Proverbs 22:26 - Meaning and Application

This verse gives the same warning we have seen before, against becoming surety, that is, promising to pay another person’s debt if they fail to pay. It is both unwise and unfair. We should not make close friends with people whose lives are in ruin and whose reputations are damaged, especially if they press others to stand for them so they can keep cheating their neighbors to feed their own desires.

Do not get involved with such people. Do not put yourself in their company or tie yourself to their bad plans. If you do, you may end up sharing in their trouble. Their goal is often to stretch things out a little longer, so they can do even more harm before the end comes.

We should also not cheat others out of their money by promising payment we cannot make. If, through God’s providence, a person is unable to pay his debts, he should be pitied and helped. But if someone borrows money or goods, or becomes surety for another, while knowing he has no real way to pay, he is in effect stealing from his neighbor. He may also deserve the legal loss of even what little security he has offered, such as his bed, which could be taken as a pledge for the debt (Exodus 22:26-27).

If a poor man truly has nothing else to give as security, that should be openly admitted, and he should be helped. Yet when a debt must be collected, the strict demands of justice may still require that such a pledge be taken. The law may press hard in that case, but the fault lies with the one who made the reckless promise.

We must also not ruin our own families and estates. Every man should deal honestly with himself, his wife, and his children. People are not fair to them when they spend beyond what they have, or when they weaken their own support by taking on other people’s debts. We may accept the loss of our goods with joy if it comes because we stood for a good conscience, but if it comes through our own rashness and foolishness, it will be a painful loss indeed.