Returning the Poor Man's Pledge by Day and by Night

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 22:25

"If you take a pledge" (Exodus 22:25). One might think a creditor has free license to seize a pledge himself. Scripture therefore teaches, "You shall not enter his house to take his pledge" (Deuteronomy 24:10). If so, why does it say "if you take a pledge"? Scripture speaks of one who has license to take a pledge through the agency of the court. "You take a pledge" [the doubled verb] comes to make one liable for each and every act of pledging. "Until the sun comes" (Exodus 22:25). It is impossible to say "until the sun comes in [the evening]" alone, for it already says elsewhere "when the sun comes" (Deuteronomy 24:13). And it is impossible to say only "as the sun comes," for it already says "until the sun comes." What then does "until the sun comes" teach, and what does "as the sun comes" teach? This teaches that one returns a day-garment by day and a night-garment by night: he returns to him the pillow [text uncertain] at night and the plow by day, but he does not return the pillow [text uncertain] by day nor the plow by night. "You shall return it to him" (Exodus 22:25). To him you return it, but you do not return it to his heirs.

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