Sloth and diligence In this land and in this age, in England in the nineteenth century, there is little room for the sluggard; there is comparatively little temptation to sluggishness; the force of a rushing stream carries all along with it at a rapid pace. Nevertheless, it is true— I. THAT SOME MEN FIND THEMSELVES UNDER SPECIAL TEMPTATION TO SLOTH . This may be a matter of II. THAT IT IS TO BE REGARDED AS UNWORTHY OF CHRISTIAN MANHOOD . ... read more
contain a call to the sluggard to rouse himself from his lethargy, and the warning of the evil consequences if he remains heedless of the reproof. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? It is the same as if it were said, "What infatuation is this which makes you lie and sleep as if you had nothing else to do?" The double question stigmatizes the sluggard's utter indolence, and suggests the picture of his prolonging his stay in bed long after every one else is abroad and about his business. ... read more
Yet a Little sleep, etc. Is this the answer of the sluggard which the teacher takes up and repeats ironically, and in a tone of contempt? or is it the teacher's own language describing how the sluggard slides on insensibly to ruin? The Vulgate favours the latter view, "Thou shalt sleep a little, thou shalt slumber a little, thou shalt fold thy hands to sleep, and then," etc. Habits, as Aristotle in his 'Ethics' has shown, are the resultant of repeated acts, and habits entail consequences. So... read more
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. The inevitable consequences of sloth— poverty and want, two terms conveying the idea of utter destitution—are described under a twofold aspect: first, as certain; second, as irresistible. Poverty will advance upon the sluggard with the unerring precision and swiftness with which a traveller tends towards the end of his journey, or, as Michaelis puts it, "quasi viator qui impigre pergit ac proprius venit donec... read more
A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. The teacher begins by stating in general terms the nature and character of the man whom he now holds up as a warning to others, dud then proceeds to point out the various features in his conduct and behaviour by which he may be known. In concise terms he is described as "a naughty person, a wicked man." This is pre-eminently his character, and the first feature in it is that his life is one of wilful and injurious... read more
A picture of spite I. THE SPITEFUL MAN DEFINED GENERALLY . ( Proverbs 6:12 .) He is "naughty," the old English word being expressive; otherwise "a thing of naught," a "slight man" (Shakespeare); in German heilloss, "unsound," "unworthy," and so worthless. Gather up the sense and force of these adjectives, and we get the idea comprehensively of badness, the sensuous counterpart of which is rottenness, corruption. II. HIS CHARACTERISTICS . ( Proverbs 6:13 , ... read more
The character and doom of the abandoned Perhaps there is no word which more aptly designates the man who is here described than the word "abandoned." The "man of Belial" ("the naughty man") is he who is abandoned, who has abandoned himself, to the promptings of his own evil nature, to the fascinations and tyrannies of sin. Here we see the features of his character and his doom. I. THAT IN SPEECH HE IS UTTERLY UNPRINCIPLED . "He walks with a froward mouth." He... read more
11. Eleventh admonitory discourse. Warning against mischievousness as a thing hateful to God. The connection of this with the preceding discourse is not at first sight very clear, but it may be found in the fact, attested only too unhappily by experience, that sloth leads those who indulge in it to such vices as are next enumerated. The sluggard may develop into a treacherous and deceitful man, and even if such should not happen, the characteristics of the two are nearly allied, and their... read more
Proverbs 6:9-11. How long, &c. O the strange idleness of mankind! who have so many monitors and governors, that call upon them again and again, to excite them to diligence, but in vain! Wilt thou sleep, O sluggard When the ants are so watchful, and labour not only in the day-time, but even by night, when the moon shines. Yet a little sleep, &c. This he speaks in the person of the sluggard, refusing to arise and requiring more sleep, that so he might express the disposition and... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 6:6-11
The sluggard admonished I. THE PICTURE OF INSECT INDUSTRY . The ant was viewed as the very picture of laboriousness in ancient as in modern times. It is interesting that the German word for "industrious" ( emsig ) seems derivable from amessi, "emmet, ant." The like may probably be traceable in some English dialects, 1 . The industry of the ant has all the appearance of a virtue. For it seems unforced; there is no judge, superintendent, or onlooker, or taskmaster, to... read more