Proverbs 27:13
in Proverbs 27Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge that is surety for a foreign woman.
KJV
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
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This verse in Proverbs 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseTake his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. See Gill on Pro 20:16, where the same proverb is, and is expressed in the same words as here.
This site's exposition
Be wise, my son
on Proverbs 27:11-14
"Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart" opens a short group of household counsel. The prudent see danger and take cover while the simple pay the penalty. Verse 14 closes the group, for a neighbor blessed "with a loud voice early in the morning" hears a curse.
This site's exposition
Take the garment of him who posts security
Gill notes that this proverb stands at 20:16 in the same words. It warns the lender to take collateral from a man who posts security for a stranger. Take his garment, and the risk falls on him.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Take his garment - The same as Pro 20:16.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
because he stood surety for a stranger A man who stood surety brings about that the judge should say to the creditor, “Take his garment.”
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
A cunning man saw harm He sees the retribution coming upon the earth and hides from it by withdrawing from sin, but the fools did not hide and passed on the way of harm.
He who blesses his friend Someone blesses his friend daily, and the blessing is converted into a curse, for people say about him that he is generous with his money and wealthy, and everyone comes and borrows from him, and the government provokes him to collect his money.
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. 3 further sources are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קַח־ | kach- | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| בִּ֭גְדוֹ | bigdo | garment his | H899 → | 217 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָ֣רַב | ʾarav | he stands surety for | H6148 → | 22 times |
| זָ֑ר | zar | a stranger | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וּבְעַ֖ד | uvead | and for | H1157 → | 105 times |
| נָכְרִיָּ֣ה | nakheriyah | a foreign [woman] | H5237 → | 45 times |
| חַבְלֵֽהוּ׃ | chavlehu | hold in pledge it | H2254 → | 27 times |
קַח־take
kach-H3947 →966 times
בִּ֭גְדוֹgarment his
bigdoH899 →217 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָ֣רַבhe stands surety for
ʾaravH6148 →22 times
זָ֑רa stranger
zarH2114 →77 times
וּבְעַ֖דand for
uveadH1157 →105 times
נָכְרִיָּ֣הa foreign [woman]
nakheriyahH5237 →45 times
חַבְלֵֽהוּ׃hold in pledge it
chavlehuH2254 →27 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
Exodus 22:26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:16
Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
- Amos 2:8
They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
- Deuteronomy 24:6
Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
- Job 24:3
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
- Proverbs 20:16
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
- Exodus 22:26–27
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Proverbs 22:26–27
Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
- Proverbs 11:15
He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
- Proverbs 23:27
For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
- Exodus 22:26–27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.