Proverbs 20:16

Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. TAKE HIS GARMENT THAT IS SURETY (FOR) A STRANGER - addressed to the creditor. Take from the surety the amount that he has made himself responsible for. The design is to show graphically the risk of becoming surety for another; if, as usually happens, the debtor fail to pay, the surety must, in his stead, fall under the power of the creditor. AND TAKE A PLEDGE OF HIM FOR A STRANGE WOMAN - for whom he has gone surety. The Chaldaic reads as the English version, with the Qeri' [ naakªriyaah (H5237), perhaps derived from Proverbs 28:13 ]. The parallel clause favours the Kethibh reading 'for strangers' [ naakªriym ...

Verse Proverbs 20:16. _TAKE HIS GARMENT THAT IS SURETY_ FOR _A STRANGER_] I suppose the meaning to be, If a stranger or unknown person become surety in a case, greater caution should be used, and such security taken from this _stranger_ as would prevent him from running away from his engagements....

The warning against suretiship and lust are here repeated and combined (compare Proverbs 27:13). The judge tells the creditor to seize the goods of the surety who has been weak enough to pledge himself for those who are alien to him, instead of those of the actual debtor. The reading of the the King James Version recalls in the second clause the history of Tamar Genesis 38:17. The Hebrew text, however, gives “strangers” in the masculine plural, and is probably right, the feminine being the reading of the margin, probably adopted from Proverbs 27:13....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 20:1 WINE IS A MOCKER; or, scorner, the word (_luts_) being taken up from the last chapter. The liquor is, as it were, personified, as doing what men do under its influence. Thus inebriated persons scoff at what is holy, reject reproof, ridicule all that is serious. Septuagint, Ἀκόλαστον οἶνος, "Wine is an undisciplined thing;" Vulgate, _Luxuriosa res, vinum. _STRONG DRINK IS RAGING; a brawler, Revised Version. _Shekar, _σίκερα (Luke 1:15), is most frequently employed of any intoxicating drink not made from grapes, _e.g. _palm wine, mead, etc. The inordinate use of this renders men noisy and boisterous, no longer masters of themselves or restrained by the laws of morality or decency. Septu

TAKE HIS GARMENT THAT IS SURETY [FOR] A STRANGER,.... Which a man is cautioned against, Proverbs 6:1; but if a man will be so weak and foolish, others ought to take care of him, and be cautious how they trust him; for he is in danger of being ruined by his suretyship, and therefore nothing should be lent him without a pledge, without a proper security; for though it was not lawful to take the garment of a poor man for a pledge, at least it was not to be kept after sunset, Exodus 22:26; yet it was right to take such a man's garment who had or would be thought to have such an abundance as to be surety for a stranger. Some think these words are to be taken as a prophecy of what would be the case of such a man that is a surety for a stranger; in the issue he will be stripped of all he has, and have no

CHAPTER 20 PROVERBS AS TO PERSONAL CONDUCT Proverbs of warning and instructions as to personal conduct are found mostly in this chapter; a number of them are of special interest if applied to Solomon. The first one is concerning wine and strong drink. As the use of wine among the people of Israel was legitimate the warning is against intemperance Deuteronomy 14:26). The Bible gives many illustrations of the truth of this proverb-warning. We may think of Noah, Lot, Nabal, Ben-hadad, Belshazzar and others. From all the good things we select the following. In Proverbs 20:3 is instruction which makes for peace. It is the fool who meddles and thus produces strife, but it is an honor for man to cease from strife. In...

PROVERBS 20. We have still further traces in Proverbs 20:9; Proverbs 20:24 of the sceptical spirit and the obstinate questionings of self characteristic of the later Greek period of Jewish thought. PROVERBS 20:6 A. RV is strained and the Heb. is difficult. Read (_cf._ Syr. and Lat.) Many a man is called kind. Proverbs 20:8. winnoweth (_mg._) is more literal than RV, and conveys better the idea of personal scrutiny (_cf._ the ideal king in Psalms 72 and Isaiah 11). Proverbs 20:9. For the growi

STRANGER. apostate. Hebrew. _zur._ See notes on Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 5:3. PLEDGE OF HIM. Supply Figure of speech _Ellipsis_ (App-6), "[Who has become security for]. foreign woman. " STRANGE WOMAN. foreign woman. Hebrew. _nakar._ See notes on Proverbs 2:16; Proverbs 5:3....

_Take his garment_ The Law of Moses recognised and regulated distraint on clothing as security for the repayment of a loan or debt (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:10-13. Comp. Matthew 5:40). The proverb represents vividly the certainty that the surety will smart for his folly. Treat him at once, it says to the creditor, as though he were the actual debtor; for there is no escape for him. _Hold him in pledge_(R.V.), as the parallel clause of the verse puts it, for his assuredly, and not the stranger's, is the liability he has so foolishly incurred. _a strange_woman] The Heb. text is STRANGERS; though there is another reading, _a strange woman_, as in...

AND TAKE A PLEDGE OF HIM FOR A STRANGE WOMAN— _And pawn him to foreigners._...