PLEDGE . The taking of a pledge for the re-payment of a loan was sanctioned by the Law, but a humanitarian provision was introduced to the effect that, when this pledge consisted of the large square outer garment or cioak called simlah , it must be returned before nightfali, since this garment often formed the only covering of the poor at night ( Exodus 22:26 f., Deuteronomy 24:12 f.; cf. Amos 2:8 , Job 22:6; Job 24:9 , Ezekiel 18:7; Ezekiel 18:12; Ezekiel 18:16; Ezekiel 33:15 ). It was forbidden also to take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge ( Deuteronomy 24:6 ). In Isaiah 36:8 the reference is to a pledge to be forfeited if a wager is lost (cf. RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ). In I S17:18 ‘take their pledge’ probably means ‘bring back a token of their welfare’ (Driver).