To rob Peter to pay Paul (frequently phrased as robbing Peter to pay Paul) means to borrow money from one person or institution to pay back money owed to another person or institution.
More broadly, the idiom describes shifting resources or debts around without achieving any real net gain or financial improvement. It implies a shortsighted, temporary fix that merely delays inevitable financial trouble.
Common Variations
Depending on the context and region, several interchangeable variations of the phrase exist:
- Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul: Softens the phrase to emphasize taking out new loans, credit card transfers, or debt consolidation traps.
- Stealing from Peter to pay Paul: Heightens the sense of desperation or unethical maneuverings.
- Taking from Peter to give to Paul: A neutral variation, often used in political or economic discussions regarding wealth redistribution.
Why “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul” Is Hard to Replace
The phrase is so remarkably durable because it vividly encapsulates the futility of circular debt. Simple terms like “repaying debt” fail to convey the counterproductive cycle implied by the idiom:
- With Idiom: “Maxing out a new credit card to pay off his old loan is just robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
- Without Idiom: “Maxing out a new credit card to pay off his old loan is simply shifting a financial debt from one creditor to another without reducing his overall balance.”
Origin of “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul”
Although the phrase references Saint Peter and Saint Paul, two of the most prominent apostles in the Christian tradition, the idiom does not come from the Bible.
Instead, it emerged in medieval Europe as a popular vernacular proverb regarding the mismanagement of church funds or saintly feast days. The earliest known written citation in English appears around 1380 in theologian John Wycliffe’s Select English Works:
“Lord, hou schulde God approve that thou robbe Peteur, and gif this robbere to Poule in the name of Crist?”
The Saint Peter & Saint Paul Connection
In medieval Christian tradition, Saint Peter and Saint Paul were almost always paired together, sharing the same feast day (June 29) and frequently having joint church dedications. A common medieval practice involved taking funds, lands, or taxes assigned to a church dedicated to St. Peter and reallocating them to a church dedicated to St. Paul (or vice versa).
An early French version of the proverb made this literal connection explicit: “Découvrir Saint Pierre pour couvrir Saint Paul” (“To unclothe St. Peter to clothe St. Paul”).
The Westminster Abbey Myth
A widely repeated legend claims the phrase originated in 1550 in England, when the Diocese of Westminster (St. Peter’s) was dissolved and absorbed into the Diocese of London (St. Paul’s Cathedral), with revenues transferred to pay for St. Paul’s repairs.
This story is historically inaccurate. As Wycliffe’s 1380 quote proves, the idiom was already widely used throughout England nearly two centuries before the 1550 church restructuring took place.
Sentence Examples
“Using your retirement savings to pay off your credit card balance is just robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“The city council tried to cover the school budget deficit by pulling funds from public parks, but citizens complained they were just robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“He’s been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul for months, taking out personal loans just to pay his monthly rent.”
Similar and Related Idioms
- Zero-sum Game: A situation, transaction, or system in which any gain made by one party results in an equivalent, exact loss for another party, yielding no net overall increase or progress.
- Juggling Resources: The practice of continuously shifting limited funds, time, or assets between competing needs or debts to keep everything temporarily afloat without solving the core shortage.
- In the Black: A financial term indicating that a person or business is operating profitably, accumulating positive cash flow, or free of net debt (derived from the accounting practice of writing positive balances in black ink).
- In the Red: A financial term meaning that an individual or organization is operating at a financial loss, overdrawn, or heavily burdened by debt (derived from writing negative balances in red ink).
- Pay The Piper: To suffer the unavoidable consequences, financial cost, or reckoning of one’s past actions, pleasures, or shortsighted decisions.
- In Hock: When something is in hock it is in the possession of a pawnbroker and cannot be retrieved until the money lent by the broker is paid back; also simply “to be in debt.”
- Pay Through the Nose: To pay an exorbitantly high, unfair, or unreasonable price for an item, service, or mistake.
- Rob Someone Blind: To greatly overcharge someone for a service or item; to cheat someone in a transaction; to cheat someone financially by deception or extortion.