Proverbs 22:27 (YLT)

Passage

If thou hast nothing to pay, Why doth he take thy bed from under thee?

Nearby Context

Proverbs 22:25 Lest thou learn his paths, And have received a snare to thy soul.

Proverbs 22:26 Be not thou among those striking hands, Among sureties <FI>for<Fi> burdens.

Proverbs 22:27 If thou hast nothing to pay, Why doth he take thy bed from under thee?

Proverbs 22:28 Remove not a border of olden times, That thy fathers have made.

Proverbs 22:29 Hast thou seen a man speedy in his business? Before kings he doth station himself, He stations not himself before obscure men!

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "hast", "nothing", "doth", "take", "under", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "hast", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "Be not thou among those striking hands..." into verse 28's "Remove not a border of olden times...", so "thou" and "hast" 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 "hast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.