In nothing, perhaps, do the Israelitish laws deviate so far from
our own, as in regard to matters of debt. Imprisonment was unknown among
the Hebrews, who were equally free from those long and expensive modes
of procedure with which we are acquainted, for the recovery of debts.
Their laws in this respect were simple, but efficient. Where pledges
were lodged with a creditor for the payment of a debt, which was not
discharged, the creditor was allowed to appropriate the pledge to his
own benefit, without any interposition of a magistrate, and to keep it
as rightfully as if it had been bought with the sum which had been lent
for it. But, beside the pledge, every Israelite had various pieces of
property, on which execution for debt might readily be made; as (1.) His
hereditary land, the produce of which might be attached till the year of
jubilee: (2.) His houses, which, with the sole exception of those of the
Levites, might be sold in perpetuity, Lev. xxv, 29, 30: (3.) His cattle,
household furniture, and ornaments, appear also liable to be taken in
execution. See Job xxiv, 3; Proverbs xxii, 27. From Deut. xv, 1–11, we
see that no debt could be exacted from a poor man in the seventh year;
because the land lying fallow, he had no income whence to pay it: (4.)
The person of the debtor, who might be sold, along with his wife and
children, if he had any. See Lev. xxv, 39; Job xxiv, 9; 2 Kings iv, 1;
Isaiah l, 1; Nehemiah v. We have no intimation, in the writings of
Moses, that suretyship was practised among the Hebrews in cases of debt.
In the Proverbs of Solomon, however, there are many admonitions
respecting it. Where this warranty was given, the surety was treated
with the same severity as if he had been the actual debtor; and if he
could not pay, his very bed might be taken from under him, Prov. xxii,
27. There is a reference to the custom observed in contracting this
obligation in Prov. xvii, 18: “A man void of understanding striketh
hands,” &c; and also in Prov. xxii, 26: “Be not thou one of them that
strike hands,” &c. It is to be observed that the hand was given, not to
the creditor, but to the debtor, in the creditor’s presence. By this act
the surety intimated that he became in a legal sense one with the
debtor, and rendered himself liable to pay the debt.
2. We have above noticed the practice of lending on pledge; but as this
was liable to considerable abuse, the following judicial regulations
were adopted: (1.) The creditor was not allowed to enter the house of
the debtor to fetch the pledge, but was obliged to stand without the
door, and wait till it was brought to him, Deut. xxiv, 10, 11. This law
was wisely designed to restrain avaricious and unprincipled persons from
taking advantage of their poor brethren in choosing their own pledges.
(2.) The upper garment, which served by night for a blanket, Exod. xxii,
25, 26; Deut. xxiv, 12, 13, and mills and millstones, if taken in
pledge, were to be restored to the owner before sunset. The reason of
this law was, that these articles were indispensable to the comfortable
subsistence of the poor; and for the same reason, it is likely that it
extended to all necessary utensils. Such a restoration was no loss to
the creditor; for he had it in his power at last, by the aid of summary
justice, to lay hold of the whole property of the debtor; and if he had
none, of his person: and, in the event of non-payment, as before stated,
to take him for a bond slave.
our own, as in regard to matters of debt. Imprisonment was unknown among
the Hebrews, who were equally free from those long and expensive modes
of procedure with which we are acquainted, for the recovery of debts.
Their laws in this respect were simple, but efficient. Where pledges
were lodged with a creditor for the payment of a debt, which was not
discharged, the creditor was allowed to appropriate the pledge to his
own benefit, without any interposition of a magistrate, and to keep it
as rightfully as if it had been bought with the sum which had been lent
for it. But, beside the pledge, every Israelite had various pieces of
property, on which execution for debt might readily be made; as (1.) His
hereditary land, the produce of which might be attached till the year of
jubilee: (2.) His houses, which, with the sole exception of those of the
Levites, might be sold in perpetuity, Lev. xxv, 29, 30: (3.) His cattle,
household furniture, and ornaments, appear also liable to be taken in
execution. See Job xxiv, 3; Proverbs xxii, 27. From Deut. xv, 1–11, we
see that no debt could be exacted from a poor man in the seventh year;
because the land lying fallow, he had no income whence to pay it: (4.)
The person of the debtor, who might be sold, along with his wife and
children, if he had any. See Lev. xxv, 39; Job xxiv, 9; 2 Kings iv, 1;
Isaiah l, 1; Nehemiah v. We have no intimation, in the writings of
Moses, that suretyship was practised among the Hebrews in cases of debt.
In the Proverbs of Solomon, however, there are many admonitions
respecting it. Where this warranty was given, the surety was treated
with the same severity as if he had been the actual debtor; and if he
could not pay, his very bed might be taken from under him, Prov. xxii,
27. There is a reference to the custom observed in contracting this
obligation in Prov. xvii, 18: “A man void of understanding striketh
hands,” &c; and also in Prov. xxii, 26: “Be not thou one of them that
strike hands,” &c. It is to be observed that the hand was given, not to
the creditor, but to the debtor, in the creditor’s presence. By this act
the surety intimated that he became in a legal sense one with the
debtor, and rendered himself liable to pay the debt.
2. We have above noticed the practice of lending on pledge; but as this
was liable to considerable abuse, the following judicial regulations
were adopted: (1.) The creditor was not allowed to enter the house of
the debtor to fetch the pledge, but was obliged to stand without the
door, and wait till it was brought to him, Deut. xxiv, 10, 11. This law
was wisely designed to restrain avaricious and unprincipled persons from
taking advantage of their poor brethren in choosing their own pledges.
(2.) The upper garment, which served by night for a blanket, Exod. xxii,
25, 26; Deut. xxiv, 12, 13, and mills and millstones, if taken in
pledge, were to be restored to the owner before sunset. The reason of
this law was, that these articles were indispensable to the comfortable
subsistence of the poor; and for the same reason, it is likely that it
extended to all necessary utensils. Such a restoration was no loss to
the creditor; for he had it in his power at last, by the aid of summary
justice, to lay hold of the whole property of the debtor; and if he had
none, of his person: and, in the event of non-payment, as before stated,
to take him for a bond slave.