My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
Parallel translations
- WEB My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for 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 striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
- Prov 22:26Be 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 20:16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
- Gen 43:9I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
- Gen 44:32–33For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
- Job 17:3Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
- Prov 27:13Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
- Phlm 1:18–19If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
- Heb 7:22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
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
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