Proverbs 20:16

Take a man’s ¹  garment ²  when he has given security for a stranger, ³  and when he gives surety for strangers, ⁴  hold him ⁵  in pledge.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Be sure to get collateral from anyone who guarantees the debt of a stranger. Get a deposit if someone guarantees the debt of a foreigner.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.

SABDAweb Pro 20:16

Take 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.

bibleoremus Pro 20:16

Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.

biblegateway Pro 20:16

Take a man’s ¹  garment ²  when he has given security for a stranger, ³  and when he gives surety for strangers, ⁴  hold him ⁵  in pledge.

¹ tn Heb “his garment.”

² sn Taking a garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts. In fact, the garment was the article normally taken for security (Exod 22:24-26; Deut 24:10-13). Because this is a high risk security pledge (e.g., 6:1-5), the creditor is to deal more severely than when the pledge is given by the debtor for himself.

³ tc The Kethib has the masculine plural form, נָכְרִים (nakhrim), suggesting a reading “strangers.” But the Qere has the feminine form נָכְרִיָּה (nakhriyyah), “strange woman” or “another man’s wife” (e.g., 27:13). The parallelism would suggest “strangers” is the correct reading, although theories have been put forward for the interpretation of “strange woman” (see below).

³ sn The one for whom the pledge is taken is called “a stranger” and “foreign.” These two words do not necessarily mean that the individual or individuals are non-Israelite – just outside the community and not well known.

⁴ tn M. Dahood argues that the cloak was taken in pledge for a harlot (cf. NIV “a wayward woman”). Two sins would then be committed: taking a cloak and going to a prostitute (“To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66; also Snijders, “The Meaning of זָר,” 85-86). In the MT the almost identical proverb in 27:13 has a feminine singular form here.

⁵ tn Or “hold it” (so NIV, NCV).