◄ Proverbs 22:26 ►
Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
Study Bible
Do not be one who gives pledges
This phrase serves as a caution against entering into financial agreements that could lead to personal ruin. The Hebrew root for "pledges" is "עָרַב" (arab), which means to exchange or to become surety. In ancient times, giving a pledge often involved a personal guarantee, sometimes even risking one's own freedom or family. The Bible consistently warns against such entanglements, emphasizing the importance of financial prudence and the avoidance of unnecessary risks. This advice is timeless, urging believers to exercise wisdom and discernment in their financial dealings.

who puts up security for debts
The phrase "puts up security" refers to the act of guaranteeing another person's debt. The Hebrew word "תַּקִּיעַ" (taqqia) implies a binding agreement or a handshake that seals a deal. In the historical context of the Bible, this could mean offering one's own property or even oneself as collateral. The wisdom literature of Proverbs often highlights the dangers of such commitments, as they can lead to financial enslavement and loss of personal freedom. This teaching encourages believers to trust in God's provision and to avoid becoming entangled in the financial obligations of others, which can lead to unforeseen burdens and stress.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Solomon
Traditionally considered the author of Proverbs, Solomon was the son of King David and known for his wisdom. His teachings often focus on practical living and moral conduct.

2. Ancient Israel
The cultural and historical context of Proverbs is ancient Israel, where financial transactions and social contracts were common, and the wisdom literature provided guidance for daily life.

3. Debtors and Creditors
The verse addresses the relationship between those who owe money (debtors) and those to whom money is owed (creditors), highlighting the potential pitfalls of financial entanglements.
Teaching Points
Avoiding Financial Entanglements
The verse advises against becoming financially entangled by guaranteeing another's debt, which can lead to personal financial ruin and strained relationships.

Wisdom in Financial Decisions
Making wise financial decisions is a recurring theme in Proverbs. This includes understanding the risks involved in co-signing loans or pledging security for others.

Trusting in God's Provision
Instead of relying on risky financial agreements, believers are encouraged to trust in God's provision and seek His wisdom in managing resources.

The Importance of Prudence
Prudence involves careful consideration of potential consequences before making commitments, especially those that could impact one's financial stability.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are some modern examples of "putting up security for debts," and how can we apply the wisdom of Proverbs 22:26 to these situations?

2. How does the advice in Proverbs 22:26 reflect the broader biblical principle of stewardship?

3. In what ways can financial obligations distract us from our spiritual responsibilities, as suggested by connections to other scriptures?

4. How can we balance helping others financially with the caution advised in Proverbs 22:26?

5. Reflect on a time when you faced a financial decision. How might the teachings of Proverbs 22:26 have influenced your choice?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 6:1-5
This passage also warns against putting up security for another's debt, emphasizing the urgency of freeing oneself from such obligations.

Romans 13:8
Paul advises believers to owe nothing to anyone except love, which aligns with the caution against financial entanglements in Proverbs 22:26.

Matthew 6:24
Jesus teaches about the impossibility of serving both God and money, which can be related to the distractions and burdens of financial obligations.
Sermons
Right in Social RelationsE. Johnson Proverbs 22:22-29
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Agreement, Burdens, Collateral, Debts, Guarantors, Hands, Pledge, Pledges, Puts, Responsible, Security, Strike, Striking, Sureties, Surety, Themselves
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 22:26

     5156   hand

Proverbs 22:26-27

     5233   borrowing
     5274   credit
     5444   pledges
     5447   poverty, causes
     5922   prudence
     5942   security

Library
The Rich and the Poor
Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1871. Proverbs xxii. 2. "The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all." I have been asked to preach here this afternoon on behalf of the Parochial Mission Women's Fund. I may best describe the object for which I plead, as an attempt to civilise and Christianise the women of the lower classes in the poorer districts of London and other great towns, by means of women of their own class--women, who have gone through the same struggles as they have, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

One Lion Two Lions no Lion at All
A sermon (No. 1670) delivered on Thursday Evening, June 8th, 1882, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets."--Proverbs 22:13. "The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets."--Proverbs 26:13. This slothful man seems to cherish that one dread of his about the lions, as if it were his favorite aversion and he felt it to be too much trouble to invent another excuse. …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Formation of Habits.
School Sermon. Proverbs xxii. 6. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." INTRODUCTION.--There is a district, high up in the Black Forest, where the ground is full of springs. It is a plain some nine hundred feet above the sea. Thousands upon thousands of little springs gush out of the soil; you seem to be on the rose of a vast watering-can. Now, from this great source flow a good many rivers, and they flow in very different, nay, opposite directions. …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Christian Business World
Scripture references: Proverbs 22:29; Romans 12:11; Psalms 24:1; 50:10-12; Haggai 2:8; Psalm 49:6,10,16,17; 62:10; Matthew 13:22; Mark 10:23,24; Job 31:24-26; Proverbs 3:9; Matthew 25:14-30; 24:45-51; 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21. THE IDEAL IN THE BUSINESS WORLD There is often a wide difference between the methods actually employed in doing business and when they should be. Good men who are in the thick of the battle of competition and rivalry with other firms in the same line of trade, are the quickest …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Philip and the Emperor
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.--Prov. xxii. 29. Kallias stayed a fortnight under the hospitable roof of Olympias, and during those days he had the pleasure of seeing how greatly his honest and genial simplicity brightened the thoughts both of his hostess and of his friend. The general outline of his own future seemed now to be approximately settled. Like Philip, he had acquired an incurable disgust for Constantinople, with …
Frederic William Farrar—Gathering Clouds: A Tale of the Days of St. Chrysostom

He Accuses Abaelard for Preferring his Own Opinions and Even Fancies to the Unanimous Consent of the Fathers, Especially Where He Declares that Christ did Not
He accuses Abaelard for preferring his own opinions and even fancies to the unanimous consent of the Fathers, especially where he declares that Christ did not become incarnate in order to save man from the power of the devil. 11. I find in a book of his sentences, and also in an exposition of his of the Epistle to the Romans, that this rash inquirer into the Divine Majesty attacks the mystery of our Redemption. He admits in the very beginning of his disputation that there has never been but one conclusion …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents.
We have gone "to the Law and to the Testimony" to find out what the nature and benefits of Baptism are. We have gathered out of the Word all the principal passages bearing on this subject. We have grouped them together, and studied them side by side. We have noticed that their sense is uniform, clear, and strong. Unless we are willing to throw aside all sound principles of interpretation, we can extract from the words of inspiration only one meaning, and that is that the baptized child is, by virtue …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

"But Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all These Things Shall be Added unto You. "
Matth. vi. 33.--"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The perfection even of the most upright creature, speaks always some imperfection in comparison of God, who is most perfect. The heavens, the sun and moon, in respect of lower things here, how glorious do they appear, and without spot! But behold, they are not clean in God's sight! How far are the angels above us who dwell in clay! They appear to be a pure mass of light and …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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