Proverbs 22:27

Proverbs 22:27 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
• English Standard Version (ESV)If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take away your bed from under you?
• New Living Translation (NLT)If you can’t pay it, even your bed will be snatched from under you.

Context of Proverbs 22:27

25or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared. 26Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. 28Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors. 29Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.

Proverbs 22:27 word by word

אִם־אֵֽין־לְךָ֥ לְשַׁלֵּ֑ם לָ֥מָּה יִקַּ֥ח מִ֝שְׁכָּבְךָ֗ מִתַּחְתֶּֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If thou hast nothing to payשָׁלֵםshâlam · to completeH7999
• why should he take awayלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• thy bedמִשְׁכָּבmishkâb · bedH4904

Cross-references for Proverbs 22:27

• Proverbs 20:16Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.
• Exodus 22:26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,
• 2 Kings 4:1The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

Commentaries on Proverbs 22:27

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27If thou hast nothing to pay - Should any man give security for more than he is worth? If he does, is it not a fraud on the very face of the transaction? Why should he take away thy bed from under thee? - The creditor will not pursue the debtor whom he knows to be worth nothing; but he will sue the bail or bondsman. And why shouldst thou put thyself in such circumstances as to expose thyself to the loss even of thy bed?Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27He - i. e., The man to whom the surety has been given. The practice of distraining for payment of a debt, seems, though prohibited Exodus 22:27, to have become common.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 26-27Verses 26-27 Every man ought to be just to himself, and his family; those are not so, who, by folly or other carelessness, waste what they have.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26-27This proverb's message is also found in Proverbs 6:1–5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 27:13.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 26-2726-27. (Compare Pr 6:1; 17:18).Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 22:27

• Bed
• Creditor
• Friendship
• Justice
• Pawn
• Property
• Prudence

In the dictionaries

• Evil
• Hide
• Lender
• Prudent
• Rob
• Train
• Nothing
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Sirach, the Alphabet of
• Wisdom

Commentaries on Proverbs 22

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings