Proverbs 11:15

He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it ,.... Or in "breaking shall be broken" F17 רע ירוע "frangendo frangetur", Michaelis; so Pagninus and others. , ruined and undone; he engaging or becoming a bondsman for one whose circumstances he knew not; and these being bad bring a load upon him, such an heavy debt as crushes him to pieces. Mr. Henry observes that our Lord Jesus Christ became a surety for us when we were strangers, and he smarted for it, he was bruised and wounded for our sins; but then he knew our circumstances, and what the consequence would be, and became a surety on purpose to pay the whole debt and set us free; which he was capable of doing: without being broken or becoming a bankrupt himself; for he was not broken, nor did he fail, Isaiah 42:4 . Jarchi's note is,

"the wicked shall be broken, to whose heart idolatry is sweet;'

and he that hateth suretyship is sure ; or those "that strike" F18 תוקעים "complodentes", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "defigentes", Mercerus. , that is, with the hand, used in suretyship; see Proverbs 6:1 ; such an one is safe from coming into trouble by such means. The Targum is,

"and hates those that place their hope in God.'