Deuteronomy 24:12 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: And if the man be poor, etc. - Did not this law preclude pledging entirely, especially in case of the abjectly poor? For who would take a pledge in the morning which he knew, if not redeemed, he must restore at night? However, he might resume his claim in the morning, and have the pledge daily returned, and thus keep up his property in it till the debt was discharged; see the note on Exodus 22:26. The Jews in several cases did act contrary to this rule, and we find them cuttingly reproved for it by the Prophet Amos, Amos 2:8.