lazy person

The Hebrew that is translated as “lazy person” or “sluggard” or similar in English is translated in Low German as Fuulpelz, an idiomatic term that literally means “someone who wants to rest on an animal hide” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).

See also lazy.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 6:6

“Go to the ant, O sluggard”: This advice is similar to that in Job 12.7 in which Job advises his friends to learn from the birds and animals. See also Pro 30.25. “Go” means to go and observe or learn. We may say, for example, “Watch how the ants live,” “Watch the ants and learn how they do things,” or “Watch the ants at work and learn from them.” “The ant” is thought by some interpreters to refer to the harvester ant found commonly in the eastern Mediterranean area and many other regions of the world. Although the harvester ant stores grain in its underground nests, it also causes considerable damage. “Ant” is singular in the Hebrew, but it is to be taken in a collective sense. The author is advising the learner to watch not one single ant, but a colony of ants at work.

For “O” in addressing someone see the comments on 4.1. “Sluggard” refers to a lazy person, someone who remains idle even when idleness leads to ruin. The noun form of the Hebrew word is used only in Proverbs. In 19.24 the “sluggard” is so lazy he will not lift his hand from the plate to his mouth to feed himself. New Revised Standard Version calls him “lazybones.”

For the change to the new topic, some translations use a short attention-getting sentence, such as “You lazy people, I have got a word for you [like this]: Go and look at the good work of the ants. . ..”

“Consider her ways, and be wise”: “Consider” means here to observe, look at, watch, reflect on, or ponder. “Ant” is feminine in Hebrew, and so “her ways” refers to how the ants live, what they do, as in verses 7-8. “Be wise” in the Hebrew is a command in the masculine singular addressed to the “sluggard”. We may translate, for example, “so that you may be wise,” “and you will become wise,” or “so you may learn something about wisdom.”

Verse 6 may be translated, for example, “Lazy one, watch the way the ants work. Think about their ways and learn from them” or “Lazy people can learn by observing the life of ants.” See Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

complete verse (Proverbs 6:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 6:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “But you, lazy one, observe well how the ant behaves/stays, and go to check how its habit/behavior is so that you can understand/realize.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “O slothful ones!
    Consider what the little ants
    have to do to survive.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) who are lazy, you (plur.) look-at and learn how the ants live, so-that you (sing.) will- become -wise.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You (sing.) lazy-one, learn-about the life of ants so-that you (sing.) will-become-wise/skilled/intelligent.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 6:6

Paragraph 6:6–11

In this paragraph, the author introduces a different topic. He gives advice to lazy people, addressing them directly as “O slacker.” In some languages, it may be necessary to indicate this change of topic in some way. See the translation advice in the note on 6:6a.

6:6

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6a
Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker;

6b
observe its ways and become wise.

6:6a–b

Walk in the manner of the ant…observe its ways: The Hebrew of the first command is literally “go to the ant.” It implies to go and watch or learn from the ant. The second command means essentially the same thing: to watch, think about, or learn from the behavior of ants. In translating this parallelism, some versions leave Walk implicit and combine and/or reorder the parallel parts (see the quotes from the Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version in the translation options for 6:6a). Other versions retain the parallelism, with or without the word “go.” For example:

Go watch the ants…Watch what they do (New Century Version)
-or-
Take a lesson from the ants…Learn from their ways (New Living Translation (2004))

Use whatever option is appropriate in your language.

6:6a

Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker: The Berean Standard Bible puts the phrase O slacker after the command Walk in the manner of the ant. In some languages, it may be more natural to put the command last and to indicate that this verse introduces a change of topic. For example:

As for you who are lazy, go to the ant.
-or-
Now I have some advice for people who are lazy. They should go to the ant.

Walk in the manner of the ant: The phrase the ant refers to ants as a group. It does not refer to one specific ant. The kind of ant referred to here is probably the harvester ant.

O slacker: The person who is addressed as O slacker represents a class of people, that is, anyone who is lazy. The hearer (addressed as “my son” in 6:1 and 6:3) was not necessarily lazy, but the author intended him to learn from this advice. Some ways to address the hearer are:

• Use second person singular. For example:

Go watch the ants, you lazy person. (New Century Version)

• Use second person plural. For example:

You lazy people can learn by watching an anthill. (Contemporary English Version)

• Use third person singular. For example:

A lazy person should learn from the behavior of ants.

• Use third person plural. For example:

Lazy people should learn a lesson from the way ants live. (Good News Translation)

Use whatever option is appropriate in your language for a teacher who is advising a young man about the dangers of laziness.

6:6b

and become wise: This is a command in Hebrew. Since it follows logically from the preceding commands, it may be more natural in some languages to translate it as a purpose or as a result. For example:

so that you will become wise
-or-
and then you will become wise

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