Deuteronomy 24:10-13

Regulation of Pledges (Deuteronomy 24:10).

Deuteronomy 24:10

‘ When you lend your neighbour any manner of loan, you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to you.'

This regulation stressed the sanctity of a man's home and personal rights, which were not to be violated. A creditor must not burst in without warning, taking what he would (like the kidnapper), indeed must not burst in at all. He must be considerate and thoughtful, and on making his approach to obtain his pledge, stand outside and let the person bring it out to him. This might be in respect of an initial pledge, or a daily pledge. In the latter case the man would clearly be very poor. But his right to privacy must still be respected.

Furthermore it prevented the creditor from making his own choice of what was to be pledged. A man's property was seen as his own, and that right must be respected. We must not make free with other people's possessions.

Deuteronomy 24:12

‘ And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep holding on to his pledge, you shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you, and it shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.'

And in the case of a very poor man, who has given his robe in pledge, the robe must be returned to him nightly so that he could sleep in it. For such a man would use his robe as his bed clothes. Then the man will bless his creditor, and this behaviour will count before God. God will see it and approve. They will be counted as covenant keepers and be blessed accordingly. Thus as with the taking of his handmill in Deuteronomy 24:6 this is the taking of what is vital for his personal welfare.

We should note that, while Deuteronomy continually makes provision for those in need, ‘the poor' are only mentioned in this chapter and Deuteronomy 15:4. This was partly because had Israel been obedient there would not have been poor in the land. so that regularly he speaks in terms of those of whom some would inevitably be poor, the fatherless, the widow and the resident alien/foreigner (Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14; Deuteronomy 27:19; Deuteronomy 1:16; Deuteronomy 5:14; Deuteronomy 26:11; Deuteronomy 29:11 compare Exodus 22:22) rather than directly of the poor. For he did not want reference to the poor to be taken as evidence that there inevitably would be poor people, other than as a result of misfortune. Poor people in Yahweh's land were actually a contradiction. His attitude to the resident alien and the foreigner is especially paralleled in Leviticus 19:33, compare with this Deuteronomy 10:18, but is common throughout (Exodus 12:48; Exodus 20:10; Exodus 22:21; Exodus 23:9; Exodus 23:12; Leviticus 24:22; Leviticus 25:6; Leviticus 25:35; Numbers 9:14; Numbers 15:14; Numbers 15:26; Numbers 35:15).