Proverbs 22:13

Proverbs 22:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!"
• New King James Version (NKJV)The lazy man says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!”
• New Living Translation (NLT)The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!”

Context of Proverbs 22:13

11One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend. 12The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful. The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!” 14The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the Lord’s wrath falls into it. 15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

Proverbs 22:13 word by word

אָמַ֣ר עָ֭צֵל אֲרִ֣י בַח֑וּץ בְּת֥וֹךְ רְ֝חֹב֗וֹת אֵֽרָצֵֽחַ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The slothfulעָצֵל‛âtsêl · sluggishH6102
• saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• a lionאֲרִי'ărîy 'aryêh · lionH738
• withoutחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• I shall be slainרָצַחrâtsach · to murderH7523
• inתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
• the streetsרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339

Cross-references for Proverbs 22:13

• Proverbs 15:19The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
• Proverbs 26:13A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
• Numbers 13:32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

Commentaries on Proverbs 22:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13The slothful man saith, There is a lion without - But why does he say so? Because he is a slothful man. Remove his slothfulness, and these imaginary difficulties and dangers will be no more. He will not go abroad to work in the fields, because he thinks there is a lion in the way, he will not go out into the town for employment, as he fears to be assassinated in the streets! From both these circumstances he seeks total cessation from activity.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13The point of the satire is the ingenuity with which the slothful man devises the most improbable alarms. He hears that “there is a lion without,” i. e., in the broad open country; he is afraid of being slain in the very streets of the city.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13Verse 13 The slothful man talks of a lion without, but considers not his real danger from the devil, that roaring lion within, and from his own slothfulness, which kills him.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13Among the many proverbs about laziness (Proverbs 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 one is the funniest. Lazy people will invent any wild excuse to avoid working.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Frivolous excuses satisfy the indolent man's conscience.Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 22:13

• Idleness
• Lion
• Slothfulness

In the dictionaries

• Evil
• Hide
• Lender
• Prudent
• Rob
• Train
• Proverb
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Sirach, the Alphabet of
• Lion

Commentaries on Proverbs 22

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings