Deuteronomy 24 · Verse 6

Deuteronomy 24:6

No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.

Deuteronomy 24:6, King James Version

Deuteronomy 24:6 in other translations

BSB	Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
WEB	No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge.
ASV	No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.
YLT	‘None doth take in pledge millstones, and rider, for life it is he is taking in pledge.
DARBY	No man shall take the hand-mill or the upper millstone in pledge; for it would be taking life in pledge.
BBE	No one is to take, on account of a debt, the stones with which grain is crushed: for in doing so he takes a man's living.
Webster	No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone for a pledge: for he taketh a man's life for a pledge.

What does Deuteronomy 24:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. 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 necessary provision.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 The 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 24:5-13

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…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 24:5-13 →

Deuteronomy 24:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹא\־lo'-notH3808

יַחֲבֹ֥לya.cha.Volanyone will take as pledgeH2254

רֵחַ֖יִםre.Cha.yima hand-millH7347

וָרָ֑כֶבva.Ra.khevand an upper millstoneH7393

כִּי\־ki-forH3588

נֶ֖פֶשׁNe.fesha lifeH5315

ה֥וּאhu'thatH1931

חֹבֵֽל\׃\ \סcho.Vel[is] taking as pledgeH2254

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 24:6

Deuteronomy 20:19
When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege:
Luke 12:15
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Revelation 18:22
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Genesis 44:30
Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;
Exodus 22:26-27
If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

shall take.Small hand-mills, which ground at one time only a sufficient quantity for a day's consumption; hence they were forbidden to take either of the stones to pledge, because if they did, they would be deprived of the means of preparing their necessary food, and the family be without bread. On this account they are called in the text, a man's life. The same reason holds good against receiving in pledge, or distraining for debt, any instrument of labour, by which men earn their livelihood.
Ex 22:26,27; Re 18:22
life.
20:19; Ge 44:30; Lu 12:15

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Deuteronomy 24:5
When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
Deuteronomy 24:6
No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man’s life to pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:7
If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

Read all of Deuteronomy 24

Deuteronomy 24:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	No tomarás en prenda la muela de molino, ni la de abajo ni la de arriba: porque sería prendar la vida.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	On ne prendra point en gage les deux meules, ni la meule tournante, car ce serait prendre en gage la vie.
German Elberfelder 1871	Man soll nicht Mühle noch Mühlstein pfänden; denn wer das tut, pfändet das Leben.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Non accipies loco pignoris inferiorem, et superiorem molam: quia animam suam opposuit tibi.