24:6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security. 1
24:7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, 2 and regards him as mere property 3 and sells him, that kidnapper 4 must die. In this way you will purge 5 evil from among you.
1 sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.
2 tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
3 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
4 tn Heb “that thief.”
5 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.