No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.
Parallel translations
- WEB No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge; for he takes a life in pledge.
- BSB Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
- NKJV “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.
- NASB “No one shall seize a handmill or an upper millstone as a pledge for a loan, since he would be seizing the debtor’s means of life as a pledge.
- NLT “It is wrong to take a set of millstones, or even just the upper millstone, as security for a loan, for the owner uses it to make a living.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No one may take millstones as security for a loan, because that would seize the means of daily bread, a person's very livelihood. Lending must never strip away life's necessities.
Overview
The hand mill ground the grain for a household's daily food, so holding it as a pledge would effectively take 'a life in pledge.' The law restrains creditors from using their power to endanger a debtor's survival. This concern for the vulnerable poor runs throughout Deuteronomy and reflects the heart of God, who defends the needy and supplies daily bread (Matthew 6:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 12:15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
- Deut 20:19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege:
- Gen 44:30Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
- Rev 18:22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
- Exod 22:26–27If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 24:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.