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Prov 22 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) The lazy person says, “There’s a lion outside—
⇔ → I’ll be killed if I go outside!”![]()
OET-LV He_says a_sluggard a_lion is_in_street in_the_middle the_open_places I_will_be_killed.
![]()
UHB אָמַ֣ר עָ֭צֵל אֲרִ֣י בַח֑וּץ בְּת֥וֹךְ רְ֝חֹב֗וֹת אֵֽרָצֵֽחַ׃ ‡
(ʼāmar ˊāʦēl ʼₐriy ⱱaḩūʦ bətōk rəḩoⱱōt ʼērāʦēaḩ.)
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXX Προφασίζεται, καὶ λέγει ὀκνηρὸς, λέων ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς, ἐν δὲ ταῖς πλατείαις φονευταί.
(Profasizetai, kai legei oknaʸros, leōn en tais hodois, en de tais plateiais foneutai. )
BrTr The sluggard makes excuses, and says, There is a lion in the ways, and murderers in the streets.
ULT A lazy one says, “A lion is outside!
⇔ I will be killed in the midst of the open areas!”
UST Lazy people as an excuse to not work claim that there is a lion outside that will kill them in the street if they go outside.
BSB The slacker says, “[There is] a lion outside!
⇔ I will be slain in the streets!”
MSB (Same as BSB above)
OEB No OEB PROV book available
WEBBE The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
⇔ I will be killed in the streets!”
WMBB (Same as above)
NET The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
⇔ I will be killed in the middle of the streets!”
LSV The slothful has said, “A lion [is] outside,
I am slain in the midst of the broad places.”
FBV Lazy people make claims like, “There's a lion outside! I might be killed if I go out there!”
T4T ⇔ Lazy people remain in their houses;
⇔ they say, “A lion might attack me if I go out into the street to go to work!”
LEB • A lazy person says “A lion in the street! In the middle of the highway, I shall be killed!”
BBE The hater of work says, There is a lion outside: I will be put to death in the streets.
Moff The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside,”
⇔ or, “I shall be murdered in the street.”
JPS The sluggard saith: 'There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the streets.'
ASV The sluggard saith, There is a lion without;
⇔ I shall be slain in the streets.
DRA The slothful man saith: There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the midst of the streets.
YLT The slothful hath said, 'A lion [is] without, In the midst of the broad places I am slain.'
Drby The sluggard saith, There is a lion without, I shall be killed in the streets!
RV The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be murdered in the streets.
(The sluggard saith/says, There is a lion without: I shall be murdered in the streets. )
SLT The slothful one said, A lion without; I shall be slain in the midst of the broad places.
Wbstr The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
KJB-1769 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
(The slothful man saith/says, There is a lion without, I shall be slain/killed in the streets. )
KJB-1611 The slothfull man sayth, There is a lyon without, I shall be slaine in the streetes.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps The slouthfull body saith there is a Lion without: I might be slaine in the streate.
(The slothful body saith/says there is a Lion without: I might be slain/killed in the street.)
Gnva The slouthfull man saith, A lyon is without, I shall be slaine in the streete.
(The slothful man saith/says, A lion is without, I shall be slain/killed in the street. )
Cvdl The slouthfull body sayeth: there is a lyo wt out, I might be slayne in ye strete.
(The slothful body saith/says: there is a lyo with out, I might be slain/killed in ye/you_all street.)
Wycl A slow man schal seie, A lioun is withoutforth; Y schal be slayn in the myddis of the stretis.
(A slow man shall say, A lion is out_and_about; I shall be slain/killed in the midst of the streets.)
Luth Der Faule spricht: Es ist ein Löwe draußen, ich möchte erwürget werden auf der Gasse.
(The lazy_(one) speaks/says: It is a lion outside, I want strangled/choked become on/in/to the/of_the alley/lane.)
ClVg Dicit piger: Leo est foris; in medio platearum occidendus sum.[fn]
(Sayit lazy/reluctant: Leo it_is outside; in/into/on in_the_middle of_the_streets occidendus I_am. )
22.13 Dicet piger, ad bona opera, etc., usque ad aut, sicut alios justos, consumat tormentis.
22.13 He_will_say lazy/reluctant, to good(s) works, etc., until to or, like others just, consumat torments.
22:13 Of the many proverbs on laziness (10:4-6, 26; 12:11; 13:4; 14:4; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:25; 26:13), this is among the funniest. Lazy people will come up with any outlandish excuse for not working.
This section is the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs. It has a very different structure from the longer poetic lectures of chapters 1–9. It consists mostly of individual couplets (two-line poems) that are each one verse in length. With the exception of the title (10:1a), paragraph breaks will not be indicated in the Notes or Display. You may of course choose to start each proverb as a separate paragraph in your translation.
