Pledge
PLEDGE
The Jewish law protected the poor who were obliged to give security for a loan or the fulfillment of a contract. If a man pawned his robe, the usual covering of the cool nights, it must be returned on the same day, Exo 22:26-27 . The creditor could not enter a house and take what he pleased; and the millstone being a necessary of life, could not be taken, Deu 24:6,10,11 . Compare Job 22:6 24:3,7. Idolaters sometimes disregarded these prohibitions, 1Sa 2:6-8 . See LOANS. Pledges are necessary from the vicious, who cannot be trusted, Pro 20:16 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Pledge
(usually some form of , chabda, to bind as by a chattel mortgage; occasionally forms of , abdt, to exchange, and , ardb, to give security; Talmud, ), in a legal sense, an assurance given as security by a debtor to his creditor, which is alluded to in the Mosaic books in several instances. Thus
1. The creditor was not permitted to go to the house of his debtor to take his pledge, but must receive it before the door (Deu 24:10 sq.). The reason of this requirement and its merciful object are obvious.
2. The articles which were forbidden to be taken in pledge were,
(a) the raiment or outer garment (Exo 22:26 sq.; Deu 24:10 sq., but see below), because this served the poor also as a covering by night for the bed;
(b) the hand mill (q.v.; Exo 24:6. Comp. Mishna, Baba Mez. 9, 13). But notwithstanding these merciful provisions of the law, hard- hearted creditors were found among the Israelites who oppressed their debtors by taking pledges (Pro 20:16; Pro 27:13; Eze 18:12; Eze 33:15; Hab 2:6; comp. Job 22:6; Job 24:3). See Delitzsch, ad loc., and especially Michaelis, Aos. Recht, 3, 61 sq. The custom of giving pledges prevailed extensively in the ages succeeding the exile, from the fact that by the decisions of the scribes all Jews were prohibited from making any payments on the Sabbath; hence he who would make a purchase on that day left some pledge with the seller (see Mishna, Shab. 23, 1), as his outer garment, to be redeemed by payment the next day. The taking of pledges is still further restricted by the Talmud (Baba Mez. 9, 13). A pledging of land, mortgaging, appears first in the Talmud (Mishna, Shebiith, 10, 6). However, the legal transfer of land under the Mosaic economy was properly but a pledging; for it could at any time be redeemed, and in the year of Jubilee it returned without repayment to the original owner. Pawning of personal property for debt, however, was a very ancient custom (Gen 38:17 sq.). Personal guarantees of faith. pledges, or hostages, are mentioned (2Ki 14:14, ). The general abhorrence of the usurer, and of his taking pledges, among the Arabs of the present day, is often mentioned by travelers. Mohammed entirely forbids all lending on interest, and the Mosaic precepts (comp. Exo 22:25-27) are generally so understood in the East. Yet nothing is more common there than exorbitant usury, and the taking of pledges (Thomson, Land and Book, 1, 499 sq.). SEE LOAN.
PLEDGE is something given in hand as a security for the fulfillment of a contract or the performance of a promise. When a man of veracity pledges his word, his affirmation becomes an assurance that he will fulfill what he has promised. But as the word of every man is not equally valid in matters of importance, it becomes necessary that a valuable article of some kind should be deposited as a bond for fulfillment on his part. In the Protestant Episcopal Church Catechism a sacrament is defined as ;an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a Ineans whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof; in which the pledge is the token that we receive the grace.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Pledge
See LOAN.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Pledge
PLEDGE.The taking of a pledge for the re-payment of a loan was sanctioned by the Law, but a humanitarian provision was introduced to the effect that, when this pledge consisted of the large square outer garment or cioak called simlah, it must be returned before nightfali, since this garment often formed the only covering of the poor at night (Exo 22:26 f., Deu 24:12 f.; cf. Amo 2:8, Job 22:6; Job 24:9, Eze 18:7; Eze 18:12; Eze 18:16; Eze 33:15). It was forbidden also to take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge (Deu 24:6). In Isa 36:8 the reference is to a pledge to be forfeited if a wager is lost (cf. RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). In I S17:18 take their pledge probably means bring back a token of their welfare (Driver).
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Pledge
“Take his garment (saith the wise man) that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.” (Pro 20:16) This was indeed done in the person of the strangers’ best and truest friend, when the Lord Jesus came from his heavenly home to be a Surety for more than strangers, yea, enemies to God by wicked works. Nevertheless, in the common circumstances of human life between man and man, the tender mercies of God over Israel, commanded that they should be very cautious how they took pledges and retained them. The law of pledges seems to have been, that in cases where the word or assurance of the borrower might be doubted, some valuable article should be left with the lender by way of assuring payment. But it is really blessed to observe how tenderly the Lord himself interposed, that usury and unkindness might not creep in among his people. “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge, for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.” (Deu 24:6) By these the man grinds his daily bread, and therefore he will starve if the implements for providing his food be taken from him. And in a spiritual sense how much higher the argument runs! Take not away the means and ordinances of worship, by the use of which, under the blessing of God, the bread of life is administered to him.
