Bible Dictionary

Pledge

Law & Covenant • Old Testament

A pledge was security given for a debt, promise, wager, or guarantee. Israelite law protected the poor by restricting what could be taken as security and requiring certain pledges to be returned promptly.

Definition

A pledge is security given for future payment, conduct, a wager, or a guarantee. Biblical law especially addresses pledges taken from poor debtors, limiting the creditor’s power and protecting necessary clothing and household equipment.

Biblical Usage

Pledges appear in accounts of debt, guarantees, wagers, and tokens. The law forbade a creditor from entering a borrower’s house to take a pledge, required a garment taken as security to be returned at night, and exempted a widow’s clothing and a handmill.

Historical Background

Taking a pledge from the very poor could cause genuine hardship. The supplied material distinguishes the cruelty of demanding security from the dishonesty of withholding it and notes that a pledge could also signify submission, a wager, or a token of welfare.

Historical Bible Dictionaries

Easton's Bible Dictionary

See LOAN.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

[Loan]

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)

plej (verbs chabhal (10 times), `arabh (2Ki 18:23 equals Isa 36:8); nouns chahal (Eze 18:12,16; 33:15), chabcholah (Eze 18:7), `arubbah), (1Sa 17:18), erabhon (Ge 38:17,18,20); also abhoT (De 24:10-13) and (the Revised Version (British and American) only) abhTiT (Hab 2:6)): All these words have about the same meaning.(1) The "pledge" is, as in modern English, security given for future payment (Ge 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 (equals 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 Pr 20:16 (equals 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; 33:15) was worse. Lowest in the scale was the creditor who took the garment the borrower was wearing (Am 2:8; Job 22:6; 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 (Ex 22:26; De 24:12,13), 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 (De 24:17), as was the handmill used for bread-making (De 24:6). The lender had no right of entry into the borrower's house to obtain the pledge (De 24:10,11), 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.Burton Scott Easton

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