God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 24:30
30I passed by a lazy person’s field, the vineyard belonging to a person without sense.
Proverbs 24:30 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
- New International Version (NIV)I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
- English Standard Version (ESV)I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
- New King James Version (NKJV)I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
Context of Proverbs 24:30
28Do not testify against your neighbor without a reason, and do not deceive with your lips. 29Do not say, “I’ll treat him as he treated me. I’ll pay him back for what he has done to me.” I passed by a lazy person’s field, the vineyard belonging to a person without sense. 31I saw that it was all overgrown with thistles. The ground was covered with weeds, and its stone fence was torn down. 32When I observed ⌞this⌟, I took it to heart. I saw it and learned my lesson.
Read all of Proverbs 24Proverbs 24:30 word by word
עַל־שְׂדֵ֣ה אִישׁ־עָצֵ֣ל עָבַ֑רְתִּי וְעַל־כֶּ֝֗רֶם אָדָ֥ם חֲסַר־לֵֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 24:30
- Proverbs 6:6Consider the ant, you lazy bum. Watch its ways, and become wise.
- Job 4:8Whenever I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, they gathered its harvest.
- Job 5:27“We have studied all of this thoroughly! This is the way it is. Listen to it, and learn it for yourself.”
- Job 15:17“I’ll tell you; listen to me! I’ll relate what I have seen.
- Psalms 37:25I have been young, and now I am old, but I have never seen a righteous person abandoned or his descendants begging for food.
- Psalms 107:42Decent people will see this and rejoice, but all the wicked people will shut their mouths.
- Ecclesiastes 4:1Next, I turned to look at all the acts of oppression that make people suffer under the sun. Look at the tears of those who suffer! No one can comfort them. Their oppressors have ⌞all⌟ the power. No one can comfort those who suffer.
- Ecclesiastes 7:15I have seen it all in my pointless life: Righteous people die in spite of being righteous. Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.
- Ecclesiastes 8:9I have seen all of this, and I have carefully considered all that is done under the sun whenever one person has authority to hurt others.
- Proverbs 10:13Wisdom is found on the lips of a person who has understanding, but a rod is for the back of one without sense.
- Proverbs 12:11Whoever works his land will have plenty to eat, but the one who chases unrealistic dreams has no sense.
Commentaries on Proverbs 24:30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30I went by the field of the slothful - This is a most instructive parable; is exemplified every day in a variety of forms; and is powerfully descriptive of the state of many a blackslider and trifler in religion. Calmet has an excellent note on this passage. I shall give the substance of it. Solomon often recommends diligence and economy to his disciples. In those primitive times when agriculture was honorable, no man was respected who neglected to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 30The chapter ends with an apologue, which may be taken as a parable of something yet deeper. The field and the vineyard are more than the man‘s earthly possessions. His neglect brings barrenness or desolation to the garden of the soul. The “thorns” are evil habits that choke the good seed, and the “nettles” are those that are actually hurtful and offensive to others. The “wall” is the defense which laws and rules give to the inward life, and which the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 30-34Verses 30-34 See what a blessing the husbandman's calling is, and what a wilderness this earth would be without it. See what great difference there is in the management even of worldly affairs. Sloth and self-indulgence are the bane of all good. When we see fields overgrown with thorns and thistles, and the fences broken down, we see an emblem of the far more deplorable state of many souls. Every vile affection grows in men's hearts; yet they compose…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30-34Saying 5: Laziness and a love for sleep can lead to poverty (see Proverbs 10:4–5, 26; 12:11; 13:4; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 30-3130-31. A striking picture of the effects of sloth.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 24:30
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 24
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries