From Nave’s Topical Bible
Slothfulness
Every passage the 1896 Nave’s Topical Biblegathers under this heading, in Nave’s own arrangement and then in Bible order. MannaFest has not written this page — it is the older index, transcribed, with the Word travelling beside each reference.
- 24Passages listed
- 7Books of the 66
- 1896Nave's edition
How Nave’s arranged it
- General scriptures concerningProverbs 6:6–11Proverbs 10:4Proverbs 10:5Proverbs 10:26Proverbs 12:24Proverbs 12:27Proverbs 13:4Proverbs 15:19Proverbs 18:9Proverbs 19:15Proverbs 19:24Proverbs 20:4Proverbs 21:25Proverbs 22:13Proverbs 23:21Proverbs 24:30–34Proverbs 26:13–16Ecclesiastes 10:18Isaiah 56:10Matthew 25:26
- See Idleness
- See Industry
The passages, in Bible order (24)
The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.
- Proverbs 6:6–11
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.
Commentary on Proverbs 6:6–111 voice
Why should we dwell upon the amount of evil there is in idleness, when the apostle clearly prescribes that he who does not work should not eat. As daily sustenance is necessary for everyone, so labor in proportion to one's strength is also essential.… The Lord couples sloth with wickedness, saying, "Wicked and slothful servant." Wise Solomon, also, praises the laborer not only in the words already quoted, but also, in rebuking the sluggard, associating him by contrast with the tiniest of insects: "Go to the ant, O sluggard."
Basil of Caesarea· THE LONG RULES 37, 379Patristic
- Proverbs 10:4
Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Commentary on Proverbs 10:41 voice
Lazy hands lead to poverty, etc. Whoever lives negligently in this world will suffer lack of good things in the future; but whoever fights bravely for the Lord is rewarded with the riches of eternal blessedness.
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 10:5
He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
Commentary on Proverbs 10:51 voice
He who gathers in summer is a wise son, etc. He who gathers to Christ the souls of the faithful is a wise son. And indeed, this harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Luke 10). But he who in this acceptable time is …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 10:26
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the slacker to those who send him.
Commentary on Proverbs 10:261 voice
Just as vinegar to the teeth, etc. Just as the treachery of heretics generates trouble and tears for good teachers, so a Catholic living badly is a burden through laziness to those who have been commanded to show their faith through works. For the eyes …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 12:24
The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
Commentary on Proverbs 12:241 voice
The hand of the diligent will rule, etc. The perfect not only overcome the battles of vices but also govern the chosen brethren with greater grace of virtues. But those lax in spirit, not fearing to be entangled in sins, daily pay the tribute of …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 12:27
A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.
Commentary on Proverbs 12:271 voice
The fraudulent one will not gain profit, etc. For money acquired by fraud adds more harm to the soul than profit to the chest. And he who knows how to dispense his own substance for the Lord, will receive celestial gifts as a reward for …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
Commentary on Proverbs 13:41 voice
"And the sluggard desires and does not desire," etc. Rightly, the lazy person is marked by the term, who wants to reign with God but does not want to work for God. The rewards delight when they are promised; the struggles deter when they are …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
Commentary on Proverbs 15:191 voice
In this number are those whom Wisdom calls the "slothful ones," who bestrew their "way" with "thorns"; who think it a moral loss to be anxious about keeping the commandments; who erase from their own minds the Apostolic teaching, and instead of eating the bread of their own honest earning fix on that of others, and make their idleness itself into an art of living. From this number, too, come the Dreamers, who put more faith in the illusions of their dreams than in the Gospel teaching, and style their own phantasies "revelations."
Gregory of Nyssa· On Virginity, Chapter XXIII, 395Patristic
- Proverbs 18:9
Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.
Commentary on Proverbs 18:91 voice
He who is lazy and slack in his work, etc. Because he who does not strictly follow through with good beginnings imitates the hand of a destroyer through the laziness of negligence.
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 19:15
Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
Commentary on Proverbs 19:151 voice
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
- Proverbs 19:24
The slacker buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.
Commentary on Proverbs 19:241 voice
The slothful man hides his hand under his armpit, etc. No one is so slothful that he considers it labor to bring his hand to his mouth while eating. But for the slothful, it is labor to bring the hand to the mouth, for a …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
Commentary on Proverbs 20:41 voice
For the most part the slothful, while he neglects to do things that are necessary, sets before him some that are difficult, but is inconsiderately afraid of others; and so, as though finding something that he may reasonably fear, he satisfies himself that he has good reason for remaining torpid. To him it is rightly said through Solomon, "The sluggard would not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in summer, and it shall not be given unto him."
Gregory the Dialogist· The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 15, 604Patristic
- Proverbs 21:25
The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.
Commentary on Proverbs 21:251 voice
The desire of the slothful killeth him,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
- Proverbs 22:13
The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”
Commentary on Proverbs 22:131 voice
"The sluggard says: There is a lion outside," etc. Often in his spirit, the one who is lazy in doing good works, timid in confessing the faith he holds in his heart, says: I dare not profess the faith I hold outside, lest the impious …
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
Commentary on Proverbs 23:211 voice
And dressed in rags will be the sluggard. For his death will find him despicable and devoid of all good works, as his languor occupied him here in seeking the crimes of another's life through slander.
Bede· Commentary on Proverbs, 735Patristic
- Proverbs 24:30–34
I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
Commentary on Proverbs 24:30–342 voices
In Proverbs: "I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man without sense; and behold! it was all overgrown with thistles; its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall broken down." This happens when a man has good …
Bonaventure· Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19, 1257Patristic
I went by the field of the slothful,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)Reformed
Show the other 8 passages, book by book ▾
Proverbs1
Ecclesiastes1
Isaiah1
Matthew2
Romans1
2 Thessalonians1
Hebrews1