In chapters 10–15, most of these one-verse couplets express a contrast between the two lines. One of the more common contrasts is between the righteous/wise and the wicked/foolish and the different consequences of their conduct.
In chapters 16:1–22:16, more topics are discussed. There is more emphasis on the role of the king and other leaders. In these chapters, there are few proverbs with contrasting lines. Some of the parallel lines are similar in meaning. More frequently, the second line adds to what the first line says or gives an example. Most of the verses have no obvious connection with the previous or following proverbs.UBS (page 214), Fox (page 509), McKane (page 413). Many scholars, including McKane, point out that there are some topical groupings as well as poetic connections. These include the repetition of certain words or sounds. This observation does not deny the individual nature of most of the proverbs in this Section.
Two of the types of proverbs in this section are not found in chapters 1–9. One type contains logical reasoning from the lesser to the greater. See 11:31 for a list of these proverbs. There are also several varieties of complex “better than” proverbs. The most common have a contrasting situation in each line (see 12:9). For other varieties, see 16:16, 19:1, and 21:9.
Many of the proverbs in this section refer to categories of people who share a common trait. For example, they refer to the righteous, the wise, the poor, and the lazy. In Hebrew, some verses use singular forms to refer to these groups of people. Other verses use plural forms. Still others use a combination of singular and plural. See the note on 10:30a–b for one example. For most of these verses, the Notes will not comment on the difference between singular and plural forms. Use a natural way in your language to refer to one or more people who are in the same category.
Many of the proverbs in this section express a general principle in abstract terms. They are not addressed specifically to the readers. For example, 10:2a–b says:
Ill-gotten treasures are of no value,
but righteousness delivers from death.
However, the author intended his readers to understand these proverbs as advice that they should follow. In some languages, authors or speakers give advice more directly, using pronouns such as you(sing), you(plur), we(dual), or we(incl). See the note on 10:2 for translation suggestions.
Some other headings for this section are:
Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)
The Wise Words of Solomon (NCV)
Here are many wise things that Solomon said
This verse gives the lazy person’s ridiculous excuse for not going to work.
13aThe slacker says, “There is a lion outside!
13bI will be slain in the streets!”
The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”
A lazy person says, “I am afraid to go to work. A lion might kill me if I leave the house and go outside.”
A lazy person makes excuses for not working. He says, “A lion might be outside my house. It may kill me on the road!”
There is a textual issue here:
The Masoretic Text has one excuse. The lazy person is afraid of being killed by a lion outside in the streets. For example:
13aThe lazy person says, “There is a lion outside! 13bI shall be killed in the streets!” (NRSV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NET, NJB, NJPS, NLT, NRSV, REB, GNT)
The LXX has two excuses.The LXX is literally “The sluggard makes excuses, and says, There is a lion in the ways, and murderers in the streets.” (BibleWorks, LXE—English translation of the Septuagint) The lazy person is either afraid of a lion or he is afraid of murderers outside in the streets. For example:
13aThe sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” 13bor, “I will be murdered in the streets!” (NIV) (NIV)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions and scholars.
The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”: The parallel terms outside and in the streets refer to the same location. The lazy person says that he is afraid to go outside into the streets lest he be slain there by a lion. In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder or combine these terms. For example:
The lazy man says, “There’s a lion in the street; I shall be killed if I step outside.” (NJPS)
The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!” (NLT)
It is implied that the words of the lazy person are simply an excuse for not wanting to work. In some languages, it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:
Don’t be so lazy that you say, “If I go to work, a lion will eat me!” (CEV)
Lazy people stay at home; they say a lion might get them if they go outside. (GNT)
Notice that the GNT has used an indirect quote instead of a direct quote. Use whichever is more natural in your language.
Notice also that the CEV has left the phrases outside and in the streets implied. This may be a good option in some languages.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
עָ֭צֵל
sluggard
See how you translated this phrase in [13:4](../13/04.md).
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations
אָמַ֣ר & אֲרִ֣י בַח֑וּץ בְּת֥וֹךְ רְ֝חֹב֗וֹת אֵֽרָצֵֽחַ
he/it_had_said & lion [is]_in,street in_the=middle streets killed
If it would be more natural in your language, you could express this as an indirect quotation. Alternate translation: “says that a lion is outside and he will be killed in the midst of the open areas”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
אָמַ֣ר
he/it_had_said
In this verse, Solomon implies that what the lazy one says is not true. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “says falsely”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
אֵֽרָצֵֽחַ
killed
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “The lion will kill me”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
אֵֽרָצֵֽחַ
killed
Here, the lazy one implies that he will be killed if he goes outside. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “If I go outside, then I will be killed”