American Standard Version
Proverbs 20:4
4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
Proverbs 20:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- New International Version (NIV)Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
Context of Proverbs 20:4
2The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion: He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life. 3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; But every fool will be quarrelling. The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing. 5Counsel in the heart of man islikedeep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out. 6Most men will proclaim every one his own kindness; But a faithful man who can find?
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:4 word by word
מֵ֭חֹרֶף עָצֵ֣ל לֹא־יַחֲרֹ֑שׁ וְשָׁאַ֖ל בַּקָּצִ֣יר וָאָֽיִן׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:4
- Proverbs 10:4He becometh poor that worketh with a slack hand; But the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
- Proverbs 19:15Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And the idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Proverbs 26:13The sluggard saith, There is a lion in the way; A lion is in the streets.
- Proverbs 6:10Yeta little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
- Proverbs 24:34So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man.
- Matthew 25:3For the foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them:
- 2 Peter 1:5Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The sluggard will not plough - For other parts of this character, see the preceding chapter, Proverbs 19 (note). It is seldom that there is a season of very cold weather in Palestine; very cold days sometimes occur, with wind, rain, and sleet. They begin their ploughing in the latter end of September, and sow their early wheat by the middle of October. And this is often the case in England itself. The meaning of the proverb is: the slothful man, under the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Plowing time in Palestine is in November and December, when the wind blows commonly from the North.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4Verse 4 He who labours and endures hardship in his seed-time for eternity, will be properly diligent as to his earthly business.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. shall ... beg--literally, "ask" (in this sense, Psa 109:10).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries