English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 24:6
6"No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (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.
Context of Deuteronomy 24:6
4then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. 5"When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken. "No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge. 7"If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 8"Take care, in a case of leprous disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I 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 ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down,
- Revelation 18:22and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
- Deuteronomy 20:19"When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?
- Genesis 44:30"Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life,
- Luke 12:15And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries