Proverbs 6:4-11

6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes ¹ 

or slumber to your eyelids.

6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, ² 

and like a bird from the trap ³  of the fowler.

6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; ⁴ 

observe its ways and be wise!

6:7 It has no commander,

overseer, or ⁵  ruler,

6:8 yet it prepares its food in the summer;

it gathers at the harvest what it will eat. ⁶ 

6:9 How long, you sluggard, will you lie there?

When will you rise from your sleep? ⁷ 

6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax, ⁸ 

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, ⁹ 

and your need like an armed man. ¹⁰ 

Romans 13:11

Motivation to Godly Conduct

13:11 And do this ¹¹  because we know ¹²  the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers.

Ephesians 5:14

5:14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: ¹³ 

“Awake, ¹⁴  O sleeper! ¹⁵ 

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you!” ¹⁶ 

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ¹⁷  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 5:6-8

Live in the Light

5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. ¹⁸  5:7 Therefore do not be partakers with them, ¹⁹  5:8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are ²⁰  light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light –

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “do not give sleep to your eyes.” The point is to go to the neighbor and seek release from the agreement immediately (cf. NLT “Don’t rest until you do”).

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “from the hand.” Most translations supply “of the hunter.” The word “hand” can signify power, control; so the meaning is that of a gazelle freeing itself from a snare or a trap that a hunter set.

[6:5]  ³ tc Heb “hand” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). Some mss and versions have it as “trap,” which may very well represent an interpretation too.

[6:6]  ⁴ sn The sluggard (עָצֵל, ’atsel) is the lazy or sluggish person (cf. NCV “lazy person”; NRSV, NLT “lazybones”).

[6:7]  ⁵ tn The conjunction vav (ו) here has the classification of alternative, “or” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §433).

[6:8]  ⁶ tc The LXX adds a lengthy section at the end of the verse on the lesson from the bee: “Or, go to the bee and learn how diligent she is and how seriously she does her work – her products kings and private persons use for health – she is desired and respected by all – though feeble in body, by honoring wisdom she obtains distinction.” The Greek translator thought the other insect should be mentioned (see C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 124).

[6:9]  ⁷ 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.

[6:10]  ⁸ 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.

[6:11]  ⁹ 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.

[6:11]  ¹⁰ 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).

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and this,” probably referring to the command to love (13:8-10); hence, “do” is implied from the previous verses.

[13:11]  ¹² tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[5:14]  ¹³ sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Rise up.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (Jo kaqeudwn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”

[5:14]  ¹⁶ sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19, 51:17, 52:1, and 60:1.

[5:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “become.”

[5:6]  ¹⁸ sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.

[5:7]  ¹⁹ tn The genitive αὐτῶν (autwn) has been translated as a genitive of association because of its use with συμμέτοχοι (summetocoi) – a verb which implies association in the σύν- (sun-) prefix.

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.