Proverbs 11:15
in Proverbs 11He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it; But he that hateth suretyship is secure.
KJV
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHe that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it,.... Or in "breaking shall be broken" (q), ruined and undone; he engaging or becoming a bondsman for one whose circumstances he knew not; and these being bad bring a load upon him, such an heavy debt as crushes him to pieces.
This site's exposition
He who puts up security for a stranger
on Proverbs 11:15-16
“He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer” repeats the book's warning against pledging for another man's debt, first given at 6:1-5. Its second line, “the one who hates indebtedness is secure,” states the safer course plainly.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
But he who avoids snares, etc. He will be secure in the future, who then, being very fearful, diligently cures his errors by penance and keeps himself immune from the society of the impenitent.
He who makes a pledge for a stranger will be punished by the evil. The sense of the letter is at hand. But he is a stranger from the lot of saints who neglects to correct his sins by repentance; and whoever grants the grace …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See the marginal reference. The play upon “sure” and “suretiship” in the the King James Version (though each word is rightly rendered) has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew, and seems to have originated in a desire to give point to the proverb.
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it - He shall find evil upon evil in it. See on Pro 6:1 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
will be broken by it The wicked man who gave his heart as surety to idolatry.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Without strategy When trouble befalls Israel, and they do not put their heart to understand, to fast and to repent, the people will fall.
draws near to honor Heb. תתמך. The people of Israel constantly draw near to the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Torah. (
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רַע־ | ra'- | harm | H7451 → | 662 times |
| יֵ֭רוֹעַ | yeroa' | he is harmed | H7489 → | 107 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָ֣רַב | ʾarav | he stood surety for | H6148 → | 22 times |
| זָ֑ר | zar | a stranger | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וְשֹׂנֵ֖א | vesone' | and [one who] hates | H8130 → | 146 times |
| תֹקְעִ֣ים | tokeim | those striking hands | H8628 → | 69 times |
| בּוֹטֵֽחַ׃ | boteach | [is] secure | H982 → | 120 times |
רַע־harm
ra'-H7451 →662 times
יֵ֭רוֹעַhe is harmed
yeroa'H7489 →107 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָ֣רַבhe stood surety for
ʾaravH6148 →22 times
זָ֑רa stranger
zarH2114 →77 times
וְשֹׂנֵ֖אand [one who] hates
vesone'H8130 →146 times
תֹקְעִ֣יםthose striking hands
tokeimH8628 →69 times
בּוֹטֵֽחַ׃[is] secure
boteachH982 →120 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 17:18A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:26–27
Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:1–5
My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
- Proverbs 20:16
Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
- Proverbs 22:16
Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.
- Proverbs 22:26–27
Through
Proverbs 20:16Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:13
Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
- Exodus 22:26–27
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Proverbs 23:27
For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
- Proverbs 7:10
Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart.
- Proverbs 27:13
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).