Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Proverbs is a collection of ancient wisdom sayings designed to help ordinary people navigate real life with clear eyes. This verse addresses a specific financial practice: 'putting up security,' which meant guaranteeing someone else's debt — essentially co-signing a loan. The proverb is deliberately blunt: if someone is reckless enough to pledge themselves for a complete stranger, or worse, for someone already known for poor choices, you should treat that person's own assets as unreliable. In ancient Israel, holding a garment as a pledge was a standard form of collateral. The verse is a sharp warning that naïve or sentimental financial commitments have real consequences, and wisdom means seeing clearly even when emotion is pushing you in another direction.
God, give me the wisdom to know the difference between love and enabling — between open-handed generosity and reckless sentiment. Help me be honest about the commitments I've made and the ones I'm being asked to make. Teach me to be both genuinely generous and genuinely clear-eyed. Amen.
There's a kind of kindness that isn't kind at all — the kind that looks the other way because looking clearly feels unloving. We've all felt the pull: a friend who keeps making the same mistake asks for help again, and saying yes feels like grace, while saying no feels like abandonment. Proverbs keeps pushing back on that instinct with a directness that can feel cold until you realize it's actually protecting everyone in the room. This verse isn't permission to be suspicious or tight-fisted. It's an invitation to be honest — with yourself and sometimes with others. Because sometimes the most genuinely loving thing you can do is refuse to cushion someone from the natural weight of their choices. The question worth sitting with isn't 'am I being generous?' but 'am I being honest?' Where are you currently extended — financially, emotionally, relationally — in a way that's more about avoiding an uncomfortable conversation than about actually helping? Wisdom isn't the opposite of generosity. It's generosity with open eyes and a willingness to say the hard thing.
What distinguishes the financial recklessness this proverb warns against from genuine, sacrificial generosity? How do you tell the difference when you're in the middle of a situation?
Think of a time you ignored a clear warning sign because you wanted to be helpful or avoid conflict. What did that actually cost you — and what did it cost the other person?
This proverb assumes wisdom sometimes means protecting your own resources. How does that sit alongside New Testament teachings about self-sacrifice and radical giving? Are they in tension, or can they coexist?
How do emotion and loyalty affect your financial or relational decisions — do you tend to be clearer-headed with strangers than with people you love, and what does that reveal?
Is there a commitment, relationship, or financial obligation in your life right now where you've been avoiding an honest assessment? What would it take to look at it clearly this week — and who might you need to talk to?
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Proverbs 27:13
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Proverbs 2:16
If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
Proverbs 22:27
If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Exodus 22:26
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.
Proverbs 11:15
A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
Proverbs 17:18
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.
Exodus 22:27
Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
Proverbs 22:26
[The judge tells the creditor], "Take the clothes of one who is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge [when he guarantees a loan] for foreigners."
AMP
Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.
ESV
Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.
NASB
Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.
NIV
Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
NKJV
Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.
NLT
Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.
MSG