Do not place yourself under another man’s debt by guaranteeing what you may not be able to repay. If the debt cannot be covered, the loss will eventually reach even the necessities of your own life.
A practical financial warning arrives in Proverbs 22:26-27: Do not be among those who give pledges, among those who become guarantors for debts (v. 26). Solomon returns to a theme he has named before.
Those who give pledges are those who put up their own assets to back another man's promise. Those who become guarantors for debts are those who sign their name beside another man's signature so that, if he fails to meet the agreement, the lender comes after them.
Do not be among them. This topic was already addressed earlier in Proverbs 6:1-5, 11:15, 17:18, and 20:16. The repetition shows how often the wise have to hear it. Solomon's concern is that a man's own family stay outside the line of fire of someone else's debt obligation. Generosity belongs in many other forms; binding the household to another's default is a different category.
The reason becomes vivid in the next verse: If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take your bed from under you? (v. 27). Solomon names the worst case.
If you have nothing with which to pay is the moment when the borrower has defaulted and the creditor is now standing in the guarantor's house. The man who pledged on someone else's behalf is now the man being collected from. He has no resources left to satisfy the debt.
Why should he take your bed from under you? The bed is the last item, the place a man sleeps. To lose even that is to be left with nothing. Solomon's question is rhetorical and pastoral. The man who avoided the pledge in the first place is the man who still has a bed at the end.
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Proverbs 22:26-27 meaning
A practical financial warning arrives in Proverbs 22:26-27: Do not be among those who give pledges, among those who become guarantors for debts (v. 26). Solomon returns to a theme he has named before.
Those who give pledges are those who put up their own assets to back another man's promise. Those who become guarantors for debts are those who sign their name beside another man's signature so that, if he fails to meet the agreement, the lender comes after them.
Do not be among them. This topic was already addressed earlier in Proverbs 6:1-5, 11:15, 17:18, and 20:16. The repetition shows how often the wise have to hear it. Solomon's concern is that a man's own family stay outside the line of fire of someone else's debt obligation. Generosity belongs in many other forms; binding the household to another's default is a different category.
The reason becomes vivid in the next verse: If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take your bed from under you? (v. 27). Solomon names the worst case.
If you have nothing with which to pay is the moment when the borrower has defaulted and the creditor is now standing in the guarantor's house. The man who pledged on someone else's behalf is now the man being collected from. He has no resources left to satisfy the debt.
Why should he take your bed from under you? The bed is the last item, the place a man sleeps. To lose even that is to be left with nothing. Solomon's question is rhetorical and pastoral. The man who avoided the pledge in the first place is the man who still has a bed at the end.