Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to pledge: for he hath pledged his life to thee.
לֹא־יַחֲבֹ֥ל רֵחַ֖יִם וָרָ֑כֶב כִּי־נֶ֖פֶשׁ ה֥וּא חֹבֵֽל׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He refers to the lower part of the millstone as the synagogue of the Jews, while the upper part signifies the law that was later removed from the Jews, or the Father Himself, their Guide, who was, in a sense, borne upon the teachings of the prophets.
At times, we utilize the term "take" in place of "abduct." This is why certain birds that seize and transport others are referred to as predators. Similarly, Paul mentions, "You endure when someone eats you, when someone robs you" (2 Cor. 11:20), as if to imply: "If someone steals." Moreover, bail serves as a sinner’s acknowledgment of wrongdoing, as it is a pledge taken from a debtor as an admission of guilt.
Hope and fear can be likened to the upper and lower millstones; hope elevates the spirit while fear weighs it down. These two millstones are inherently connected, so that one cannot function without the other. Therefore, in the life of a sinner, hope and fear must coexist. A person who lacks the fear of consequences hopes for mercy in vain, and one who has no hope for mercy fears judgment without purpose. It is prohibited to take either millstone as a pledge, for one who instructs a sinner must carefully construct their message to ensure that fear is not obliterated, leaving only hope, nor should hope be destroyed, leaving only fear. The balance of fear and hope is disrupted when a preacher’s words either separate fear from hope or hope from fear in the heart of the sinner.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS