If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down,
English Standard Version (ESV)
This isn't just about returning a borrowed item; it reveals a common practice where a poor person might pledge their cloak (their sole warmth at night) during the day, needing it back for sleep. So, the law isn't forbidding pledges entirely, but ensuring they don't leave someone utterly vulnerable and without basic comfort.
If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down,
English Standard Version (ESV)
This law appears in a section of Exodus outlining practical rules for justice and compassion within the community. It follows regulations about protecting the vulnerable and property, and precedes specific commands regarding sexual morality. The context suggests that these laws are about how to treat one another justly and kindly, especially those who are in need.
What does it mean to pledge your neighbor's cloak? It wasn't just about a piece of clothing, but about ensuring survival and basic dignity.
A Matter of Life and Death
This law speaks to a time when clothing was much more than just fashion. For a poor person, their outer garment, sometimes called a 'cloak' or 'mantle,' was essential for warmth, both during the day and, crucially, at night.
Imagine having to return your only blanket to the lender every single evening. This wasn't just inconvenient; it was a lifeline.
More Than Just a Transaction
The requirement to return the cloak before sunset wasn't about the lender being indecisive. It reveals a compassionate system designed to balance the needs of the lender with the survival of the borrower.
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Understand the original words
salmah · Hebrew Noun
An outer garment used as protection from the elements, often functioning as a poor man's bed covering; taking it in pledge implies withholding a necessity of life.
chabol · Hebrew Noun
Security or collateral given to ensure the repayment of a debt. Biblical law regulates the taking of pledges to prevent the oppression of the poor.
This passage expands on the laws concerning pledges, specifically prohibiting the creditor from entering the debtor's house to seize a pledge, highlighting God's concern for the vulnerable, just as Exodus 22:26 protects a neighbor's basic needs.
Nehemiah 5:3-5This passage reveals the harsh reality of extreme debt and pledging in ancient Israel, showing how the spirit of laws like Exodus 22:26 was violated when people resorted to pledging 'fields and vineyards' and even their children due to oppressive loans.
Amos 2:8The prophet Amos directly condemns the Israelites for taking a poor person's garment as a pledge, even keeping it overnight, which is a clear violation of the humane law found in Exodus 22:26 and emphasizes the ethical implications of lending and debt.
Matthew 5:40Jesus' teaching to 'let the one who would sue you take your shirt also' extends the principle of generosity beyond legal requirements, echoing the spirit of compassion embedded in Exodus 22:26 by advocating for a radical willingness to give up possessions rather than cling to them in disputes.
pulpitExodus 22:26: "If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:"
Verse 26. - If thou take at all thy neighbour's raiment to pledge. Lending upon pledge, the business of our modern pawnbrokers, was not forbidden by the Jewish law; only certain articles of primary necessity were forbidden to be taken, as the handmill for grinding flour, or either of its mill-stones (Deuteronomy 24:6). Borrowing upon pledge was practised largely in…
clarkeExodus 22:26: "If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:"
If thou - take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge - It seems strange that any pledge should be taken which must be so speedily restored; but it is very likely that the pledge was restored by night only, and that he who pledged it brought it back to his creditor next morning. The opinion of the rabbins is, that whatever a man needed for the support of life, he had the u…
This isn't just about returning a borrowed item; it reveals a common practice where a poor person might pledge their cloak (their sole warmth at night) during the day, needing it back for sleep. So, the law isn't forbidding pledges entirely, but ensuring they don't leave someone utterly vulnerable and without basic comfort.
This law appears in a section of Exodus outlining practical rules for justice and compassion within the community. It follows regulations about protecting the vulnerable and property, and precedes specific commands regarding sexual morality. The context suggests that these laws are about how to treat one another justly and kindly, especially those who are in need.
This law appears in a section of Exodus outlining practical rules for justice and compassion within the community. It follows regulations about protecting the vulnerable and property, and precedes specific commands regarding sexual morality. The context suggests that these laws are about how to treat one another justly and kindly, especially those who are in need.
"If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down," — This isn't just about returning a borrowed item; it reveals a common practice where a poor person might pledge their cloak (their sole warmth at night) during the day, needing it back for sleep. So,…
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Last reviewed October 2026