Proverbs 6:10-11

6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax, ¹ 

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, ² 

and your need like an armed man. ³ 

Proverbs 19:15

19:15 Laziness brings on ⁴  a deep sleep, ⁵ 

and the idle person ⁶  will go hungry. ⁷ 

Proverbs 24:34

24:34 and your poverty will come like a bandit,

and your need like an armed robber.” ⁸ 

Matthew 25:3-10

25:3 When ⁹  the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra ¹⁰  olive oil ¹¹  with them. 25:4 But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 25:5 When ¹²  the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 25:6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ ¹³  25:7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 25:8 The ¹⁴  foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 25:9 ‘No,’ they replied. ¹⁵  ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 25:10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then ¹⁶  the door was shut.

Matthew 25:24-28

25:24 Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, 25:25 so ¹⁷  I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 25:26 But his master answered, ¹⁸  ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 25:27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, ¹⁹  and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ²⁰  25:28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ²¹ 

Matthew 25:2

25:2 Five ²²  of the virgins ²³  were foolish, and five were wise.

Matthew 1:5-11

1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 1:6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah ²⁴ ), 1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ²⁵  1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ²⁶  Amon the father of Josiah, 1:11 and Josiah ²⁷  the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹ sn The writer might in this verse be imitating the words of the sluggard who just wants to take “a little nap.” The use is ironic, for by indulging in this little rest the lazy one comes to ruin.

² tn Heb “like a wayfarer” or “like a traveler” (cf. KJV). The LXX has “swiftness like a traveler.” It has also been interpreted as a “highwayman” (cf. NAB) or a “dangerous assailant.” W. McKane suggests “vagrant” (Proverbs [OTL], 324); cf. NASB “vagabond.” Someone traveling swiftly would likely be a robber.

³ tn The Hebrew word for “armed” is probably connected to the word for “shield” and “deliver” (s.v. גָּנַן). G. R. Driver connects it to the Arabic word for “bold; insolent,” interpreting its use here as referring to a beggar or an insolent man (“Studies in the Vocabulary of the Old Testament, IV,” JTS 33 [1933]: 38-47).

⁴ tn Heb “causes to fall” or “casts”; NAB “plunges…into.”

⁵ tn Or “complete inactivity”; the word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) can refer to a physical “deep sleep” (e.g., Gen 2:21; Jonah 1:5, 6); but it can also be used figuratively for complete inactivity, as other words for “sleep” can. Here it refers to lethargy or debility and morbidness.

⁶ tn The expression וְנֶפֶשׁ רְמִיָּה (vÿnefesh rÿmiyyah) can be translated “the soul of deceit” or “the soul of slackness.” There are two identical feminine nouns, one from the verb “beguile,” and the other from a cognate Arabic root “grow loose.” The second is more likely here in view of the parallelism (cf. NIV “a shiftless man”; NAB “the sluggard”). One who is slack, that is, idle, will go hungry.

⁷ sn The two lines are related in a metonymical sense: “deep sleep” is the cause of going hungry, and “going hungry” is the effect of deep sleep.

⁸ tn Heb “a man of shield.” This could refer to an armed warrior (so NRSV) but in this context, in collocation with the other word for “robber” in the previous line, it must refer to an armed criminal.

⁹ tn Grk “For when.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn The word “extra” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The point is that the five foolish virgins had only the oil in their lamps, but took along no extra supply from which to replenish them. This is clear from v. 8, where the lamps of the foolish virgins are going out because they are running out of oil.

¹¹ tn On the use of olive oil in lamps, see L&N 6.202.

¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹³ tc ‡ Most witnesses have αὐτοῦ (autou, “[with] him”) after ἀπάντησιν (apanthsin, “meeting”), a reading which makes explicit what is already implied in the shorter text (as found in א B 700). The translation likewise adds “him” for clarity’s sake even though the word is not considered part of the original text. NA²⁷ has αὐτοῦ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁵ tn Grk “The wise answered, saying, ‘No.’”

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

¹⁸ tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

¹⁹ tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.

²⁰ sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”

²¹ tn Grk “the ten talents.”

²² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²³ tn Grk “Five of them.”

²⁴ sn By the wife of Uriah, i.e., Bathsheba (cf. 2 Sam 11:3).

²⁵ tc The reading ᾿Ασάφ (Asaf), a variant spelling on ᾿Ασά (Asa), is found in the earliest and most widespread witnesses (Ì^1vid א B C [D^luc] Ë^1,13 700 pc it co). Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the author mistook one for the other since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”). Thus the spelling ᾿Ασάφ that is almost surely found in the original of Matt 1:7-8 has been translated as “Asa” in keeping with the more common spelling of the king’s name.

²⁶ tc ᾿Αμώς (Amws) is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (א B C [D^luc] γ δ θ ˹ 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών (Amwn). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss. See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.

²⁷ sn Before the mention of Jeconiah, several medieval mss add Jehoiakim, in conformity with the genealogy in 1 Chr 3:15-16. But this alters the count of fourteen generations (v. 17). It is evident that the author is selective in his genealogy for a theological purpose.