Deuteronomy 24:11

11 Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring forth the pledge without unto thee.

Deuteronomy 24:11 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 24:11

Thou shall stand abroad
Without doors, in the street, as the Targum of Jonathan, while the borrower or debtor looks out, and brings forth what he can best spare as a pledge:

and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad
unto thee;
now as, on the one hand, if the lender or creditor had been allowed to go in and take what he pleased for a pledge, he would choose the best; so, on the other hand, the borrower or debtor would be apt to bring the worst, what was of the least value and use; wherefore the Jews made it a rule that it should be of a middling sort, between both, lest it should be a discouragement and hinderance to lend upon pledges {l}.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Misn. Gittin, c. 5. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Deuteronomy 24:11 In-Context

9 Remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Miriam, by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt.
10 When thou dost lend thy neighbor any manner of loan, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11 Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring forth the pledge without unto thee.
12 And if he be a poor man, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge;
13 thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.