The Pledge

The “pledge” is introduced in the story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:12-20). After Judah negotiated with Tamar, she asked for a pledge. The pledge was a down payment or deposit which assured her that the full price would be paid later:

15 "When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.
16 So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, "Here now, let me come in to you"; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"
17 He said, therefore, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." She said, moreover, "Will you give a pledge <06162> until you send it?"
18 He said, "What pledge <06162> shall I give you?" And she said, "Your seal <02368> and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him."

When it was discovered that Tamar had become pregnant, Judah demanded that she be burned. Tamar produced the pledge and was set free. One might say that she was justified in judgment by her possession of the pledge. Judah stated, “She is more righteous than I” The term righteous is Strong’s # 06663. The word represented by that number is often translated as “justify” in the OT

The term pledge is also used in the following NT passages:

2Co 1:22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge <728>.

2Co 5:5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge <728>.

Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge <728> of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.