SPECIAL TOPIC: A PLEDGE

This term, "a pledge," (BDB 286, KB 285) basically means "to bind." When one borrows he is obligated to repay. To secure this repayment (without interest to a fellow Israelite) the creditor could take something of value and hold it.

grinding stone, Ezek. 24:6
garments, Ezek. 24:17; Exod. 22:25-27; Job 24:7,10
ancestral land and houses, Neh. 5:3 (possibly Job 24:2)
an essential animal, Job 24:3
essential help, the children, Exod. 21:7; Lev. 25:39-43; 2 Kgs. 4:1; Job 24:9

Each of these items was a necessary part of daily agricultural existence. To remove any one of these jeopardized the family, even life itself. YHWH's compassion and care for Israel was to be emulated by those Israelites who had resources. God would bless them for their compassion. They would be given more so that they could share more (cf. Ezek. 33:13; 2 Cor. 9:6-10).

SPECIAL TOPIC: Wealth