My son, if you become surety for your friend,
If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
You are snared by the words of your mouth;
You are taken by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Proverbs 6:1-5
The “surety” Solomon speaks of pertains to an unknown debt in the future. This isn’t co-signing or loaning money, which carry their own risks, but signing up to be on the hook for someone’s open line of credit. You don’t know what they’re going to do nor where you will financially be in future, so this is a bad idea whether the other person is a friend or stranger. If you’ve done it, humble yourself and plead to get out of it. We’re not told why someone would do this, almost certainly because it’s obvious: some pot of gold lies at the bottom of that rainbow. Keep your eyes up, don’t look at fine print, and sign here to take responsibility for someone else’s risky behavior. It’s amazing what people will agree to when pie hangs from the sky. The opposite of this foolishness is to not stretch your hand out farther than you can pull it back. This allows for some risk–look at your hand out there–but also the opportunity to limit losses and avoid catastrophe. Other people will not be so careful with your resources, so don’t sign up for that.