Ulangan 24:6-15

24:6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. ¹ 

24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, ²  and regards him as mere property ³  and sells him, that kidnapper ⁴  must die. In this way you will purge ⁵  evil from among you.

Respect for Human Dignity

24:8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely ⁶  all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do. 24:9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam ⁷  along the way after you left Egypt.

24:10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security. ⁸  24:11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security. ⁹  24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. ¹⁰  24:13 You must by all means ¹¹  return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just ¹²  deed by the Lord your God.

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ¹³  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ¹⁴  24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

[24:6]  ¹ sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.

[24:7]  ² tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.

[24:7]  ³ tn Or “and enslaves him.”

[24:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “that thief.”

[24:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.

[24:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”

[24:9]  ⁷ sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.

[24:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.

[24:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “his pledge.”

[24:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”

[24:13]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”

[24:13]  ¹² tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).

[24:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

[24:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.