Keluaran 22:22

22:22 “You must not afflict ¹  any widow or orphan.

Amsal 20:16

20:16 Take a man’s ²  garment ³  when he has given security for a stranger, ⁴ 

and when he gives surety for strangers, ⁵  hold him ⁶  in pledge.

Yehezkiel 33:15

33:15 He ⁷  returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, ⁸  committing no iniquity. He will certainly live – he will not die.

Amos 2:8

2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;

they do so right ⁹  beside every altar!

They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;

they do so right in the temple ¹⁰  of their God! ¹¹ 

[22:22]  ¹ tn The verb “afflict” is a Piel imperfect from עָנָה (’anah); it has a wide range of meanings: “afflict, oppress, humiliate, rape.” These victims are at the mercy of the judges, businessmen, or villains. The righteous king and the righteous people will not mistreat them (see Isa 1:17; Job 31:16, 17, 21).

[20:16]  ² tn Heb “his garment.”

[20:16]  ³ sn Taking a garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts. In fact, the garment was the article normally taken for security (Exod 22:24-26; Deut 24:10-13). Because this is a high risk security pledge (e.g., 6:1-5), the creditor is to deal more severely than when the pledge is given by the debtor for himself.

[20:16]  ⁴ tc The Kethib has the masculine plural form, נָכְרִים (nakhrim), suggesting a reading “strangers.” But the Qere has the feminine form נָכְרִיָּה (nakhriyyah), “strange woman” or “another man’s wife” (e.g., 27:13). The parallelism would suggest “strangers” is the correct reading, although theories have been put forward for the interpretation of “strange woman” (see below).

[20:16]  sn The one for whom the pledge is taken is called “a stranger” and “foreign.” These two words do not necessarily mean that the individual or individuals are non-Israelite – just outside the community and not well known.

[20:16]  ⁵ tn M. Dahood argues that the cloak was taken in pledge for a harlot (cf. NIV “a wayward woman”). Two sins would then be committed: taking a cloak and going to a prostitute (“To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66; also Snijders, “The Meaning of זָר,” 85-86). In the MT the almost identical proverb in 27:13 has a feminine singular form here.

[20:16]  ⁶ tn Or “hold it” (so NIV, NCV).

[33:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wicked one.”

[33:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “and in the statutes of life he walks.”

[2:8]  ⁹ tn The words “They do so right” are supplied twice in the translation of this verse for clarification.

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[2:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “gods.” The Hebrew term אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (’elohehem) may be translated “their gods” (referring to pagan gods), “their god” (referring to a pagan god, cf. NAB, NIV, NLT), or “their God” (referring to the God of Israel, cf. NASB, NRSV).