Proverbs 22 · Verse 27

Proverbs 22:27

If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
Proverbs 22:27, King James Version

Proverbs 22:27 in other translations

BSBIf you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?
WEBIf you don’t have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
ASVIf thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
YLTIf thou hast nothing to pay, Why doth he take thy bed from under thee?
DARBYif thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
BBEIf you have nothing with which to make payment, he will take away your bed from under you.
WebsterIf thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

What does Proverbs 22:27 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 22:26-27

26-27. (Compare Pr 6:1; 17:18).

Read the full comment on Proverbs 22:26-27 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 27 If 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?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 22:26-27

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 full comment on Proverbs 22:26-27 →

Proverbs 22:27 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.

אִם\־'im-ifH518
אֵֽין\־'ein-notH369
לְךָ֥le.Kha[belongs] to you
לְשַׁלֵּ֑םle.sha.Lemto payH7999
לָ֥מָּהLa.mah<to> why?H4100
יִקַּ֥חyi.Kachwill anyone takeH3947
מִ֝שְׁכָּבְךָ֗mish.ka.ve.khabed yourH4904
מִתַּחְתֶּֽיךָ\׃mi.tach.Tei.khafrom under youH8478

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

Cross references for Proverbs 22:27

  • Proverbs 20:16

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

  • 2 Kings 4:1

    Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

  • 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.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
20:16; Ex 22:26,27; 2Ki 4:1

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

Context

  • Proverbs 22:26

    Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

  • Proverbs 22:27

    If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

  • Proverbs 22:28

    Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

Read all of Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22:27 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Si no tuvieres para pagar, ¿por qué han de quitar tu cama de debajo de ti?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		si tu n’avais pas de quoi payer, pourquoi voudrais-tu qu’on prenne ton lit de dessous toi?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn du nicht hast, um zu bezahlen, warum soll er dein Bett unter dir wegnehmen?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		si enim non habes unde restituas, quid causæ est ut tollat operimentum de cubili tuo?