Proverbs 12:27

The lazy person does not roast ¹  his prey, but personal possessions ²  are precious to the diligent.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

A lazy life is an empty life, but "early to rise" gets the job done.

SABDAweb Pro 12:27

He who is slow in his work does not go in search of food; but the ready worker gets much wealth.

bibleoremus Pro 12:27

The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.

biblegateway Pro 12:27

The lazy person does not roast ¹  his prey, but personal possessions ²  are precious to the diligent.

¹ 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.

¹ tn The verb II חָרַךְ (kharakh) is a hapax legomenon, appearing in the OT only here. BDB suggests that it means “to start; to set in motion” (BDB 355 s.v.). The related Aramaic and Syriac verb means “to scorch; to parch,” and the related Arabic verb means “to roast; to scorch by burning”; so it may mean “to roast; to fry” (HALOT 353 s.v. I חרך). The lazy person can’t be bothered cooking what he has hunted. The Midrash sees an allusion to Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. M. Dahood translates it: “the languid man will roast no game for himself, but the diligent will come on the wealth of the steppe” (“The Hapax harak in Proverbs 12:27,” Bib 63 [1982]: 60-62). This hyperbole means that the lazy person does not complete a project.

² tn Heb “the wealth of a man.”