Exodus 22:26-27

A garment taken in pledge to be returned before sun-down. Cf. Ḥamm. § 241. Comp. Deuteronomy 24:6; Deuteronomy 24:10-13, where other limitations are placed on the arbitrary power of the creditor. Loans on interest are forbidden, in Dt. (Deuteronomy 23:19 f.) not less than here (v.25): but loans on the security of a pledge are permitted, under certain provisos checking harsh or arbitrary action on the part of the creditor; he is not, for instance, to enter the house of the debtor to choose his own pledge, or to take in pledge an article necessary to life, such as the domestic hand-mill. For pledges given on a large scale as security for a loan, see Nehemiah 5:3 (where houses and vineyards were, as we should say in such a case, mortgaged), 5 (children). Allusions to abuses in the exaction or retention of pledges are contained in Amos 2:8; Ezekiel 18:12; Ezekiel 18:16 (contrast v.7), Exodus 33:15; Job 22:6; Job 24:3; Job 24:9.