Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 22:26
If thou at all take thy neighbor’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
26. garment ] mantle (Heb. salmh), the large rectangular piece of cloth described in the note on Exo 12:34; perhaps the only article that a poor man would have to offer as a pledge, as well as his only covering by night ( v. 27). The mantle might be retained by the debtor, in order that he might sleep in it himself: see Deu 24:12. A garment was a common pledge: see not only Amo 2:8, Job 22:6, already quoted, but also Pro 20:16 = Pro 27:13. The poor still sleep in Palestine in their ordinary clothes ( L. and B. i. 54, 99, iii. 89); cf. Shaw, Travels in Barbary and the Levant (1738), p. 290 (cited by Kn.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
26, 27. A garment taken in pledge to be returned before sun-down. Cf. amm. 241. Comp. Deu 24:6; Deu 24:10-13, where other limitations are placed on the arbitrary power of the creditor. Loans on interest are forbidden, in Dt. (Deu 23:19 f.) not less than here ( v. 25): but loans on the security of a pledge are permitted, under certain provisos checking harsh or arbitrary action on the part of the creditor; he is not, for instance, to enter the house of the debtor to choose his own pledge, or to take in pledge an article necessary to life, such as the domestic hand-mill. For pledges given on a large scale as security for a loan, see Neh 5:3 (where houses and vineyards were, as we should say in such a case, mortgaged), 5 (children). Allusions to abuses in the exaction or retention of pledges are contained in Amo 2:8, Eze 18:12; Eze 18:16 (contrast v. 7), Exo 33:15, Job 22:6; Job 24:3; Job 24:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The law regarding pledges is expanded, Deu 24:6, Deu 24:10-13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. If thou – take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge] It seems strange that any pledge should be taken which must be so speedily restored; but it is very likely that the pledge was restored by night only, and that he who pledged it brought it back to his creditor next morning. The opinion of the rabbins is, that whatever a man needed for the support of life, he had the use of it when absolutely necessary, though it was pledged. Thus he had the use of his working tools by day, but he brought them to his creditor in the evening. His hyke, which serves an Arab as a plaid does a Highlander, (See Clarke on Ex 12:34), was probably the raiment here referred to: it is a sort of coarse blanket, about six yards long, and five or six feet broad, which an Arab always carries with him, and on which he sleeps at night, it being his only substitute for a bed. As the fashions in the east scarcely ever change, it is very likely that the raiment of the Israelites was precisely the same with that of the modern Arabs, who live in the very same desert in which the Hebrews were when this law was given. How necessary it was to restore the hyke to a poor man before the going down of the sun, that he might have something to repose on, will appear evident from the above considerations. At the same time, the returning it daily to the creditor was a continual acknowledgment of the debt, and served instead of a written acknowledgment or bond; as we may rest assured that writing, if practised at all before the giving of the law, was not common: but it is most likely that it did not exist.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy neighbours; to wit, that is poor, as appears by comparing this with the next verse, where he is supposed to have but one garment, and with Deu 24:12,13.
By that the sun goeth down; because he speaks of such raiment or covering wherein he used to sleep, Exo 22:27. But you are not to think that the creditor would every morning take, and every night redeliver his pledge; and therefore this is rather a prohibition to take any such thing for a pledge as a man hath great and daily need of, by this argument, that if he did take it, he could not keep it. Compare Deu 24:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26, 27. If thou at all take thyneighbour’s raiment to pledge, c.From the nature of the case,this is the description of a poor man. No Orientals undress, but,merely throwing off their turbans and some of their heavy outergarments, they sleep in the clothes which they wear during the day.The bed of the poor is usually nothing else than a mat and, inwinter, they cover themselves with a cloaka practice which formsthe ground or reason of the humane and merciful law respecting thepawned coat.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge,…. So that it seems that the lender, though he might not impose usury on the borrower, or oblige him to pay interest for what he lent him, yet for the security of his money he might take his clothes, either his bed clothes or wearing apparel, or any instruments or goods of his; but when he did, he was bound to what follows:
thou shalt deliver it to him by that the sun goeth down; the reason of which appears in the next verse, with respect to his bed clothes, should that be the pledge: but Jarchi interprets it, not of his nocturnal clothes, but of his apparel in the daytime, and paraphrases it thus,
“all the day thou shalt restore it to him until the setting of the sun; and when the sun is set, thou shalt return and take it until the morning of the morrow comes; the Scripture speaks of the covering of the day, of which there is no need at night;”
but rather night clothes are meant by what follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(26, 27) Thy neighbours raiment.The simlah, or salmah, here translated raiment, was the large flowing outer raiment, elsewhere called beged, which was commonly of woollen, and corresponded to the abba of the modern Arabs. It was a warm wrapper, and has sometimes been compared to a Scotch plaid. The poor Israelite did not much want it by day; but needed it as a blanket by nighta practice known to many modern tribes of Arabs. The present passage forbids the retention of this garment as a pledge during the night, and seems to imply a continuous practice of pledging the simlah by day, and being allowed to Enjoy the use of it, nevertheless, as a nocturnal covering.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 22:26. If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge This law extends to every thing of daily use, or whereupon livelihood depends. See Deu 24:6 from the 12th and 13th verses of which chapter, as well as from the reason of the law, it appears that it refers to the poor. The raiment here mentioned, was that kind of loose garment whereof we spoke in the note on ch. Exo 12:34 and which, as Dr. Shaw there observes, was commonly used for sleeping in. Note; When we lie warm ourselves, let us remember such as want clothes to cover them; and never add affliction to the needy, but study how to relieve it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Exo 22:26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Ver. 26, 27. Thy neighbour’s raiment.] Meant only of his bedclothes, tegumentum nocturnum; without which he cannot comfortably rest in the night.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
raiment = mantle. Raiment by day, and sole covering at night. Compare Exo 12:34. Deu 24:12, Deu 24:13. Jdg 4:18. Amo 2:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
to pledge: Deu 24:6, Deu 24:10-13, Deu 24:17, Job 22:6, Job 24:3, Job 24:9, Pro 20:16, Pro 22:27, Eze 18:7, Eze 18:16, Eze 33:15, Amo 2:8
Reciprocal: Deu 24:13 – deliver Job 24:7 – the naked Pro 27:13 – General Pro 29:13 – meet Eze 22:12 – thou hast Luk 6:30 – and