Proverbs 6:9-11 - Exposition

contain a call to the sluggard to rouse himself from his lethargy, and the warning of the evil consequences if he remains heedless of the reproof. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? It is the same as if it were said, "What infatuation is this which makes you lie and sleep as if you had nothing else to do?" The double question stigmatizes the sluggard's utter indolence, and suggests the picture of his prolonging his stay in bed long after every one else is abroad and about his business. How long (Hebrew, ad-matha ; Vulgate, usquequo ); literally, till when ? When ; Hebrew, matha ; Vulgate, quando. The came words are used in the same order in introducing a question in Nehemiah 2:6 , "For how long will the journey be? and when wilt thou return?" Wilt thou … sleep. The Hebrew tish'kar is literally "wilt thou lie," but the verb easily passes to the secondary meaning of "to sleep." The delineation of the sluggard is again drawn in Proverbs 24:30-34 in almost identical language, but with some additions.