My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;
Parallel translations
- KJV My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
- BSB My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
- NKJV My son, if you become surety for your friend, If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
- NASB My son, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor, Or have given a handshake for a stranger,
- NLT My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
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 you have put up surety for your neighbor or pledged for a stranger, take warning. Rash financial guarantees can ensnare you.
Overview
Chapter 6 opens with practical counsel against the danger of co-signing or pledging security for another's debt, especially carelessly for a stranger. Such commitments can place one under another's power and lead to ruin (vv. 2-5 urge escaping the trap). Wisdom counsels prudence and caution in financial obligations, reflecting the broader scriptural call to act with foresight and generosity without folly (Prov 11:15; 22:26-27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 17:18A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.
- Prov 22:26Don’t you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.
- Prov 11:15He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.
- Prov 20:16Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
- Gen 43:9I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,
- Gen 44:32–33For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’
- Job 17:3“Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?
- Prov 27:13Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
- Phlm 1:18–19But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, put that to my account.
- Heb 7:22By so much, Jesus has become the collateral of a better covenant.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 6:1 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.