A field worker's petition about his cloak
A working man in seventh-century Judah appeals over a seized cloak — the exact case the law in Exodus and Deuteronomy legislates for.
Fakapapau'i 'e he keliTohi tongi makalate 7th century BC
A harvester writes to the governor: he finished his measure of grain, and a man took his cloak and has not given it back. The law in Exodus and Deuteronomy says a garment taken in pledge must be returned before sunset, because it is the man's only covering.
Your servant reaped and finished, and stored a few days ago… and Hoshavyahu came and took your servant's garment… all my companions will testify for me.
- Na'e 'ilo'i
- Meṣad Ḥashavyahu, on the coast near Yavneh-Yam, Israel, 1960 — Joseph Naveh's excavation
- 'Oku tauhi 'i
- Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- Lea
- Hebrew
- Na'e a'u mai fēfē kiate kitautolu
- Na'e keli hake, pe 'oku kei tu'u 'i he potu na'e langa ai.
Ko e me'a 'oku ne fakahā
The petition never cites a law. It shows the situation the biblical law addresses, and a labourer who expects redress.
Founga hono ngāue'aki 'e he kau hisitōlia
Widely discussed in legal history and in studies of literacy: an ordinary worker had his plea written down.
'I he Folofola
Ngaahi ma'u'anga fakamatala
- Naveh, "A Hebrew Letter from the Seventh Century B.C.", IEJ 10 (1960)
'Oku 'i he lea faka-Pilitānia 'a e ngaahi fakamatala ko 'eni he taimi ni. 'E muimui mai 'a e liliu.