Amsal 6:1

Admonitions and Warnings against Dangerous and Destructive Acts ¹ 

6:1 My child, ²  if you have made a pledge ³  for your neighbor,

and ⁴  have become a guarantor ⁵  for a stranger, ⁶ 

Amsal 17:18

17:18 The one who lacks wisdom ⁷  strikes hands in pledge, ⁸ 

and puts up financial security ⁹  for his neighbor. ¹⁰ 

Amsal 9:12

9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, ¹¹ 

but if you are a mocker, ¹²  you alone must ¹³  bear it. ¹⁴ 

[6:1]  ¹ sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the Lord hates (16-19), and warns about immorality (20-35).

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).

[6:1]  ³ sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.

[6:1]  ⁴ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.

[17:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”

[17:18]  ⁸ tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.

[17:18]  ⁹ tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”

[17:18]  ¹⁰ sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).

[9:12]  ¹¹ tn The text simply has the preposition לְ (lamed) with a suffix; but this will be the use of the preposition classified as “interest,” either for advantage or disadvantage (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 48-49, §271).

[9:12]  ¹² tn The perfect tense is here in a conditional clause because of the conjunction following the first colon of the verse that begins with “if.” The perfect tense then lays down the antithetical condition – “if you mock,” or “if you are a mocker.”

[9:12]  ¹³ tn The use of the imperfect tense here could be the simple future tense (cf. NASB, NRSV “you…will bear it”), but the obligatory nuance is more appropriate – “you must bear it.” These words anticipate James’ warnings that the words we speak will haunt us through life (e.g., James 3:1-12).

[9:12]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”