Proverbs Chapter 6 verse 1 Holy Bible
My son, if thou art become surety for thy neighbor, If thou hast stricken thy hands for a stranger;
read chapter 6 in ASV
My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another,
read chapter 6 in BBE
My son, if thou hast become surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand for a stranger,
read chapter 6 in DARBY
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
read chapter 6 in KJV
read chapter 6 in WBT
My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, If you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;
read chapter 6 in WEB
My son! if thou hast been surety for thy friend, Hast stricken for a stranger thy hand,
read chapter 6 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 1-35. - The sixth chapter embraces four distinct discourses, each of which is a warning. The subjects treated of are (1) suretyship (vers. 1-5); (2) sloth (vers. 6-11); (3) malice (vers. 12-19); and . . .
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersVI.(i). Ninth Discourse:--Against Suretyship (Proverbs 6:1-5).(1) If thou be surety for thy friend.--When the Mosaic Law was instituted, commerce had not been taken up by the Israelites, and the lending of money on interest for its employment in trade was a thing unknown. The only occasion for loans would be to supply the immediate necessities of the borrower, and the exaction of interest under such circumstances would be productive of great hardship, involving the loss of land and even personal freedom, as the insolvent debtor and his family became the slaves of the creditor (Nehemiah 5:1-5). To prevent these evils, the lending of money on interest to any poor Israelite was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 25:35-37); the people were enjoined to be liberal, and lend for nothing in such cases. But at the time of Solomon, when the commerce of the Israelites had enormously developed, and communications were opened with Spain and Egypt and (possibly) with India and Ceylon, while caravans penetrated beyond the Euphrates, then the lending of money on interest for employment in trade most probably became frequent, and suretyship also, the pledging of a man's own credit to enable his friend to procure a loan. And when the wealth that accompanied this development of the national resources had brought luxury in its train, borrowing and suretyship would be employed for less worthy purposes, to supply the young nobles of Jerusalem with money for their extravagance. Hence possibly the emphatic language of the text and Proverbs 20:16; Proverbs 27:13. . . .
