10:26 Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes, 1
so is the sluggard to those 2 who send him.
1 sn Two similes are used to portray the aggravation in sending a lazy person to accomplish a task. Vinegar to the teeth is an unpleasant, irritating experience; and smoke to the eyes is an unpleasant experience that hinders progress.
2 tn The participle is plural, and so probably should be taken in a distributive sense: “to each one who sends him.”