Bible Strands
Exodus 22:26
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through Moses, issuing a civil regulation immediately following the prohibition on charging interest to the poor.
The words — תַּחְבֹּ֖ל (tachbol) means "you will take as pledge," paired with שַׂלְמַ֣ת רֵעֶ֑ךָ (salmat re'ekha), literally "the cloak of your neighbor."
The thread — The restriction on withholding essential items appears in Deuteronomy 24:6 regarding millstones, is condemned in Amos 2:8 for temple corruption, and is echoed in Proverbs 20:16 regarding reckless collateral.
Why it lands — The text commands the daily return of a debtor's cloak to preserve basic survival and dignity. It requires readers to prioritize immediate physical need over financial leverage or profit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Cross-references
- Proverbs 20:16 Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
- Amos 2:8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
- Deuteronomy 24:6 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.
- Deuteronomy 24:10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
- Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
- Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
- Proverbs 22:27 If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?
- Ezekiel 18:7 He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Ezekiel 18:16 He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Job 22:6 For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.