My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
What does Proverbs 6:1 mean?
If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Proverbs 6:1-5 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Proverbs 6:1
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, Surety - The "pledge," or security for payment, which, for example, David was to bring back from his brothers 1 Samuel 17:18 . So the word was used in the primitive trade transactions of the early Israelites. In the warnings against this suretyship, in the Book of Proverbs, we may trace the influence of contact with the Phoenicians. The merchants of Tyre and Zidon seem to have discovered the value of credit as an element of wealth.
Key words
- a clasping of the hands
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a clasping of the hands. It would be unfriendly to refuse.
Context in Proverbs 6
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Proverbs 6 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as fatherly discourses on wisdom. Proverbs offers compact instruction on speech, work, wealth, friendship, sex, discipline, justice, and wisdom as a way of life before God. Read this chapter with the wider themes of wisdom, fear of the Lord, and speech in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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