EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Proverbs 20:16
16If someone promises to pay the debts of a stranger, take his coat as a guarantee that he will pay.
Proverbs 20:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
- New International Version (NIV)Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
Context of Proverbs 20:16
14When somebody is buying something, he says, ‘It is worth nothing!’ But later he boasts about the cheap price! 15Words that help you to learn things are very valuable. They are more valuable than gold or jewels. If someone promises to pay the debts of a stranger, take his coat as a guarantee that he will pay. 17If you cheat someone to get food to eat, it may seem good when you taste it. But soon it will be like sand in your mouth. 18Things will go well if you receive good advice. If you want to fight a war, ask wise people to be your advisors.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:16 word by word
לְֽקַח־בִּ֭גְדוֹ כִּי־עָ֣רַב זָ֑ר וּבְעַ֖ד נָכְרִיָּ֣ה חַבְלֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:16
- Proverbs 11:15If you promise to pay a stranger's debt, you will be sorry. You will be safe if you do not agree to do that.
- Proverbs 22:263. Do not promise to pay someone else's debt.
- Proverbs 27:13If someone promises to pay the debts of a stranger, take his coat as a guarantee that he will pay.
- Exodus 22:26You may take someone's coat as a guarantee that he will pay you back. But you must always return his coat to him before sunset.
- Proverbs 2:16If you have wisdom, you will not listen to the sweet words of a prostitute. A woman who likes to have sex with many men will not deceive you.
- Proverbs 5:3Do not listen to the words of an adulteress. She promises something as sweet as honey and as beautiful as olive oil.
- Proverbs 7:5If you do that, it will keep you safe from sin. You will not agree to sleep with an adulteress or a prostitute when she speaks sweet words to you.
- Proverbs 23:27Prostitutes are a dangerous trap for men. Women who are not faithful to their husbands can cause men to fall into danger, like a deep well.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger - I suppose the meaning to be, If a stranger or unknown person become surety in a case, greater caution should be used, and such security taken from this stranger as would prevent him from running away from his engagements.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16The warning against suretiship and lust are here repeated and combined (compare Proverbs 27:13). The judge tells the creditor to seize the goods of the surety who has been weak enough to pledge himself for those who are alien to him, instead of those of the actual debtor. The reading of the the King James Version recalls in the second clause the history of Tamar Genesis 38:17-18. The Hebrew text, however, gives “strangers” in the masculine plural, and is…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16Verse 16 Those ruin themselves who entangle themselves in rash suretiship. Also those who are in league with abandoned women. Place no confidence in either.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16A wise lender asks for security or a deposit on a loan. A stranger was an Israelite unknown to the lender, who then required security. Proverbs advises the wise to avoid borrowing entirely (see Proverbs 6:1–2). This proverb's message is also found in Proverbs 6:1–5; 11:15; 17:18; 22:26.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Take his garment--implies severe exaction, justified by the surety's rashness. a strange woman--by some readings "strangers," but the former here, and in Pr 27:13, is allowable, and strengthens the sense. The debauchee is less reliable than the merely careless.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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