Proverbs 20 · Verse 16

Proverbs 20:16

Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Proverbs 20:16, King James Version

Proverbs 20:16 in other translations

BSBTake the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
WEBTake the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
ASVTake his garment that is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.
YLTTake his garment when a stranger hath been surety, And for strangers pledge it.
DARBYTake his garment that is become surety for another, and hold him in pledge for strangers.
BBETake a man's clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking from him who gives his word for strange men.
WebsterTake his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

What does Proverbs 20:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. 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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 Take 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Those ruin themselves who entangle themselves in rash suretiship. Also those who are in league with abandoned women. Place no confidence in either.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 20:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לְֽקַח\־le.kach-takeH3947
בִּ֭גְדוֹbig.dogarment hisH899
כִּי\־ki-forH3588
עָ֣רַב'A.ravhe stands surety forH6148
זָ֑רZara strangerH2114
וּבְעַ֖דu.ve.'Adand forH1157
נָכְרִיָּ֣הna.khe.rima foreign [woman]H5237
חַבְלֵֽהוּ\׃chav.Le.huhold in pledge itH2254

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 20:16

  • Proverbs 27:13

    Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

  • Exodus 22:26-27

    If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

  • Proverbs 22:26-27

    Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

  • Proverbs 11:15

    He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.

  • Proverbs 7:5

    That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

  • Proverbs 7:10

    And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

  • Proverbs 5:3

    For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

  • Proverbs 2:16

    To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

  • Proverbs 23:27

    For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Take his.
11:15; 22:26,27; 27:13; Ex 22:26,27
a strange.
2:16; 5:3; 7:5,10; 23:27

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 20:15

    There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

  • Proverbs 20:16

    Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

  • Proverbs 20:17

    Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

Read all of Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Quítale su ropa al que salió por fiador del extraño; y tómale prenda al que fía la extraña.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Prends son vêtement, car il a cautionné autrui; et prends de lui un gage, à cause des étrangers.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Nimm ihm das Kleid, denn er ist für einen anderen Bürge geworden; und der Fremden halber pfände ihn.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Tolle vestimentum ejus qui fidejussor extitit alieni, et pro extraneis aufer pignus ab eo.