God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 20:16
16Hold on to the garment of one who guarantees a stranger’s loan, and hold responsible the person who makes a loan on behalf of a foreigner.
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
14“Bad! Bad!” says the buyer. Then, as he goes away, he brags ⌞about his bargain⌟. 15There are gold and plenty of jewels, but the lips of knowledge are precious gems. Hold on to the garment of one who guarantees a stranger’s loan, and hold responsible the person who makes a loan on behalf of a foreigner. 17Food gained dishonestly tastes sweet to a person, but afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel. 18Plans are confirmed by getting advice, and with guidance one wages war.
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 11:15Whoever guarantees a stranger’s loan will get into trouble, but whoever hates the closing of a deal remains secure.
- Proverbs 22:26Do not be ⌞found⌟ among those who make deals with a handshake, among those who guarantee other people’s loans.
- Proverbs 27:13Hold on to the garment of one who guarantees a stranger’s loan, and hold responsible the person who makes a loan in behalf of a foreigner.
- Exodus 22:26If you take any of your neighbor’s clothes as collateral, give it back to him by sunset.
- Proverbs 2:16⌞Wisdom will⌟ also save you from an adulterous woman, from a loose woman with her smooth talk,
- Proverbs 5:3The lips of an adulterous woman drip with honey. Her kiss is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 7:5in order to guard yourself from an adulterous woman, from a loose woman with her smooth talk.
- Proverbs 23:27A prostitute is a deep pit. A loose woman is a narrow 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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