Deuteronomy 24:12
in Deuteronomy 24If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge;
KJV
And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd if the man be poor, etc. - Did not this law preclude pledging entirely, especially in case of the abjectly poor? For who would take a pledge in the morning which he knew, if not redeemed, he must restore at night? However, he might resume his claim in the morning, and have the pledge daily returned, and thus keep up his property in it till the debt was discharged; see the note on Exo 22:
This site's exposition
When you lend anything to your neighbor
on Deuteronomy 24:10-15
The creditor stands outside and the debtor brings the security out. A poor man's house is never entered over a debt.
This site's exposition
If he is a poor man
A pledge that must return to the poor man at sunset gives the lender little security. Henry and Wesley read the rule as forbidding his cloak as security at all.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Nay, thou shalt not only have the prayers and good wishes of thy poor brother, but it shall be righteousness to thee before the Lord thy God, " that is, "It shall be accepted and rewarded as an act of mercy to thy brother and obedience to thy God, and an evidence of thy sincere conformity to the law.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And if the man be poor,.... Which may be thought to be the case of everyone that gives pledges for a debt he owes, or a sum of money he borrows; yet there might be a difference: some might be so very destitute of goods and raiment in their houses, that whatever they parted with was distressing to them, and they could not well do without it: thou shalt not sleep with his pledge; nor keep it a night; but deliver it to him, before he went to bed, and laid himself down to sleep.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
AND IF HE BE A POOR MAN, [THOU SHALT NOT SLEEP WITH HIS PLEDGE]. The term “poor” applies to him who has no alternative pledge similar to the item he gave him [the creditor].
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
כבוא השמש [THOU SHALT RESTORE HIM THE PLEDGE] WHEN THE SUN GOETH DOWN — if it be a night garment; whilst if it be a garment worn during the day restore it to him in the morning.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | [is] a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עָנִ֖י | ʾani | poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| ה֑וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׁכַּ֖ב | tishkav | you will lie down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| בַּעֲבֹטֽוֹ׃ | baavoto | in pledge his | H5667 → | 4 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
אִ֥ישׁ[is] a person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
עָנִ֖יpoor
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
ה֑וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׁכַּ֖בyou will lie down
tishkavH7901 →212 times
בַּעֲבֹטֽוֹ׃in pledge his
baavotoH5667 →4 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 22:6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:26
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Ezekiel 18:12
He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.
- Ezekiel 18:16
He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Job 24:3
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
- Exodus 22:26
Through
Deuteronomy 24:17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Exodus 23:6
You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.
- Deuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Exodus 22:21–22
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.