Exodus 22:26

Hebrew Bible

24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. 25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest. 26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, 27 for it is his only covering—it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious. 28 “You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

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! 9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. They were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks, but I destroyed the fruit on their branches and their roots in the ground. 10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for 40 years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

 Notes and References

"... Another ostracon, known as the Mesad Hashavyahu Letter, also speaks to the spread of writing and literacy in the late Judean monarchy. The ostracon was found in a guardroom of the small military fortress, Mesad Hashavyahu, which apparently also served as an agricultural administrative center at the time. The letter comes from an agricultural worker who is complaining that his garment was unjustly confiscated ... In this rather redundant letter, a worker entreats the governor to intervene and see that the garment is returned to him. This letter is especially noteworthy because it recalls the biblical law of a garment taken in pledge. Exodus 22:26–27, for example, enjoins a creditor (also see Deuteronomy 24:10–15; Amos 2:8) ... The issue of a garment taken in pledge was apparently a well-known legal issue ..."

Schniedewind, William M. How the Bible Became a Book: The Textualization of Ancient Israel (p. 103) Cambridge University Press, 2004

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.