicked they stopped borrowing and lending to others: “Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand” (Ether 14:2). That society was soon thereafter destroyed. Ultimately the principle is really about love: we should love others enough to lend what we have when we can, and as we share with others we should take care to respect and return that which is not our own. Doing that is a small step towards creating the Zion society we eventually will have in which this verse will describe us: “And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift” (4 Nephi 1:3).