Proverbs 22:26 (ASV)

Passage

Be thou not one of them that strike hands, [Or] of them that are sureties for debts.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:

Proverbs 22:25 Lest thou learn this ways, And get a snare to thy soul.

Proverbs 22:26 Be thou not one of them that strike hands, [Or] of them that are sureties for debts.

Proverbs 22:27 If thou hast not wherewith to pay, Why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, Which thy fathers have set.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "strike", "hands", "sureties", and "debts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "strike", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 25's "Lest thou learn this ways And get..." into verse 27's "If thou hast not wherewith to pay...", so "thou" and "strike" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "strike" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.