Proverbs 20:16
King James Version
9 Jun 2026
“Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.”
חָבַל
To bind, to pledge, to destroy. Chabal. Job says his spirit is broken — chabal. The word carries the weight of something twisted and ruined. Yet even in ruin Job holds on. The God who binds can also unbind. The God who breaks can also restore.
זוּר
a stranger
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זוּר
to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be aforeigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery
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עָרַב
he stands surety for
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עָרַב
to braid, i.e. intermix; technically, to traffic (as if by barter); also or give to be security (as a kind of exchange)
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נׇכְרִי
a foreign woman
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נׇכְרִי
strange, in a variety of degrees and applications (foreign, non-relative, adulterous, different, wonderful)
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לָקַח
take
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לָקַח
to take (in the widest variety of applications)
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