Proverbs 6:9-11

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 

6:11 and your poverty will come like a robber, ³ 

and your need like an armed man. ⁴ 

Proverbs 10:4

10:4 The one who is lazy ⁵  becomes poor, ⁶ 

but the one who works diligently ⁷  becomes wealthy. ⁸ 

Proverbs 12:11

12:11 The one who works ⁹  his field will have plenty ¹⁰  of food,

but whoever chases daydreams ¹¹  lacks wisdom. ¹² 

Proverbs 13:4

13:4 The appetite ¹³  of the sluggard ¹⁴  craves ¹⁵  but gets nothing,

but the desire of the diligent will be abundantly satisfied. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 19:15

19:15 Laziness brings on ¹⁷  a deep sleep, ¹⁸ 

and the idle person ¹⁹  will go hungry. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 24:30-34

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

by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. ²¹ 

24:31 I saw ²²  that thorns had grown up all over it,

the ground ²³  was covered with weeds,

and its stone wall was broken down.

24:32 When I saw this, I gave careful consideration to it; ²⁴ 

I received instruction from what I saw: ²⁵ 

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

a little folding of the hands to relax,

24:34 and your poverty will come like a bandit,

and your need like an armed robber.” ²⁶ 

Romans 12:11

12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord.

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ²⁷  to this present world, ²⁸  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ²⁹  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Romans 3:10

3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

[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.

[6:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[10:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “a palm of slackness.” The genitive noun רְמִיָּה (remiyyah, “slackness”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a slack palm” (BDB 941 s.v.). The term כַף (khaf, “palm”) is a synecdoche of part (= palm) for the whole person (= one who works with his hands). The hand is emphasized because it is the instrument of physical labor. The “slack hand” is contrasted with the “diligent hand.” A slack hand refers to a lazy worker or careless work that such hands produce. See N. C. Habel, “Wisdom, Wealth, and Poverty Paradigms in the Book of Proverbs,” BiBh 14 (1988): 28-49.

[10:4]  ⁶ tc The MT reads רָאשׁ (ra’sh, “poor”) which is the plene spelling of רָשׁ (rash, “poor [person]”; HALOT 1229-30 s.v. רֵישׁ). Both Tg. Prov 10:4 and LXX reflect an alternate vocalization רִישׁ (rish, “poverty”) which is from the same root, and essentially means the same thing.

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “but the hand of the diligent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV). The genitive noun חָרוּצִים (kharutsim, “diligence”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a diligent hand.” The noun חָרוּצִים (kharutsim) uses the plural form because the plural is often used for abstract moral qualities. The term יָד (yad, “hand”) is a synecdoche of part (= “hand”) for the whole person (= “the one who works with his hands”). The hand is emphasized because it is the instrument of physical labor.

[10:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “makes rich” (so NASB, NRSV). The Hiphil verb is used in a causative sense; literally, “the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

[12:11]  ⁹ sn In the biblical period agriculture was the most common occupation for the people; so “working a field” describes a substantial occupation, but also represents working in general. Diligent work, not get-rich-quick schemes, is the key to ensuring income.

[12:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will have his fill of” or “will be satisfied with.”

[12:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things.” The term רֵיקִים (reqim) refers to worthless pursuits in an effort to make money. The fact that the participle used is “chase after” shows how elusive these are. Cf. NIV “fantasies”; NCV “empty dreams”; TEV “useless projects.”

[12:11]  ¹² tn Heb “heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for wisdom (BDB 524 s.v. 3).

[13:4]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will be made fat” (cf. KJV, NASB); NRSV “is richly supplied.”

[19:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “causes to fall” or “casts”; NAB “plunges…into.”

[19:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “complete inactivity”; the word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) can refer to a physical “deep sleep” (e.g., Gen 2:21; Jonah 1:5, 6); but it can also be used figuratively for complete inactivity, as other words for “sleep” can. Here it refers to lethargy or debility and morbidness.

[19:15]  ¹⁹ tn The expression וְנֶפֶשׁ רְמִיָּה (vÿnefesh rÿmiyyah) can be translated “the soul of deceit” or “the soul of slackness.” There are two identical feminine nouns, one from the verb “beguile,” and the other from a cognate Arabic root “grow loose.” The second is more likely here in view of the parallelism (cf. NIV “a shiftless man”; NAB “the sluggard”). One who is slack, that is, idle, will go hungry.

[19:15]  ²⁰ sn The two lines are related in a metonymical sense: “deep sleep” is the cause of going hungry, and “going hungry” is the effect of deep sleep.

[24:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”

[24:31]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “its face” (so KJV, ASV).

[24:32]  ²⁴ sn Heb “I set my heart.” The “heart” represents the mind and the will combined; to “set” the mind and will means to give careful consideration to what was observed.

[24:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I looked, I received instruction.” There are four verbs in the two parts of this verse: “I saw…I set…I saw…I received.” It is clear that the first two verbs in each half verse are the foundation for the next two. At the beginning of the verse the form is the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive; it can be subordinated as a temporal clause to the next verb, probably to be identified as a preterite with the vav – “when I saw, I put.” The next two verbs are both perfect tenses; their construction would parallel the first half of the verse, even though there are no conjunctions here – “[when] I saw, I received.”

[24:34]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a man of shield.” This could refer to an armed warrior (so NRSV) but in this context, in collocation with the other word for “robber” in the previous line, it must refer to an armed criminal.

[12:2]  ²⁷ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

[12:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “to this age.”

[12:2]  ²⁹ sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”