Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
- BSB Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
- NKJV Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
- NASB Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger; And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.
- NLT Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If someone foolishly guarantees a stranger's debt, demand security from him. It matters as a warning about the danger of careless financial pledges.
Overview
Repeated in Proverbs 27:13, this saying advises taking collateral from one reckless enough to co-sign for strangers, since such a person is a poor credit risk. The wider counsel of Proverbs warns against rashly putting up surety (6:1-5; 11:15). It teaches prudence and caution in financial commitments.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 27:13Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
- Exod 22:26–27If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
- Prov 22:26–27Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
- Prov 11:15He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.
- Prov 7:10And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
- Prov 2:16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- Prov 7:5That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
- Prov 23:27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
- Prov 5:3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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