Amsal 19:24

19:24 The sluggard plunges ¹  his hand in the dish,

and he will not even bring it back to his mouth! ² 

Amsal 26:9

26:9 Like a thorn ³  that goes into the hand of a drunkard,

so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. ⁴ 

Amsal 28:23

28:23 The one who reproves ⁵  another ⁶  will in the end ⁷  find more favor

than the one who flatters ⁸  with the tongue.

[19:24]  ¹ tn Heb “buries” (so many English versions); KJV “hideth”; NAB “loses.”

[19:24]  ² sn This humorous portrayal is an exaggeration; but the point is that laziness can overcome hunger. It would have a wider application for anyone who would start a project and then lack the interest or energy to finish it (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 111). Ibn Ezra proposes that the dish was empty, because the sluggard was too lazy to provide for himself.

[26:9]  ³ sn The picture is one of seizing a thornbush and having the thorn pierce the hand (עָלָה בְיַד־, ’alah vÿyad). A drunk does not know how to handle a thornbush because he cannot control his movements and so gets hurt (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 599). C. H. Toy suggests that this rather means a half-crazy drunken man brandishing a stick (Proverbs [ICC], 475). In this regard cf. NLT “a thornbush brandished by a drunkard.”

[26:9]  ⁴ sn A fool can read or speak a proverb but will be intellectually and spiritually unable to handle it; he will misapply it or misuse it in some way. In doing so he will reveal more of his folly. It is painful to hear fools try to use proverbs.

[28:23]  ⁵ tn Or “rebukes” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man,” but the context does not indicate this should be limited only to males.

[28:23]  ⁷ tn There is a problem with אַחֲרַי (’akharay), which in the MT reads “after me.” This could be taken to mean “after my instructions,” but that is forced. C. H. Toy suggests simply changing it to “after” or “afterward,” i.e., “in the end” (Proverbs [ICC], 504), a solution most English versions adopt. G. R. Driver suggested an Akkadian cognate ahurru, “common man,” reading “as a rebuker an ordinary man” (“Hebrew Notes,” ZAW 52 [1934]: 147).

[28:23]  ⁸ tn The construction uses the Hiphil participle מַחֲלִיק (makhaliq, “makes smooth”) followed by the adverbial accusative of means, the metonymy “tongue” – he makes what he says smooth. This will be pleasing for the moment, but it will offer no constructive help like the rebuke would.