to scratch · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cold
מֵ֭חֹרֶףMe.cho.ref
H2779
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
beg
וְשָׁאַ֖לve.yish.'al
H7592
to inquire · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
harvest
בַּקָּצִ֣ירba.ka.Tzir
H7105
severed · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Proverbs 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Matthew 25:3-10 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Matthew 25:24-28 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and…
Proverbs 26:13-16 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
2 Peter 1:5-11 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
Proverbs 6:10-11 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:4
See here the evil of slothfulness and the love of ease. 1. It keeps men from the most necessary business, from ploughing and sowing when the season is: The sluggard has ground to occupy, and has ability for it; he can plough, but he will not; some excuse or other he has to shift it off, but the true reason is that it is cold weather. Though ploughing time is not in the depth of winter, it is in the borders of winter, when he thinks it too cold for him to be abroad. Those are scandalously sluggish who, in the way of their business, cannot find in their hearts to undergo so little toil as that of ploughing and so little hardship as that of a cold blast. Thus careless are many in the affairs of…
shall . . . beg--literally, "ask" (in this sense, Psa 109:10).
John Gill on Proverbs 20:4
The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold,.... Or, "in the cold"; in the time of cold, as Aben Ezra; in the time of autumn, which is the time of ploughing, when it begins to be cold weather, and winter is drawing on: and this is discouraging to the sluggard, who does not care to take his hands out of his bosom to feed himself, and much less to plough; see Proverbs 19:24;
therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing; he shall ask of those who have ploughed and sowed, and are now reaping and gathering in their increase at harvest time; but they shall give him nothing; for such as will not work should not eat; and if a man will not plough and sow, he cannot expect to reap, nor…
4 At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard plougheth not;
And so when he cometh to the reaping-time there is nothing.
Many translators (Symmachus, Jerome, Luther) and interpreters (e.g., Rashi, Zckler) explain: propter frigus; but חרף is, according to its verbal import, not a synon. of קר and צנּה, but means gathering = the time of gathering (synon. אסיף), from חרף, carpere,
(Note: Vid., Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wrterbuch, i. 426.)
as harvest, the time of the καρπίζειν, the plucking off of the fruit; but the harvest is the beginning of the old Eastern agricultural year, for in Palestine and Syria the time of ploughing and sowing with the harvest or early rains (חריף = יורה, Neh 7:24;…
The Church Fathers
Because of the cold, the sluggard would not plough, etc. He who now neglects to labor in the service of God due to sloth will beg in the coming day of the kingdom, and it will not be given to him, because whatever a man sows, that also shall he reap. Therefore, it is rightly compared to the kingdom of God, because then the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life shine with the brightness of the eternal sun, and the fruit of labor is received in joy.
For the most part the slothful, while he neglects to do things that are necessary, sets before him some that are difficult, but is inconsiderately afraid of others; and so, as though finding something that he may reasonably fear, he satisfies himself that he has good reason for remaining torpid. To him it is rightly said through Solomon, "The sluggard would not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in summer, and it shall not be given unto him." For indeed the sluggard ploughs not by reason of the cold, when he finds an excuse for not doing the good things which he ought to do. The sluggard ploughs not by reason of the cold, when he is afraid of small evils that are against him, and leaves undone things of the greatest importance. Further it is well said, "He shall beg in summer, and it shall not be given unto him." For whoso toils not now in good works will beg in summer and receive nothing, because, when the burning sun of judgment shall appear, he will then sue in vain for entrance into the kingdom.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Beggars · The children of the wicked — The children of the wicked
Idleness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Idleness And Sloth · Lead to: Want — Lead to: Want
Ploughing · Performed: During the cold winter season — Performed: During the cold winter season
Slothfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Winter · Plowing in, in — Plowing in, in
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
