Proverbs 18:9

18:9 The one who ¹  is slack ²  in his work

is a brother ³  to one who destroys. ⁴ 

Proverbs 26:13-16

26:13 The sluggard ⁵  says, “There is a lion in the road!

A lion in the streets!” ⁶ 

26:14 Like ⁷  a door that turns on its hinges, ⁸ 

so a sluggard turns ⁹  on his bed.

26:15 The sluggard plunges ¹⁰  his hand in the dish;

he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ¹¹ 

26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation ¹² 

than seven people who respond with good sense. ¹³ 

Haggai 1:2-4

The Indifference of the People

1:2 The Lord who rules over all ¹⁴  says this: “These people have said, ‘The time for rebuilding the Lord’s temple has not yet come.’” ¹⁵  1:3 So the Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai as follows: ¹⁶  1:4 “Is it right for you to live in richly paneled houses ¹⁷  while my temple is in ruins? ¹⁸ 

Malachi 1:10

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, ¹⁹  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

Luke 19:20

19:20 Then another ²⁰  slave ²¹  came and said, ‘Sir, here is ²²  your mina that I put away for safekeeping ²³  in a piece of cloth. ²⁴ 

Hebrews 6:12

6:12 so that you may not be sluggish, ²⁵  but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

Hebrews 6:2

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

Hebrews 1:8

1:8 but of ²⁶  the Son he says, ²⁷ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ²⁸ 

and a righteous scepter ²⁹  is the scepter of your kingdom.

[18:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ² tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ³ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”

[26:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The comparative “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from context in the translation.

[26:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The term “turns” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation from the parallelism.

[26:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[26:15]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.”

[1:2]  ¹⁴ sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Haggai (see 1:5, 7, 9, 14; 2:4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 23). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV, NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

[1:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be built” (similar KJV). A number of English versions refer to “rebuilding” (so NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT) since the reconstruction of Solomon’s temple is actually in view.

[1:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying.” Cf. the similar expression in v. 1 and the note there.

[1:4]  ¹⁷ sn Richly paneled houses. Paneling is otherwise known in the OT only in connection with the temple (1 Kgs 6:9) and the royal palace (2 Kgs 7:3, 7). It implies decoration and luxury (cf. NCV “fancy houses”; TEV “well-built houses”; NLT “luxurious houses”). The impropriety of the people living in such lavish accommodations while the temple lay unfinished is striking.

[1:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is it time for you, [yes] you, to live in paneled houses, while this house is in ruins”; NASB “lies desolate”; NIV “remains a ruin.”

[1:10]  ¹⁹ sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.

[19:20]  ²⁰ sn Though ten were given minas, the story stops to focus on the one who did nothing with the opportunity given to him. Here is the parable’s warning about the one who does not trust the master. This figure is called “another,” marking him out as different than the first two.

[19:20]  ²¹ tn The word “slave” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[19:20]  ²² tn Grk “behold.”

[19:20]  ²³ tn Or “that I stored away.” L&N 85.53 defines ἀπόκειμαι (apokeimai) here as “to put something away for safekeeping – ‘to store, to put away in a safe place.’”

[19:20]  ²⁴ tn The piece of cloth, called a σουδάριον (soudarion), could have been a towel, napkin, handkerchief, or face cloth (L&N 6.159).

[6:12]  ²⁵ tn Or “dull.”

[1:8]  ²⁶ tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ²⁷ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.