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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 24

1 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.⁠ 2 When she has left him she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects her and then divorces her, gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies,⁠ 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. 5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to the wife he has married. 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. 7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property and sells him, that kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge the evil from among you. 8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do.⁠ 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you left Egypt. 10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.⁠ 11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security. 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering. 13 You must by all means 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 deed by the Lord your God. 14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. 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.⁠ 16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.⁠ 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.⁠ 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.⁠ 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.⁠ 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 24:17 and Amos 2:8

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy forbids taking a widow’s garment as loan security, since it strips away dignity and basic protection. Amos echoes this warning by condemning the wealthy who lounge on pledged garments, turning another person’s survival item into luxury.

Passages

Deuteronomy 24:17

Hebrew Bible
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. 16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin. 17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Amos 2:8

Hebrew Bible
6 This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions—make that four—I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity. 8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple of their God!
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

References

"... It is evident that poverty affects all aspects of human existence. So it is easy to understand that poor people lack everything: sufficient food, adequate clothing, and a shelter worthy of human beings. However, garments are also often mentioned in a more specific context, namely, that of debts ... In the parallelism, exacting pledges is explained as taking away clothes. There are a significant number of biblical texts that associate garments with the question of pledges in the context of the ancient credit system. The Torah forbids taking a widow’s garment in pledge (Deuteronomy 24:17). It also commands that one restore a neighbor’s cloak taken in pawn before sunset, since it is used as a cover during the night (Exodus 22:25-26; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). In Deuteronomy 24:12, the cloak is simply called a “garment.” People who are called “naked” in other texts may simply have lost their “cloak,” a seamless cover used especially for protection from the cold Palestinian nights. Critical prophets also mention garments in the context of pledges. Amos 2:8 accuses wealthy Israelites of “laying themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge.” Less clear is Micah 2:8, where the “house of Jacob” is accused of “stripping the robe from the peaceful.” ..."
Rainer Kessler, “'When You See the Naked, Cover Them!': The Clothing of the Poor as an Act of Righteousness,” in Clothing and Nudity in the Hebrew Bible: A Handbook, ed. Christoph Berner, Manuel Schäfer, Martin Schott, Sarah Schulz, and Martina Weingärtner (London: T&T Clark, 2019), 331–352.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 24:17 and Amos 2:8

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