Exodus 22:26-27

22:26 If you do take ¹  the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, ²  22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. ³  What else can he sleep in? ⁴  And ⁵  when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

Deuteronomy 24:12-17

24:12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. ⁶  24:13 You must by all means ⁷  return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just ⁸  deed by the Lord your God.

24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites ⁹  or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. ¹⁰  24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

24:16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children ¹¹  do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.

24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.

Ezekiel 18:7

18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ¹²  does not commit robbery, ¹³  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked,

Ezekiel 18:12

18:12 oppresses the poor and the needy, ¹⁴  commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to ¹⁵  idols, performs abominable acts,

¹ tn The construction again uses the infinitive absolute with the verb in the conditional clause to stress the condition.

² tn The clause uses the preposition, the infinitive construct, and the noun that is the subjective genitive – “at the going in of the sun.”

³ tn Heb “his skin.”

⁴ tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.

⁵ tn Heb “and it will be.”

⁶ tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”

⁸ tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).

⁹ tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.

¹² tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

¹³ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

¹⁴ sn The poor and needy are often mentioned together in the OT (Deut 24:14; Jer 22:16; Ezek 14:69; Ps 12:6; 35:10; 37:14).

¹⁵ tn Heb “lifts up his eyes.”