Text: Deuteronomy 24:6
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 22:26
Subject: loan collateral regulation
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Exodus 22:26 prohibits retaining a garment pledge overnight because it is the poor man's essential covering, and Deuteronomy 24:6 extends this principle to another category: "No one shall take a pair of millstones or an upper millstone as security, for that would be taking a life as security" (כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הוּא חֹבֵל, ki nefesh hu chovel). Both texts protect items essential to survival from being seized as collateral—a garment for warmth (Exodus) and a millstone for food preparation (Deuteronomy). The Deuteronomic prohibition explicitly names the theological principle: taking essential tools is equivalent to taking a "life" (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh), because depriving someone of their means of sustenance threatens their very existence.