Job 24:3

Modern

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

Traditional

They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

Literal

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take as a pledge the ox of the widow.

Latin

Asinum pupillorum abegerunt, et abstulerunt pro pignore bovem viduæ.

Hebrew

English

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

The law prohibited taking essential possessions as security or a down payment for a loan (22:6–9; Deuteronomy 24:6, 10–13, 17–21).

This list of criminal behaviors first emphasizes crimes against weak people (24:2–12). Then it examines the criminals themselves (24:13–17).

Deuteronomy 24:6
Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
1 Samuel 12:3
Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
Job 22:6–9
For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
Job 31:16–17
If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
Deuteronomy 24:10–13
When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
Deuteronomy 24:17–21
Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.