Various regulations as to the relation between debtor and creditor are laid down in the Scriptures.
(1.) The debtor was to deliver up as a pledge to the creditor what he could most easily dispense with (Deut. 24:10, 11).
(2.) A mill, or millstone, or upper garment, when given as a pledge, could not be kept over night (Ex. 22:26, 27).
(3.) A debt could not be exacted during the Sabbatic year (Deut. 15:1-15).
For other laws bearing on this relation see Lev. 25:14, 32, 39; Matt. 18:25, 34.
(4.) A surety was liable in the same way as the original debtor (Prov. 11:15; 17:18).
Source:Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)Public domain