Deuteronomy 24:10
When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he oweth thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge:
Open Deuteronomy 24:10 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Cum repetes a proximo tuo rem aliquam, quam debet tibi, non ingredieris domum ejus ut pignus auferas :
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ἐὰν ὀφείλημα ᾖ ἐν τῷ πλησίον σου, ὀφείλημα ὁτιοῦν, καὶ εἰσελεύσῃ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ ἐνεχυράσαι τὸ ἐνέχυρον αὐτοῦ·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- כִּֽי תַשֶּׁ֥ה בְרֵֽעֲךָ מַשַּׁ֣את מְא֑וּמָה לֹא תָבֹ֥א אֶל בֵּית֖וֹ לַעֲבֹ֥ט עֲבֹטֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Pledge. This was left to the choice of the debtor, provided he gave sufficient. The Athenian and Roman laws allowed a person to search his neighbour's house, for what he had lost: but he was to enter covered only with a short garment round his middle, (Calmet) to prevent his taking away any thing which did not belong to him.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Chapter XVIII. The Mosaic Law the Fountain of All Ethics, and the Source from Which the Greeks Drew Theirs
Respecting imparting and communicating, though much might be said, let it suffice to remark that the law prohibits a brother from taking usury: designating as a brother not only him who is born of the same parents, but also one of the same race and sentiments, and a participator in the same word; deeming it right not to take usury for money, but with open hands and heart to bestow on those who need. For God, the author and the dispenser of such grace, takes as suitable usury the most precious things to be found among men, mildness, gentleness, magnanimity, reputation, renown. Do you not regard this command as marked by philanthropy? As also the following, “To pay the wages of the poor daily,” teaches to discharge without delay the wages due for service; for, as I think, the alacrity of the poor with reference to the future is paralyzed when he has suffered want. …