a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
surety
עָרַ֣בְתָּ'a.Rav.ta
H6148
to braid · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
friend
לְרֵעֶ֑ךָle.re.'E.kha
H7453
an associate (more or less close) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stricken
תָּקַ֖עְתָּta.Ka'.ta
H8628
to clatter · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
hand
כַּפֶּֽיךָka.Pei.kha
H3709
the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stranger
לַזָּ֣רla.Zar
H2114
to turn aside (especially for lodging) · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 17:18 A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
Proverbs 22:26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
Proverbs 11:15 He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.
Proverbs 20:16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Genesis 43:9 I 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 bla…
Genesis 44:32-33 For 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…
Job 17:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
Proverbs 27:13 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 6:1-5
It is the excellency of the word of God that it teaches us not only divine wisdom for another world, but human prudence for this world, that we may order our affairs with discretion; and this is one good rule, To avoid suretiship, because by it poverty and ruin are often brought into families, which take away that comfort in relations which he had recommended in the foregoing chapter. 1. We must look upon suretiship as a snare and decline it accordingly, Pro 6:1, Pro 6:2. "It is dangerous enough for a man to be bound for his friend, though it be one whose circumstances he is well acquainted with, and well assured of his sufficiency, but much more to strike the hands with a stranger, to becom…
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend,.... To another; hast engaged thyself by promise or bond, or both, to pay a debt for him, if he is not able, or if required; or hast laid thyself under obligation to any, to see the debt of another paid;
if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger; or "to" him (b); whom thou knowest not, and to whom thou owest nothing; and hast given him thine hand upon it, as well as thy word and bond, that what such an one owes him shall be paid; a gesture used in suretyship for the confirmation of it, Proverbs 17:18; or, "for a stranger" (c) And the sense is, either if thou art become bound for a friend of thine, and especially if for a stranger thou knowest li…
The author warns against suretyship; or rather, he advises that if one has made himself surety, he should as quickly as possible withdraw from the snare.
1 My son, if thou hast become surety for thy neighbour,
Hast given thy hand for another:
2 Thou art entangled in the words of thy mouth,
Ensnared in the words of thy mouth.
3 Do this then, my son, and free thyself -
For thou hast come under the power of thy neighbour -
Go, instantly entreat and importune thy neighbour.
4 Give no sleep to thine eyes,
And no slumber to thine eyelids;
5 Tear thyself free like a gazelle from his hand,
And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
The chief question here is, whether ל after ערב introduces him for…
The Church Fathers
My son, if you have become surety for your friend, etc. The plain sense of this letter is clear, as it advises one who has become surety for a friend to diligently admonish that friend to repay the money owed to the creditor, thus freeing both himself and the friend. Allegorically, however, in this passage, it addresses the teacher; and further, in the subsequent passage, it instructs anyone wandering on how they should conduct themselves cautiously. It is said to the instructor, If you have become surety for your friend, you have struck your hand with a stranger. Which is openly to say: If you have taken the soul of a brother into the danger of your conduct, you have already bound your mind with the care of solicitude, which was previously absent.
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, and art snared with the words of thy mouth, and art taken with thine own speeches. For to be surety for a friend is to take charge of the soul of another on the surety of one's own behaviour. Whence also the hand is stricken with a stranger, because the mind is bound with the care of a responsibility which before was not. But he is snared with the words of his mouth, and taken with his own speeches, because, while he is compelled to speak good things to those who are committed to him, he must needs himself in the first place observe the things that he speaks. He is therefore snared with the words of his mouth, being constrained by the requirement of reason not to let his life be relaxed to what agrees not with his teaching. Hence before the strict judge he is compelled to accomplish as much in deed as it is plain he has enjoined on others with his voice.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Loan — The Mosaic law required that when an Israelite needed to borrow, what he asked was to be freely lent to him, and no interest was to be charged, although interest might be taken of a foreigner (Ex.…
Surety — One who becomes responsible for another. Christ is the surety of the better covenant (Heb. 7:22). In him we have the assurance that all its provisions will be fully and faithfully carried out.…
Suretyship — In the entire absence of commerce the law laid down no rules on the subject of suretyship; but it is evident that in the time of Solomon commercial dealings had become so multiplied that suretyship…
Contracts · By joining hands — By joining hands
Creditors · Might demand: Security of others — Might demand: Security of others
Hand · Clasping of, in token of contract — Clasping of, in token of contract
Hands, The · Suretiship entered into by striking — Suretiship entered into by striking
Prudence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Surety (Guarantee) · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
To secure the debt of another person is to guarantee it with one’s own possessions. Whether to earn a friend’s goodwill or to turn a profit from a stranger (cp. Exod 22:25; Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), the risk is too great to take; it could lead to financial ruin. This message is repeated in Prov 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26; 27:13.
Rashi on Proverbs 6:1
My son, if you have stood surety Our Sages explained this as referring to surety in monetary matters, according to its apparent meaning.
