“No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.
Parallel translations
- WEB No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge; for he takes a life in pledge.
- KJV No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to 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.
- 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 12:15He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.”
- Deut 20:19When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them. You shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you?
- Gen 44:30Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy’s life;
- Rev 18:22The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you.
- Exod 22:26–27If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes 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.