Pro 22:27 | KingComments | STEP | The warning about becoming guarantor for one’s debts and give pledges, or confirm it, as it literally says, with striking hand, has also been done before ( ; ). That it is warned about repeatedly indicates that it is a great danger. It connects to the wrong friendships of the two previous verses. One who becomes guarantor grossly overestimates himself, for he does not know what the other intends, nor does he know whether he can fulfill his obligations as guarantor. Here it seems to be about a situation where he becomes guarantor for a debt that he cannot meet if the other person defaults. We can possibly conclude this from , where the motivation is given for the warning of . If the one for whom he has become guarantor cannot pay his debt, he must pay that debt. But he cannot either. Then the creditor comes and takes away his last possession, his bed. Then he has nothing at all to rest on (cf. ). Spiritually applied, he will have no rest anymore.

‏ Proverbs 22:27

Do Not Become a Guarantor for Debts

The warning about becoming guarantor for one’s debts and give pledges, or confirm it, as it literally says, with striking hand, has also been done before (Pro 22:26; Pro 6:1-5 ; Pro 11:15 ; Pro 17:18 ; Pro 20:16). That it is warned about repeatedly indicates that it is a great danger. It connects to the wrong friendships of the two previous verses. One who becomes guarantor grossly overestimates himself, for he does not know what the other intends, nor does he know whether he can fulfill his obligations as guarantor.

Here it seems to be about a situation where he becomes guarantor for a debt that he cannot meet if the other person defaults. We can possibly conclude this from Pro 22:27, where the motivation is given for the warning of Pro 22:26. If the one for whom he has become guarantor cannot pay his debt, he must pay that debt. But he cannot either. Then the creditor comes and takes away his last possession, his bed. Then he has nothing at all to rest on (cf. Exo 22:26). Spiritually applied, he will have no rest anymore.