Proverbs 6:9-10

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

When will you rise from your sleep? ¹ 

6:10 A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax, ² 

Proverbs 12:24

12:24 The diligent ³  person ⁴  will rule,

but the slothful ⁵  will become a slave. ⁶ 

Proverbs 12:27

12:27 The lazy person does not roast ⁷  his prey,

but personal possessions ⁸  are precious to the diligent.

Proverbs 24:33

24:33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax,

Hebrews 6:12

6:12 so that you may not be sluggish, ⁹  but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

[6:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[12:24]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be for slave labor.” The term מַס (mas, “slave labor”) refers to a person forced into labor from slavery.

[12:27]  ⁷ tc The MT reads יַחֲרֹךְ (yakharokh) from II חָרַךְ (kharakh, “to roast”?). On the other hand, several versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) reflect a Hebrew Vorlage of יַדְרִיךְ (yadrikh) from דָרַךְ (darakh, “to gain”), meaning: “a lazy person cannot catch his prey” (suggested by Gemser; cf. NAB). The MT is the more difficult reading, being a hapax legomenon, and therefore should be retained; the versions are trying to make sense out of a rare expression.

[12:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “the wealth of a man.”

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Or “dull.”