Genesis 43:9

43:9 I myself pledge security ¹  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ² 

Proverbs 22:26-27

22:26 Do not be one who strikes hands in pledge

or who puts up security for debts.

22:27 If you do not have enough to pay,

your bed ³  will be taken ⁴  right out from under you! ⁵ 

Isaiah 38:14

38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,

I coo ⁶  like a dove;

my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ⁷ 

O sovereign master, ⁸  I am oppressed;

help me! ⁹ 

Philemon 1:18-19

1:18 Now if he has defrauded you of anything or owes you anything, charge what he owes ¹⁰  to me. 1:19 I, Paul, have written ¹¹  this letter ¹²  with my own hand: ¹³  I will repay it. I could also mention that you owe ¹⁴  me your very self.

Hebrews 7:22

7:22 accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee ¹⁵  of a better covenant.

[43:9]  ¹ tn The pronoun before the first person verbal form draws attention to the subject and emphasizes Judah’s willingness to be personally responsible for the boy.

[43:9]  ² sn I will bear the blame before you all my life. It is not clear how this would work out if Benjamin did not come back. But Judah is offering his life for Benjamin’s if Benjamin does not return.

[22:27]  ³ tn The “bed” may be a metonymy of adjunct, meaning the garment that covers the bed (e.g., Exod 22:26). At any rate, it represents the individual’s last possession (like the English expression “the shirt off his back”).

[22:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “If you cannot pay, why should he take the bed from under you?” This rhetorical question is used to affirm the statement. The rhetorical interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) appears in MT but not in the ancient versions; it may be in the Hebrew text by dittography.

[22:27]  ⁵ sn The third saying deals with rash vows: If people foolishly pledge what they have, they could lose everything (e.g., 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; there is no Egyptian parallel).

[38:14]  ⁶ tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”

[38:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”

[38:14]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “charge it to me.”

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Grk “I wrote” Here ἔγραψα (egraya) is functioning as an epistolary aorist. Paul puts it in the past tense because from Philemon’s perspective when he reads the letter it will, of course, already have been written.

[1:19]  ¹² tn The phrase “this letter” does not appear in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to clarify the meaning.

[1:19]  ¹³ sn With my own hand. Paul may have considered this letter so delicate that he wrote the letter himself as opposed to using an amanuensis or secretary.

[1:19]  ¹⁴ sn The statement you owe me your very self means that Paul was responsible for some sort of blessing in the life of Philemon; though a monetary idea may be in mind, it is perhaps better to understand Paul as referring to the spiritual truth (i.e., the gospel) he had taught Philemon.

[7:22]  ¹⁵ tn Or “surety.”