What Does Proverbs 6:1 Mean in the King James?
My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The handclasp gives a promise a body, binding you to the consequences of another person’s obligation.
THE MEANING
This verse meets you when a promise makes another person’s obligation part of your own. The handclasp gives that bond a visible form, and its consequences can reach you through someone else’s debt. The words “friend” and “stranger” place closeness and unfamiliarity within the same warning about becoming surety.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Friendship or good intentions make another person’s obligation consequence-free for you.
THE ROOT
עָרַבְתָּ
ʿāravtā
GROWS FROM
ע־ר־ב
ʿ-r-b
To pledge oneself or stand as guarantor.
The word centers a pledge-bearing relationship: the guarantor becomes bound to what another owes. Its related noun עֵרָבוֹן (ʿērāḇôn, “pledge” or “security”) names the assurance behind that bond, showing how surety makes another’s obligation reach the guarantor.
ALSO GROWS
ʿārēv: Guarantor; surety.
עָרֵב
This noun names the person who carries the pledge, making the obligation personal.
ʿērāḇôn: Pledge; security.
עֵרָבוֹן
This related noun names what stands behind a promise, giving the bond a tangible form.
תָּקַעְתָּ
tāqaʿtā
GROWS FROM
ת־ק־ע
t-q-ʿ
To thrust, drive, or set firmly in place; here, to strike or clasp hands.
“stricken” in this verse is tāqaʿtā. The verb makes the pledge physical: the handclasp sets the agreement in place. Elsewhere this root can describe pitching a tent or sounding a trumpet, actions that establish a presence or send a signal.
ALSO GROWS
tāqaʿ: To pitch or plant firmly, as a tent (Genesis 31:25).
תָּקַע
The root’s sense of setting something in place illuminates how the handclasp gives the pledge a firm shape.
tāqaʿ: To sound or blow a trumpet (Joshua 6:4).
תָּקַע
The root also describes an act that sends a signal; here, the struck hand signals a binding commitment.
THE PATTERN
A pledge binds the guarantor to another person’s obligation, giving a promise consequences and reach.
For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.THE THREAD
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.Both verses use the root ע־ר־ב (ʿ-r-b) for standing surety. Proverbs 11:15 brings the consequences into view, making plain the liability already held in the handclasp of Proverbs 6:1.
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