A PLEDGE — the thing a borrower hands over as security for a loan. The noun stands in four verses of the Hebrew Bible, and all four are one law, Deuteronomy 24:10–13: the creditor may not go into the house to take it, must stand outside while the debtor brings it out, may not lie down in it if the man is poor, and must return it when the sun goes in. Its verb, avat, is the one Deuteronomy 15:6 and 15:8 use of lending on security — Israel lending to many nations, and a poor brother lent whatever he lacks — so the chapter that ordered the loan is the one that regulates its collection. ⚠ Not the same word as chaval, the verb of SEIZING a pledge at 24:6 and 24:17: avot is what the borrower gives, chaval what the lender takes. Habakkuk 2:6 (not yet on these pages) plays on the root, loading himself with pledges. → first discussed at Deut 24:10