Proverbs 6:1

Modern

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

Traditional

My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,

Literal

My son, if you have been surety for your neighbor, or have struck your hand for the stranger,

Latin

Fili mi, si spoponderis pro amico tuo, defixisti apud extraneum manum tuam:

Hebrew

English

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

To secure someone else's debt means to use your own possessions as a guarantee. Whether you do this to gain a friend's goodwill or to profit from a stranger (see Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36–37; Deuteronomy 23:19–20), the risk is too high. It could lead to financial ruin. This warning is repeated in Proverbs 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13.

Proverbs 22:26
Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
Proverbs 17:18
A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.
Proverbs 11:15
He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
Proverbs 20:16
Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
Genesis 44:32–33
Indeed, your servant guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will bear the guilt before you, my father, all my life.’
Genesis 43:9
I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.
Proverbs 27:13
Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
Philemon 1:18–19
But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.
Hebrews 7:22
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
Job 17:3
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?