Bible Dictionary
Dictionary
SU'RETY, noun Certainty; indubitableness.
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs-- Genesis 15:13.
1. Security; safety.
Yet for the more surety they looked round about.
2. Foundation of stability; support.
We our state
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds;
On other surety none.
3. Evidence; ratification; confirmation.
She call'd the saints to surety
That she would never put it from her finger,
Unless she gave it to yourself.
4. Security against loss or damage; security for payment.
There remains unpaid
A hundred thousand more, in surety of the which
One part of Aquitain is bound to us.
5. In law, one that is bound with and for another; one who enters into a bond or recognizance to answer for another's appearance in court, or for his payment of a debt or for the performance of some act, and who, in case of the principal debtor's failure, is compellable to pay the debt or damages; a bondsman; a bail.
He that is surety for a stranger, shall smart for it. Proverbs 11:15.
Thy servant became surety for the lad to my father. Genesis 44:32.
6. In Scripture, Christ is called 'the surety of a better testament.' Hebrews 7:22. He undertook to make atonement for the sins of men, and thus prepare the way to deliver them from the punishment to which they had rendered themselves liable.
7. A hostage.