Definition of "surety"

Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 15:13

For the more surety they looked round about.

a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912,

[We] our happy stateHold, as you yours, while our obedience holds;On other surety none.

1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,

There remains unpaidA hundred thousand more; in surety of the whichOne part of Aquitaine is bound to us.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]

He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Proverbs 11:15

...It happen’d on a solemn eventide,Soon after He that was our surety died,Two bosom friends, each pensively inclined,The scene of all those sorrows left behind,Sought their own village, busied as they wentIn musings worthy of the great event:They spake of Him they loved, of Him whose life,Though blameless, had incurr’d perpetual strife,Whose deeds had left, in spite of hostile arts,A deep memorial graven on their hearts...

1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]

She called the saints to surety,That she would never put it from her finger,Unless she gave it to yourself.

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene iii]