Proverbs 19:15
in Proverbs 19Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And the idle soul shall suffer hunger.
KJV
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseInto a deep sleep - תרדמה tardemah, the same into which Adam was thrown, before Eve was taken from his side. Sloth renders a man utterly unconscious of all his interests. Though he has frequently felt hunger, yet he is regardless that his continual slothfulness must necessarily plunge him into more sufferings.
This site's exposition
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep
on Proverbs 19:15-16
Slothfulness casts a man into deep sleep, and the idle soul suffers hunger, the book's steady picture of laziness as a self-inflicted wound rather than a harmless habit. Keeping the commandment is named the keeping of one's own soul, while despising one's ways brings death, the two verses setting bodily neglect and spiritual neglect side by side as the same kind of failure.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Casteth into a deep sleep - Better, causeth deep sleep to fall.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Laziness causes one to fall into a deep sleep Laziness causes one to fall asleep. This is the figure, but the allegory is that it concerns one who neglects his studies; it will ultimately come about that people will ask him words of wisdom, and he will be sound asleep.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He who keeps a commandment keeps his soul; he who despises his ways will die He does not take heed to weigh them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֭צְלָה | ʾatzlah | laziness | H6103 → | |
| תַּפִּ֣יל | tapil | it makes fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| תַּרְדֵּמָ֑ה | tardemah | deep sleep | H8639 → | |
| וְנֶ֖פֶשׁ | venefesh | and a person of | H5315 → | 754 times |
| רְמִיָּ֣ה | remiyah | idleness | H7423 → | 15 times |
| תִרְעָֽב׃ | tirav | he will be hungry | H7456 → | 13 times |
עַ֭צְלָהlaziness
ʾatzlahH6103 →
תַּפִּ֣ילit makes fall
tapilH5307 →435 times
תַּרְדֵּמָ֑הdeep sleep
tardemahH8639 →
וְנֶ֖פֶשׁand a person of
venefeshH5315 →754 times
רְמִיָּ֣הidleness
remiyahH7423 →15 times
תִרְעָֽב׃he will be hungry
tiravH7456 →13 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Thessalonians 3:10For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”
it leads to
- Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11
and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
- Proverbs 21:25
The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.
- Genesis 3:19
Through
Proverbs 20:13Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.
it leads to
- Romans 13:11
And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Proverbs 10:4
Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
- Romans 13:11
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.