Proverbs 26:16
Context26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation 1
than seven people who respond with good sense. 2
Proverbs 6:6
Context6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; 3
observe its ways and be wise!
Proverbs 6:9
Context6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?
When will you rise from your sleep? 4
Proverbs 13:4
Context13:4 The appetite 5 of the sluggard 6 craves 7 but gets nothing,
but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied. 8
Proverbs 15:19
Context15:19 The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, 9
but the path of the upright is like 10 a highway. 11
Proverbs 20:4
Context20:4 The sluggard will not plow 12 during the planting season, 13
so at harvest time he looks 14 for the crop 15 but has nothing.
Proverbs 21:25
Context21:25 What the sluggard desires 16 will kill him, 17
for his hands 18 refuse to work.
Proverbs 22:13
Context22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion 19 outside!
I will be killed in the middle of the streets!” 20
Proverbs 26:13
Context26:13 The sluggard 21 says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion in the streets!” 22
Proverbs 26:15
Context26:15 The sluggard plunges 23 his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. 24
Proverbs 19:24
Context19:24 The sluggard plunges 25 his hand in the dish,
and he will not even bring it back to his mouth! 26
Proverbs 24:30
Context24:30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. 27


[26:16] 1 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] 2 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.”
[6:6] 3 sn The sluggard (עָצֵל, ’atsel) is the lazy or sluggish person (cf. NCV “lazy person”; NRSV, NLT “lazybones”).
[6:9] 5 sn The use of the two rhetorical questions is designed to rebuke the lazy person in a forceful manner. The sluggard is spending too much time sleeping.
[13:4] 7 tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally “soul”) has a broad range of meanings, and here denotes “appetite” (e.g., Ps 17:9; Prov 23:3; Eccl 2:24; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5; BDB 660 s.v. 5.c) or (2) “desire” (e.g., Deut 12:20; Prov 19:8; 21:10; BDB 660 s.v. 6.a).
[13:4] 8 sn The contrast is between the “soul (= appetite) of the sluggard” (נַפְשׁוֹ עָצֵל, nafsho ’atsel) and the “soul (= desire) of the diligent” (נֶפֶשׁ חָרֻצִים, nefesh kharutsim) – what they each long for.
[13:4] 9 tn The Hitpael verb means “to lust after; to crave.” A related verb is used in the Decalogue’s prohibition against coveting (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21).
[13:4] 10 tn Heb “will be made fat” (cf. KJV, NASB); NRSV “is richly supplied.”
[15:19] 9 tn Heb “like an overgrowth”; NRSV “overgrown with thorns”; cf. CEV “like walking in a thorn patch.” The point of the simile is that the path of life taken by the lazy person has many obstacles that are painful – it is like trying to break through a hedge of thorns. The LXX has “strewn with thorns.”
[15:19] 10 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.
[15:19] 11 sn The contrast to the “thorny way” is the highway, the Hebrew word signifying a well built-up road (סָלַל, salal, “to heap up”). The upright have no reason to swerve, duck, or detour, but may expect “clear sailing.” Other passages pair these two concepts, e.g., Prov 6:10; 10:26; 28:19.
[20:4] 11 sn The act of plowing is put for the whole process of planting a crop.
[20:4] 12 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] 13 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] 14 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] 13 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] 14 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] 15 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.
[22:13] 15 sn The proverb humorously describes the sluggard as making ridiculous excuses for not working – he might be eaten by a lion (e.g., 26:13). It is possible that “lion” is figurative, intended to represent someone who is like a lion, but this detracts from the humor of the exaggeration.
[22:13] 16 tc The LXX changes the phrase to read “murderers in the street” to form a better parallelism, possibly because the verb רָצַח (ratsakh) is used only of humans, not wild animals. The NIV attempts to solve the problem by making the second line a separate claim by the sluggard: “or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!’”
[26:13] 17 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] 18 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).
[26:15] 19 tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”
[26:15] 20 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).
[19:24] 21 tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”
[19:24] 22 sn This humorous portrayal is an exaggeration; but the point is that laziness can overcome hunger. It would have a wider application for anyone who would start a project and then lack the interest or energy to finish it (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 111). Ibn Ezra proposes that the dish was empty, because the sluggard was too lazy to provide for himself.
[24:30] 23 tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”