Proverbs 12:24

12:24 The diligent ¹  person ²  will rule,

but the slothful ³  will become a slave. ⁴ 

Proverbs 14:1

14:1 Every wise woman ⁵  builds ⁶  her household, ⁷ 

but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Proverbs 20:4

20:4 The sluggard will not plow ⁸  during the planting season, ⁹ 

so at harvest time he looks ¹⁰  for the crop ¹¹  but has nothing.

Proverbs 21:25

21:25 What the sluggard desires ¹²  will kill him, ¹³ 

for his hands ¹⁴  refuse to work.

Proverbs 23:21

23:21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,

and drowsiness ¹⁵  clothes them with rags. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 24:30-31

24:30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. ¹⁷ 

24:31 I saw ¹⁸  that thorns had grown up all over it,

the ground ¹⁹  was covered with weeds,

and its stone wall was broken down.

Hebrews 6:11

6:11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

Hebrews 6:2

6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Hebrews 1:5-10

The Son Is Superior to Angels

1:5 For to which of the angels did God ²⁰  ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? ²¹  And in another place ²²  he says, ²³  “I will be his father and he will be my son.” ²⁴  1:6 But when he again brings ²⁵  his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” ²⁶  1:7 And he says ²⁷  of the angels, “He makes ²⁸  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ²⁹  1:8 but of ³⁰  the Son he says, ³¹ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ³² 

and a righteous scepter ³³  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ³⁴  with the oil of rejoicing.” ³⁵ 

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ³⁶ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

[12:24]  ¹ tn The term חָרַץ (kharats, “diligent”) means (1) literally: “to cut; to sharpen,” (2) figurative: “to decide” and “to be diligent. It is used figuratively in Proverbs for diligence. The semantic development of the figure may be understood thus: “cut, sharpen” leads to “act decisively” which leads to “be diligent.” By their diligent work they succeed to management. The diligent rise to the top, while the lazy sink to the bottom.

[12:24]  ² tn Heb “the hand of the diligent.” The term “hand” is a synecdoche of part (= hand) for the whole (= person): diligent person. The hand is emphasized because it is the instrument of physical labor; it signifies the actions and the industry of a diligent person – what his hand does.

[12:24]  ³ tn Heb “deceitful.” The term refers to one who is not diligent; this person tries to deceive his master about his work, which he has neglected.

[12:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be for slave labor.” The term מַס (mas, “slave labor”) refers to a person forced into labor from slavery.

[14:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

[14:1]  ⁶ tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

[14:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).

[20:4]  ⁸ sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.

[20:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the autumn”; ASV “by reason of the winter.” The noun means “autumn, harvest time.” The right time for planting was after the harvest and the rainy season of autumn and winter began.

[20:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Piel of the verb שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”) means “to beg” or “to inquire carefully.” At the harvest time he looks for produce but there is none. The Piel might suggest, however, that because he did not plant, or did not do it at the right time, he is reduced to begging and will have nothing (cf. KJV, ASV; NASB “he begs during the harvest”).

[20:4]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “for the crop” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[21:25]  ¹² tn Heb “the desire of the sluggard” (so ASV, NASB). This phrase features a subject genitive: “what the sluggard desires.” The term תַּאֲוַת (ta’avat, “desire; craving”) is a metonymy of cause. The craving itself will not destroy the sluggard, but what will destroy him is what the craving causes him to do or not to do. The lazy come to ruin because they desire the easy way out.

[21:25]  ¹³ tn The verb תְּמִיתֶנּוּ (tÿmitennu) is the Hiphil imperfect with a suffix: “will kill him.” It is probably used hyperbolically here for coming to ruin (cf. NLT), although it could include physical death.

[21:25]  ¹⁴ sn “Hands” is figurative for the whole person; but “hands” is retained in the translation because it is often the symbol to express one’s ability of action.

[23:21]  ¹⁵ tn Here “drowsiness” is a metonymy of effect or adjunct, put for the drunkenness and gluttony that causes it. So all of it, the drunkenness and the drowsiness that comes from it, brings on the ruin (cf. CEV “you will end up poor”). Likewise, “rags” is a metonymy of adjunct, associated with the poverty brought on by a dissolute lifestyle.

[23:21]  ¹⁶ sn This is the fourteenth saying, warning about poor associations. Drunkenness and gluttony represent the epitome of the lack of discipline. In the Mishnah they are used to measure a stubborn and rebellious son (m. Sanhedrin 8). W. G. Plaut notes that excessive drinking and eating are usually symptoms of deeper problems; we usually focus more on the drinking because it is dangerous to others (Proverbs, 241-42).

[24:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”

[24:31]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, traditionally “and, lo” [KJV, ASV]) is a deictic particle that calls attention to what comes next. “And look” is too abrupt here; “I saw” calls attention to the field that was noticed.

[24:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “its face” (so KJV, ASV).

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “I have begotten you.”

[1:5]  ²² tn Grk “And again,” quoting another OT passage.

[1:5]  ²³ tn The words “he says” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to make a complete English sentence. In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but English does not normally employ such long and complex sentences.

[1:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “And again when he brings.” The translation adopted in the text looks forward to Christ’s second coming to earth. Some take “again” to introduce the quotation (as in 1:5) and understand this as Christ’s first coming, but this view does not fit well with Heb 2:7. Others understand it as his exaltation/ascension to heaven, but this takes the phrase “into the world” in an unlikely way.

[1:6]  ²⁶ sn A quotation combining themes from Deut 32:43 and Ps 97:7.

[1:7]  ²⁷ sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ³¹ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ³² tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ³³ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ³⁴ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[1:10]  ³⁶ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.