Debt, Mortgage, and the Law Merchant
Ecclesiasticus 21:8 (Septuagint - Apocrypha), "He that buildeth his house with other men's money is like one that gathereth himself stones for the tomb of his burial."
What is the meaning and origin of the word mortgage? The term mortgage comes from mort and means "death" (as in mortuary or mortality), and gage means "pledge." Mort-gage means a "dead pledge." In Bouvier's Law Dictionary of 1856, Dead-Pledge is defined as "a mortgage of lands or goods." It's a pledge of death because its an engagement in debt, which is a neglect or violation of our duty; we're not supposed to engage in those things. This is why we're not to owe man anything:
Romans 13:8, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:"