Proverbs 24:33-34 - Exposition

These verses are a repetition, with very slight variations, of Proverbs 6:10 , Proverbs 6:11 (where see notes), and possibly have been introduced here by a later editor. Proverbs 6:33 seems to be the sluggard's own words; Proverbs 6:34 shows the result of his sloth. There are numberless proverbs dedicated to this subject in all languages; e . g . "No sweat, no sweet;" "No pains, no gains; …. He that wad eat the kernel maun crack the nut;" "A punadas entran las buenas hadas," "Good luck enters by dint of cuffs" (Spanish); " Nihil agendo male agere discimus ; … . The dog in the kennel," say the Chinese. "barks at his fleas; the dog that hunts does not feel them" (Kelly). "Sloth and much sleep," say the Arabs, "remove from God and bring on poverty." The LXX . is somewhat dramatic in its rendering: "Afterwards I repented ( μετενόησα ), I looked that I might receive instruction. 'I slumber a little, I sleep a little, for a little I clasp ( ἐναγκαλίζομαι ) my hands across my breast.' But if thou do this, thy poverty will come advancing, and thy want like a good runner ( ἀγαθὸς δρομεύς )" The word ἐναγκαλίζομαι occurs in Proverbs 6:10 , but nowhere else in the Septuagint. It is used by St. Mark. It has been thought that the original mashal ended with Verse 32, the following passage being added by a scribe as illustrative in a marginal note, which afterwards crept into the text.