Proverbs 26:13-16

26:13 The sluggard ¹  says, “There is a lion in the road!

A lion in the streets!” ² 

26:14 Like ³  a door that turns on its hinges, ⁴ 

so a sluggard turns ⁵  on his bed.

26:15 The sluggard plunges ⁶  his hand in the dish;

he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ⁷ 

26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation ⁸ 

than seven people who respond with good sense. ⁹ 

[26:13]  ¹ sn The Book of Fools covered vv. 1-12. This marks the beginning of what may be called the Book of Sluggards (vv. 13-16).

[26:13]  ² tn Heb “in the broad plazas”; NAB, NASB “in the square.” This proverb makes the same point as 22:13, namely, that the sluggard uses absurd excuses to get out of work. D. Kidner notes that in this situation the sluggard has probably convinced himself that he is a realist and not a lazy person (Proverbs [TOTC], 163).

[26:14]  ³ tn The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context in the translation.

[26:14]  ⁴ sn The sluggard is too lazy to get out of bed – although he would probably rationalize this by saying that he is not at his best in the morning. The humor of the verse is based on an analogy with a door – it moves back and forth on its hinges but goes nowhere. Like the door to the wall, the sluggard is “hinged” to his bed (e.g., Prov 6:9-10; 24:33).

[26:14]  ⁵ tn The term “turns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation from the parallelism.

[26:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[26:15]  ⁷ sn The proverb is stating that the sluggard is too lazy to eat; this is essentially the same point made in 19:24 (see the note there).

[26:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “in his eyes.” The lazy person thinks that he has life all figured out and has chosen the wise course of action – but he is simply lazy. J. H. Greenstone says, for example, “Much anti-intellectualism may be traced to such rationalization for laziness” (Proverbs, 269).

[26:16]  ⁹ tn The term means “taste; judgment.” The related verb means “to taste; to perceive,” that is, “to examine by tasting,” or examine by experiencing (e.g., Ps 34:9). Here the idea is expressed with the participle in construct, “those returners [of] good sense,” those who answer tastefully, with discretion. Cf. NIV “who (+ can NRSV) answer discreetly.”