Proverbs 22:26

Saying 4

26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

Proverbs 22:26 in Other Translations

26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

26 Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts.

26 Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for someone else.

26 Don't gamble on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, hocking your house against a lucky chance.

26 Be thou not one of them that strike hands, [Or] of them that are sureties for debts.

26 Do not be [found] among those who make deals with a handshake, among those who guarantee other people's loans.

26 Don't be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.

26 Don't agree to pay for what someone else owes.

Proverbs 22:26 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 22:26

Be not thou [one] of them that strike hands
Or "among them" ^F13, of the number of them, that do as they do, give their hand or their bond for others; he surety for them, as it is explained in the following clause; see ( Proverbs 6:1 ) ( 17:18 ) ; [or] of them that are sureties for debts;
contracted by others; that engage for the payment of them, in case the principal fails: and it is much if persons that keep indifferent company, angry and furious men, who are often in broils and quarrels, and spend their time and substance in strife and contention, are not drawn into engagements of this kind.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (b) "inter", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Proverbs 22:26 In-Context

24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered,

25 or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors.

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 6:1-5; Proverbs 11:15