New English Translation
Deuteronomy 24:6
6One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security.
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
4her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 5When a man is newly married, he need not go into the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to the wife he has married. One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. 7If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property and sells him, that kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge evil from among you. 8Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should 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 do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down,
- Revelation 18:22And the sound of the harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No craftsman who practices any trade will ever be found in you again; the noise of a mill will never be heard in you again.
- Deuteronomy 20:19If you besiege a city for a long time while attempting to capture it, you must not chop down its trees, for you may eat fruit from them and should not cut them down. A tree in the field is not human that you should besiege it!
- Genesis 44:30“So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life.
- Luke 12:15Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because 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
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