So again: The Lord prohibited the lender from entering the borrower’s house to take his pledge. (Deu 24:10) Every man’s house is his castle; to enter it therefore is a violation of all right, and especially to enter it in order to oppress. And the law of pledges went farther. If a poor man through necessity had compelled him to pawn his garment, the law enjoined that the lender should not sleep with his pledge. “In any case, saith the Lord, thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee.” And as an additional motive to the exercise of this mercy, the Lord declared that such regard to a poor brother the Lord would consider as done to himself. “It shall be, (said the Lord,) righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.” (Deu 24:10-13) Precious Jesus! I would say as I read those sweet Scriptures of mercy, I have pledged to thee all I have, and all I am; and do I not see in this blessed command of thine thy gracious tenderness of heart to give me all my justly forfeited pledges, that the sun may not go down and I be found naked, but sleep secure in thy garment of salvation, that my soul may bless thee! This is indeed the Lord’s righteousness, which is upon all, and unto all, that believe. Oh, that the usurers of the present day would read those Scriptures, and be no longer so, but like Job, “drive not away the ass of the father less, and taken of the widow’s ox for pledge!” (Job 24:3)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Pledge
plej (verbs , habhal (10 times), , arabh (2Ki 18:23 = Isa 36:8); nouns , habhal (Eze 18:12, Eze 18:16; Eze 33:15), , habholah (Eze 18:7), , arubbah), (1Sa 17:18), , erabhon (Gen 38:17, Gen 38:18, Gen 38:20); also , abhot (Deu 24:10-13) and (the Revised Version (British and American) only) , abhtt (Hab 2:6)): All these words have about the same meaning. (1) The pledge is, as in modern English, security given for future payment (Gen 38:17-24) or conduct (Hab 2:6, where the conquered nations have given guaranties of their subserviency to the Chaldeans; the King James Version’s thick clay here rests on a misreading of the Hebrew). In 2Ki 18:23 (= Isa 36:8) the pledge is a wager (so the Revised Version margin). Rabshakeh mockingly dares Hezekiah to stake a pledge that he can produce 2,000 men for the defense of Jerusalem, although the mighty Assyrian host has that number of horses alone. The general point of the obscure passage Pro 20:16 (= Pro 27:13) is that he who guarantees strangers needs a guaranty himself. 1Sa 17:18 is uncertain and the text may be corrupt. If not, the pledge is some (prearranged?) token of the welfare of David’s brethren. (2) Most of the occurrences of pledge, however, deal with the debts of the very poor, who had no property that they could spare even temporarily. Consequently, the exaction of a pledge from such persons worked genuine hardship, and to take a pledge at all was a cruel act (Job 24:3), although of course the dishonesty of withholding a pledge (Eze 18:7; Eze 33:15) was worse. Lowest in the scale was the creditor who took the garment the borrower was wearing (Amo 2:8; Job 22:6; Job 24:9 margin), and special legislation controlled this practice. A garment (the outer cloak – see DRESS – not worn while doing manual labor) so taken must be restored at night (Exo 22:26; Deu 24:12, Deu 24:13), for it was the usual covering of the sleeper. (Apparently, though, the creditor regained custody of it in the daytime until the debt was paid.) A widow’s clothing, however, was entirely exempt (Deu 24:17), as was the handmill used for bread-making (Deu 24:6). The lender had no right of entry into the borrower’s house to obtain the pledge (Deu 24:10, Deu 24:11), but it is not said that he could not dictate what he would accept; indeed, the contrary is inconceivable. (3) the American Standard Revised Version gives pledge for the King James Version and the English Revised Version faith in 1Ti 5:12. See also EARNEST.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Pledge
[LOAN]
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Pledge
The taking of articles as security for loans, etc. was very early practised, and restrictions were given in the law that no unfair advantage should be taken thereby. Exo 22:26; Deu 24:10-17; Job 22:6; Job 24:3; Job 24:9; Amo 2:8. In 2Ki 18:23 and Isa 36:8 the sense is ‘to make an engagement or treaty.’
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Pledge
General references
Gen 38:17-20
Creditor must not enter house of a debtor to take
Deu 24:10-13 Pawn; Surety
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Pledge
Pledge. See Loan.