Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Deuteronomio 24:6

The implied subject of they will judge them is “the judges”. Compare, “one may not take for security the lower millstone…” [comment on 24: 6].

We find that this portion’s beginning, middle, and end are a warning about theft. Its beginning is When a person brings an offering, its middle is and he shall remove its crop with its feathers, because birds feed from theft, and its end is and he shall return the stolen item. This is because offerings and theft are two opposites, for offerings bring the Divine Presence closer while theft distances it, as it says Because of the plundering of the poor… ‘Now I will arise,’ says the Lord (Psalms 12:6). Furthermore, one who offers his animal is as if he has offered his own soul, because a person’s possessions are like his soul, as he brings his bread with his soul, and as it is written, For he is taking a soul as a pledge (Deuteronomy 24:6), and it is written And He will rob those who rob them of [their] soul (Proverbs 22:23). And part of the soul is like the whole. But how can one who offers a stolen animal, which he did not labor for and his hand did not work for, be a substitute for his soul?

Introduction The final mishnah of chapter nine discusses the laws concerning a creditor’s taking of a pledge from a borrower. A pledge is an object probably worth about the value of the loan. The borrower actually gives the pledge to the lender before receiving the loan. It is to be distinguished from collateral which does not go to the lender unless the borrower defaults on his loan. There are three passages in Deuteronomy 24 concerning “pledges”. Verse 6 states: “Do not take a mill or an upper millstone as a pledge, for that would be taking someone’s life as a pledge”. In other words, since these two objects are necessary to produce food, a lender is prohibited from taking them. Verses 10-13 state two laws regarding pledges: 1) when one takes a pledge he must not enter the borrower’s house; 2) if the lender is poor the borrower may not keep his pledge overnight. The assumption here is that the pledge was a cloak in which the poor person will need to sleep. Verse 17 states, “Do not take the a widow’s garment as a pledge”.