Does The Talmud Permit Lying To And Deceiving Gentiles?
No. Jewish law unequivocally forbids deceiving anyone — Jew or gentile. The Talmud states the rule directly in the name of Shmuel: "It is forbidden to deceive anyone, even an idolatrous gentile" (Chullin 94a). This ruling is codified in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Deiot 2:6) and the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 228:6), and is repeated across the major works of halacha and ethics.
Maimonides goes further in his Commentary to the Mishnah (Keilim 12:7), writing that "lies, tricks, subterfuges, cheatings, and circumventions of gentiles are forbidden," and that such conduct is "even more so" prohibited because it can lead to a desecration of G-d's name. Withholding the truth is forbidden as well — the Midrash recounts Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach returning a precious stone found on a donkey he had bought from an Ishmaelite, declaring, "A donkey I purchased, a precious stone I did not!" (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:3).
The accusation usually points to Bava Kamma 113b, where Shmuel says a gentile's "mistake is permitted" and is described as having underpaid a seller by one zuz on a golden bowl mistakenly priced as bronze. But the Talmud is not endorsing deception — Shmuel himself is the one who forbids it on Chullin 94a. The passage addresses an unrelated question: whether a Jew is obligated to correct a gentile counterparty's own careless error in a transaction. Active trickery remains forbidden; what is permitted is treating an arms-length business relationship as arms-length. Maimonides (Hilchot Geneivah 7:8), the Chinuch (258), the Yam Shel Shlomo (Bava Kamma 10:20), and the Sma (Choshen Mishpat 283:6, 359:3), among many others, state explicitly that the leniency applies only to the gentile's accidental mistakes, never to deceit by the Jew.
Far from permitting dishonesty, rabbinic literature repeatedly praises the opposite. The Jerusalem Talmud (Bava Metzia 2:5) tells of sages who bought wheat from non-Jews, found money hidden in it, and returned it — prompting the sellers to exclaim, "Blessed is the G-d of the Jews."
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