New King James Version
Proverbs 20:4
4The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during 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 Living Translation (NLT)Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest.
Context of Proverbs 20:4
2The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life. 3It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel. The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing. 5Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out. 6Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:4 word by word
מֵ֭חֹרֶף עָצֵ֣ל לֹא־יַחֲרֹ֑שׁ וְשָׁאַ֖ל בַּקָּצִ֣יר וָאָֽיִן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:4
- Proverbs 10:4He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
- Proverbs 19:15Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.
- Proverbs 26:13The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!”
- Proverbs 6:10A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—
- Proverbs 24:34So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
- Matthew 25:3Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
- 2 Peter 1:5But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries