Proverbs 11:15 "He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure."
This proverb is the second of five instances where Solomon addresses surety in his book of Proverbs. When commenting on the first mention of surety in Proverbs 6, we defined this financial practice using the references in the book of Genesis. Surety is cosigning on another person's debts. It is becoming legally responsible for someone else's debt should they be unable to pay or refuse to fulfill their financial obligations.
In chapter 6, Solomon addressed surety within the context of friendships and urged his son not to cosign for a friend. Inspired by the Spirit of God, Solomon went so far as to instruct his son to pay the loan off or do whatever he could to get out of the arrangements in order to preserve the friendship. By experience, observation and inspiration, Solomon knew how precious relationships are in life and he knew how dangerous cosigning can be to those relationships. He didn't want his son unnecessarily endangering friendships over money.
A recent 2021 poll performed by the lending marketplace, LendEDU confirmed the insight of Solomon. LendEDU polled parents who cosigned for their child's student loans and in summary, this is what they found:
- 57% of cosigners believed that their credit scores were negatively impacted.
- 36% of cosigners’ children made a late payment on the cosigned loans, which negatively impacted credit scores.
- 51% of cosigners felt that their children’s student debt put their retirement in jeopardy.
- 58% of cosigners claimed that their children asked them for help making monthly payments.
- 66% of cosigners helped their children make monthly payments.
- 35% of cosigners regret cosigning on a private student loan.
- 34% of cosigners said cosigning hurt their ability to qualify for mortgages, auto loans, or other types of financing.
This poll clearly confirms the risk cosigning brings to relationships. Money does something to us and it can severely harm relationships when another person's financial decisions impact our financial condition. In order to protect relationships, Solomon advised his son to avoid cosigning for friends.
In this particular proverb, Solomon is not advising against cosigning for a friend but instead, he is warning of doing so for a "stranger." This proverb is less concerned about relationships and is more concerned with personal safety or success. This proverb differentiates kindness from carelessness.
For some, giving money, buying gifts or helping out with financial dilemmas is their love language. For some, money is the best way to say, "I care." Solomon is not condemning surety in every possible instance, such as in spousal cases, but he is declaring cosigning for a stranger utter foolishness. It's risky business to cosign for a family member. It's really risky business to cosign for a friend. It's entirely bad business to cosign for a stranger; for someone you don't know that well. For the person who cosigns for a stranger, the proverb reads, he "shall smart for it." The usage of the word, "smart" in this proverb is not at all our modern usage of it. It is not a compliment as we intend it to be. This is the only instance of the Old English verb in Scripture and it means, to be punished. A dictionary isn't needed to understand what Solomon meant given the clear tone of his warning. A person who cosigns for a person he or she doesn't know well will end up paying for their indiscretion.
Cosigning for someone you don't know extremely well is arguably the most dangerous form of gambling. People may be tempted to cosign for someone they don't know well in order to gain a relationship. A young woman may be tempted to cosign for a man with the hopes of winning his love. A man may be tempted to cosign for a woman for the same reason or for a man whose respect he is trying to gain. In each of these cases, the cosigner interprets the financial risk as kindness rather than carelessness. In other cases, an elderly person may see their signature on a loan as an expression of kindness towards a soul in need when Solomon defines it as carelessness. If an unfamiliar person is asking for help with a loan, that person is probably up to no good. If a person new to your life has the boldness to hint at cosigning on a loan, there is very high chance that they are financial predators and that you are their intended prey. Cosigning for a "stranger" will result in certain loss.
In our pursuit of virtue, we may be tempted to see cosigning as kindness to souls in need. Solomon wants his readers to know that it's careless to cosign for someone you don't know well. Doing so is a mismanagement of God's blessings. Doing so is poor stewardship of God's provision. Doing so is putting your family in great financial danger and that is clearly carelessness. There are much better ways to show kindness to a stranger than cosigning. There are many other ways to show kindness to someone you just met than cosigning. We are to demonstrate kindness to those we don't know well but it isn't virtuous to be careless with the financial blessings that God has bestowed upon us.
Cosigning for people we know well is very risky and cosigning for people we don't know well is very careless. In both cases, our financial security is threatened. In both cases, our credit scores are in danger. In both cases, our possessions are in danger. In both cases, relationships are in danger - either the relationship with the loved one we cosigned for or the relationships with the loved ones who are impacted when the strangers we cosigned for doesn't pay off their debts. This proverb reminds me of a man who once admitted that he cosigned for a person he didn't know that well. This "stranger" wasn't a complete "stranger," but this man didn't vet the person's character long enough or well enough and ended up cosigning on a loan of some sort. He "smarted" for it and as a result, brought some unnecessary financial hardship to his young family.
This is precisely why Solomon concluded the proverb by saying, "he that hateth suretiship is sure." In this play on words, the word, "sure" means safe and secure. After Jesus was crucified, Pilate ordered the soldiers to make the tomb as "sure" as possible, or as secure as possible, lest there be any attempts to steal the body (Matthew 27:64-66). The person that hates cosigning because of all the risks associated with it will be safe and secure. Such a person will be secure in his finances as well as in his relationships. Such a person will not mistake the carelessness of cosigning as kindness.
In chapter 6, Solomon addressed surety within the context of friendships and urged his son not to cosign for a friend. Inspired by the Spirit of God, Solomon went so far as to instruct his son to pay the loan off or do whatever he could to get out of the arrangements in order to preserve the friendship. By experience, observation and inspiration, Solomon knew how precious relationships are in life and he knew how dangerous cosigning can be to those relationships. He didn't want his son unnecessarily endangering friendships over money.
A recent 2021 poll performed by the lending marketplace, LendEDU confirmed the insight of Solomon. LendEDU polled parents who cosigned for their child's student loans and in summary, this is what they found:
- 57% of cosigners believed that their credit scores were negatively impacted.
- 36% of cosigners’ children made a late payment on the cosigned loans, which negatively impacted credit scores.
- 51% of cosigners felt that their children’s student debt put their retirement in jeopardy.
- 58% of cosigners claimed that their children asked them for help making monthly payments.
- 66% of cosigners helped their children make monthly payments.
- 35% of cosigners regret cosigning on a private student loan.
- 34% of cosigners said cosigning hurt their ability to qualify for mortgages, auto loans, or other types of financing.
This poll clearly confirms the risk cosigning brings to relationships. Money does something to us and it can severely harm relationships when another person's financial decisions impact our financial condition. In order to protect relationships, Solomon advised his son to avoid cosigning for friends.
In this particular proverb, Solomon is not advising against cosigning for a friend but instead, he is warning of doing so for a "stranger." This proverb is less concerned about relationships and is more concerned with personal safety or success. This proverb differentiates kindness from carelessness.
For some, giving money, buying gifts or helping out with financial dilemmas is their love language. For some, money is the best way to say, "I care." Solomon is not condemning surety in every possible instance, such as in spousal cases, but he is declaring cosigning for a stranger utter foolishness. It's risky business to cosign for a family member. It's really risky business to cosign for a friend. It's entirely bad business to cosign for a stranger; for someone you don't know that well. For the person who cosigns for a stranger, the proverb reads, he "shall smart for it." The usage of the word, "smart" in this proverb is not at all our modern usage of it. It is not a compliment as we intend it to be. This is the only instance of the Old English verb in Scripture and it means, to be punished. A dictionary isn't needed to understand what Solomon meant given the clear tone of his warning. A person who cosigns for a person he or she doesn't know well will end up paying for their indiscretion.
Cosigning for someone you don't know extremely well is arguably the most dangerous form of gambling. People may be tempted to cosign for someone they don't know well in order to gain a relationship. A young woman may be tempted to cosign for a man with the hopes of winning his love. A man may be tempted to cosign for a woman for the same reason or for a man whose respect he is trying to gain. In each of these cases, the cosigner interprets the financial risk as kindness rather than carelessness. In other cases, an elderly person may see their signature on a loan as an expression of kindness towards a soul in need when Solomon defines it as carelessness. If an unfamiliar person is asking for help with a loan, that person is probably up to no good. If a person new to your life has the boldness to hint at cosigning on a loan, there is very high chance that they are financial predators and that you are their intended prey. Cosigning for a "stranger" will result in certain loss.
In our pursuit of virtue, we may be tempted to see cosigning as kindness to souls in need. Solomon wants his readers to know that it's careless to cosign for someone you don't know well. Doing so is a mismanagement of God's blessings. Doing so is poor stewardship of God's provision. Doing so is putting your family in great financial danger and that is clearly carelessness. There are much better ways to show kindness to a stranger than cosigning. There are many other ways to show kindness to someone you just met than cosigning. We are to demonstrate kindness to those we don't know well but it isn't virtuous to be careless with the financial blessings that God has bestowed upon us.
Cosigning for people we know well is very risky and cosigning for people we don't know well is very careless. In both cases, our financial security is threatened. In both cases, our credit scores are in danger. In both cases, our possessions are in danger. In both cases, relationships are in danger - either the relationship with the loved one we cosigned for or the relationships with the loved ones who are impacted when the strangers we cosigned for doesn't pay off their debts. This proverb reminds me of a man who once admitted that he cosigned for a person he didn't know that well. This "stranger" wasn't a complete "stranger," but this man didn't vet the person's character long enough or well enough and ended up cosigning on a loan of some sort. He "smarted" for it and as a result, brought some unnecessary financial hardship to his young family.
This is precisely why Solomon concluded the proverb by saying, "he that hateth suretiship is sure." In this play on words, the word, "sure" means safe and secure. After Jesus was crucified, Pilate ordered the soldiers to make the tomb as "sure" as possible, or as secure as possible, lest there be any attempts to steal the body (Matthew 27:64-66). The person that hates cosigning because of all the risks associated with it will be safe and secure. Such a person will be secure in his finances as well as in his relationships. Such a person will not mistake the carelessness of cosigning as kindness.
Posted in Proverbs Commentary
Posted in Solomon, finances, money, Loan, Surety, Cosign, Cosigning, debt, relationships, Gamble, Tomb, Friendships, Strangers, stranger
Posted in Solomon, finances, money, Loan, Surety, Cosign, Cosigning, debt, relationships, Gamble, Tomb, Friendships, Strangers, stranger
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