No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge.
No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone. The "upper" stone, being concave, covers the "nether" like a lid; and it has a small aperture through which the grain is poured, as well as a handle by which it is turned. The propriety of the law prohibiting either being taken was founded on the custom of grinding grain every morning for daily consumption. If either of the stones, therefore, which composed the handmill was wanting, a person would be deprived of his necessary provision; and as there was no other means of preparing it, all rational prospect of subsistence, no less than of paying his debts, was taken away.