חֲבֹל

From the study of Ezekiel 18:16

Range of meaning

The verb means to take something as security for a debt, to hold in pledge. The noun is the pledged object itself. Typical pledges were the outer cloak, which also served as a night blanket, a millstone, livestock, or a widow's garment.

Against the English

BSB 'retain a pledge' and KJV 'withholden the pledge' read the clause in light of verse 7 (he returns the pledge) and verse 12 (the wicked man does not return it). WEB 'taken anything to pledge', YLT 'a pledge he hath not bound' and ESV 'exacts no pledge' keep the plain sense of the Hebrew, 'took in pledge'.

How it drifted

In modern English 'pledge' usually means a promise or a donation commitment. Here it is a physical object seized as collateral.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:26–27 (return the cloak by sunset, 'for it is his only covering'). Deut 24:6 (no millstone in pledge), 24:10–13 (do not enter his house to take it; return it at night), 24:17 (no widow's garment). Amos 2:8 (lying beside altars 'on garments taken in pledge'). Job 22:6; 24:3, 9. The Yavneh-Yam ostracon (late 7th century BCE) records a field worker petitioning an official to get back his confiscated garment, which shows that this practice was real in Ezekiel's lifetime.

From the study of Ezekiel 18:12

Range of meaning

A pledge or collateral: an object taken from a borrower as security for a loan. It is found only in Ezekiel (18:12, 16; 33:15; the related ḥăbōlâ in 18:7). The verb ḥābal means 'to take in pledge'.

Against the English

Every major version says 'pledge'. A modern reader hears a promise or a donation commitment. The Hebrew means a physical object, often the poor man's cloak.

How it drifted

In current English 'pledge' usually means a vow or a promise of money (a 'pledge drive'). The older sense of a pawned item has faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:26–27: a neighbour's cloak taken in pledge must be returned by sunset, 'for it is his only covering… what else will he sleep in?' Deut 24:6, 10–13, 17: no taking a millstone, no entering the debtor's house to seize the pledge, no taking a widow's garment. Amos 2:8 condemns men who 'lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge'. The late-7th-century BCE Yavneh-Yam (Meṣad Ḥashavyahu) ostracon records a field labourer begging an official to return his seized garment. Ezekiel 33:15 makes 'returning the pledge' a sign of genuine repentance.

From the study of Ezekiel 18:7

Range of meaning

Something taken as security for a debt, from the verb ḥābal, "to take in pledge". It was a physical object held by the lender until repayment. Poor borrowers often had nothing to give except a cloak or a tool.

Against the English

"Pledge" is the standard rendering. Modern readers usually hear a promise or a donation commitment, not an object held as collateral. NIV's paraphrase about what was taken in pledge for a loan makes the meaning clear.

How it drifted

"Pledge" in its older legal sense (an object left as security) is now rare. Everyday English has moved to "pledge" as a vow or a fundraising promise.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 22:26–27 says a cloak taken in pledge must be returned before sunset, "for that is his only covering… in what shall he sleep?" Deuteronomy 24:6, 10–13 and 17 forbid taking a millstone, forbid entering the borrower's house to choose the pledge, require the cloak to be returned at night, and forbid taking a widow's garment. Amos 2:8 condemns men who lie down beside altars on garments taken in pledge. Job 22:6 and 24:3, 9 list taking pledges as a typical act of the wicked. Ezekiel 33:15 says a wicked man who repents "restores the pledge". A Hebrew letter from Meṣad Ḥashavyahu (Yavneh-Yam, late 7th century BC) records a harvest worker begging an official to return the garment taken from him.