6:1 My child, 2 if you have made a pledge 3 for your neighbor,
and 4 have become a guarantor 5 for a stranger, 6
17:18 The one who lacks wisdom 7 strikes hands in pledge, 8
and puts up financial security 9 for his neighbor. 10
1 sn The chapter advises release from foolish indebtedness (1-5), admonishes avoiding laziness (6-11), warns of the danger of poverty (9-11) and deviousness (12-15), lists conduct that the
2 tn Heb “my son” (likewise in vv. 3, 20).
3 sn It was fairly common for people to put up some kind of financial security for someone else, that is, to underwrite another’s debts. But the pledge in view here was foolish because the debtor was a neighbor who was not well known (זָר, zar), perhaps a misfit in the community. The one who pledged security for this one was simply gullible.
4 tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.
5 tn Heb “struck your hands”; NIV “have struck hands in pledge”; NASB “have given a pledge.” The guarantee of a pledge was signaled by a handshake (e.g., 11:15; 17:18; 22:26).
6 tn Heb “stranger.” The term זוּר (zur, “stranger”) probably refers to a neighbor who was not well-known. Alternatively, it could describe a person who is living outside the norms of convention, a moral misfit in the community. In any case, this “stranger” is a high risk in any financial arrangement.
7 tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”
8 tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.
9 tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”
10 sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).