Proverbs 17:18
If someone borrows money from another person, it is foolish for you to promise [IDM] that you will pay the money back if that other person is unable to pay back the money that he borrowed.
Translation for Translators
In The King James Version
A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
In Context
17Friends love others all the time, and relatives are able to help us when we have troubles.
Cross References
Proverbs 11:15If you promise a stranger that you will pay his debt if he cannot pay it himself, you will regret it. You will be safe if you refuse to guarantee that you will pay someone else’s debts.
Proverbs 22:16Those who oppress poor people in order to become rich, and those who give a bribe to rich people in order that the rich people will do a favor for them, will just lose their money.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:18
True Friendship. 17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. This intimates the strength of those bonds by which we are bound to each other and which we ought to be sensible of. 1. Friends must be constant to each other at all times. That is not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so if it be sincere, and actuated by a good principle. Those that are fanciful or selfish in their friendship will love no longer than their humour is pleased and their interest served, and… Read the whole commentary →