Amplified Bible
Deuteronomy 24:6
6“No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone [used to grind grain into bread] as security [for a debt], for he would be taking a [person’s] life in pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.
- New International Version (NIV)Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.
Context of Deuteronomy 24:6
4then her former husband who [first] sent her away may not take her again as his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an outrage before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance. 5“When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out [to fight] with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home for one year and shall bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. “No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone [used to grind grain into bread] as security [for a debt], for he would be taking a [person’s] life in pledge. 7“If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen from the sons of Israel, and he treats him violently or sells him [as a slave], then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you. 8“Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy, that you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you; just as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.
Read all of Deuteronomy 24Deuteronomy 24:6 word by word
לֹא־יַחֲבֹ֥ל רֵחַ֖יִם וָרָ֑כֶב כִּי־נֶ֖פֶשׁ ה֥וּא חֹבֵֽל׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 24:6
- Exodus 22:26If you ever take your [poor] neighbor’s robe in pledge, you must return it to him before sunset,
- Revelation 18:22And the sound of harpists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters will never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft will ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone [grinding grain] will never again be heard in you [for commerce will no longer flourish, and normal life will cease].
- Deuteronomy 20:19“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its [fruit-bearing] trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged (destroyed) by you?
- Genesis 44:30Now, therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the young man is not with us, since his life is bound up in the young man’s life,
- Luke 12:15Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions.”
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 24:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The nether or the upper mill-stone - Small hand-mills which can be worked by a single person were formerly in use among the Jews, and are still used in many parts of the East. As therefore the day's meal was generally ground for each day, they keeping no stock beforehand, hence they were forbidden to take either of the stones to pledge, because in such a case the family must be without bread. On this account the text terms the millstone the man's life.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Compare Exodus 22:25-26.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-13Verses 5-13 It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6that would be taking one’s livelihood (literally it is his life): Without his tool, the millstone owner might die. The law set a limit on what could secure a loan. The millstone probably represents any way a person earned a living.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge--The "upper" stone being concave, covers the "nether" like a lid; and it has a small aperture, through which the corn is poured, as well as a handle by which it is turned. The propriety of the law was founded on the custom of grinding corn every morning for daily consumption. If either of the stones, therefore, which composed the handmill was wanting, a person would be deprived of his…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 24:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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