The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
Parallel Translations
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The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
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The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
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The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but every one that is hasty hasteth only to want.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Proverbs 21:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 10:4 He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
- Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Proverbs 27:23-27 Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds: for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations. The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in. The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field. There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
- Ephesians 4:28 Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
- Proverbs 14:29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
- Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.
- Proverbs 20:21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won’t be blessed in the end.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He that goeth rashly about his business, and without…
He that goeth rashly about his business, and without counsel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 21:5 The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only…
Pro 21:5 The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want.
Ver. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only, &c.] The word rendered "diligent" signifies one that is sedulous and solicitous in his business; that weighs circumstances and waits opportunities; that "sits down first and counts his costs"; {Luk 14:28} that considers seriously, and then executes speedily. {a} Such a one was Abraham’s servant, {Gen 24:1-9} Joseph, Boaz, Daniel. And how should such a man choose but thrive? {See Trapp on "Pro 10:4"} A sufficiency he is sure of, though not of a superfluity.
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But of every one that is hasty.] And headlong; that, resolving to be rich, graspeth greedily all he can come at - accounting all good fish that comes to hand, and not sticking at any injustice or cruelty that may make for his advantage. The beggar will catch this man ere long; - the usurer will get him into his clutches, and leave him never a feather to fly with. There is a curse upon such precipitate practices, though men be never so industrious, as in Jeboiakim, {Jer 22:24-30} and Saul. {1Sa 14:24-30} Those that, making more haste than good speed to be rich, reach at things too high for them - which David would not do {Psa 131:1} - may be likened to the panther, which loves the dung of man so much, as if it be hanged a height from it, it will skip and leap up, and never leave till it have burst itself in pieces to get it.
{a} Qui res omnes suas ordine facit loco et tempore, &c. Cuius limitatae et velut iudicio decisae actiones omnes. - Mercer.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The diligent, who carefully and industriously prosecutes what he…
The diligent, who carefully and industriously prosecutes what he hath wisely contrived and resolved.
That is hasty; who manageth his affairs rashly, without due consideration.
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Only to want; is likely to bring himself to poverty.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, 1. The way to be rich. If…
Here is, 1. The way to be rich. If we would live plentifully and comfortably in the world, we must be diligent in our business, and not shrink from the toil and trouble of it, but prosecute it closely, improving all advantages and opportunities for it, and doing what we do with all our might; yet we must not be hasty in it, nor hurry ourselves and others with it, but keep doing fair and softly, which, we say, goes far in a day. With diligence there must be contrivance. The thoughts of the diligent are as necessary as the hand of the diligent. Forecast is as good as work. Seest thou a man thus prudent and diligent? He will have enough to live on. 2. The way to be poor. Those that are hasty, that are rash and inconsiderate in their affairs, and will not take time to think, that are greedy of gain, by right or wrong, and make haste to be rich by unjust practices or unwise projects, are in the ready road to poverty. Their thoughts and contrivances, by which they hope to raise themselves, will ruin them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness,....…
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness,.... A man that is thoughtful and studious, and wisely forms schemes in his mind, and diligently pursues them; the issue of it is, generally speaking, prosperity and plenty: such a man is usually thriving and flourishing; and this holds good in things spiritual, as well as in things temporal, Mat 25:29;
but of everyone that is hasty only to want; that is in haste to be rich, and is resolved to be so, right or wrong, he comes at last to poverty and want: or he who is rash and precipitate in acting, who never thinks before he acts, but rashly engages in an affair; or, however, does not give himself time enough to think it over, but, as soon as ever it has entered his thoughts, he immediately attempts to put it in execution; a man so thoughtless and inconsiderate, so rash and hasty, brings himself and family to poverty; see Pro 20:21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Hasty - Who manages his affairs rashly.
Hasty - Who manages his affairs rashly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 21:5-6. The thoughts of the diligent — Who…
Pro 21:5-6. The thoughts of the diligent — Who carefully and industriously prosecutes what he hath wisely contrived and resolved; tend only to plenteousness — To affluence and wealth; but every one that is hasty — That manages his affairs rashly, without due consideration; only to want — Is likely to bring himself to poverty. The getting of riches by a lying tongue — By bearing false witness, or by any deceitful words or actions, such as those by which many men get riches; is a vanity tossed to and fro — Is like the chaff or smoke, driven away by the wind; it is neither satisfactory nor durable, but quickly vanisheth away, as has been frequently observed of estates ill-gotten; of them that seek death — That take those courses which bring death or destruction on them or theirs.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Here diligence is opposed, not to sloth but to…
Here diligence is opposed, not to sloth but to haste. Undue hurry is as fatal to success as undue procrastination.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain The diligent is usually contrasted with the slothful:†1 here…
The diligent is usually contrasted with the slothful:†1 here with the hasty. The thoughts of each work their own fruit, for plenteousness, or for want. The patient, plodding man of industry perseveres in spite of all difficulties; content to increase his substance by degrees; never relaxing, never yielding to discouragement. This care of diligence is profitable under the blessing of God. (Pro 10:22 .) ’Thou mayest as well expect’ (says an old writer) ’riches to rain down from heaven in silver showers, as to provide for thy family without industry in thy calling.’†2 Haste may have much of diligence in the temperament. But as indolence is its defect, this is its excess, its undisciplined impulse. The hand too often goes before, and acts without the judgment. Hence our English philosopher wisely counsels us — ’not to measure dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of the business.’ A wise man had it for a bye-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion — ’Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner. To choose time is to save time, and an unreasonable motion is but "beating the air."’†3
The evil of haste under a worldly impulse is truly fearful. Often does it drive the man into rash projects; and high-raised delusive expectations he finds to be the short and sure road to want.†4 Need we remark, how rich the harvest of Christian diligence, of "patient perseverance in well-doing" — "eternal life"?†5 The heavenly race is not to be run by so many heats, but by a steady course. "Run," not with haste or speed, but "with patience the race set before us." (Heb 12:1 .) The seed springing up in haste withered. (Mat 13:20-21 .) Excitement is delusion, and ends in disappointment. What so important as to cultivate a deep work of grace, pervading the whole man, and abounding with fruit to the glory of God?
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Footnotes:
†1 Pro 10:4; Pro 12:24, Pro 12:27 ; Pro 13:4 .
†2 Swinnock’s Christian Man’s Calling, part i. 365.
†3 Lord Bacon’s Essays.
†4 Pro 19:2; Pro 23:5 ; Pro 28:22 .
†5 Rom 2:7. Heb 6:12 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sluggard. Hebrew, "hasty man," as the slothful is ironically…
Sluggard. Hebrew, "hasty man," as the slothful is ironically styled. He would see his desires accomplished without labouring; and will never stick to work. This levity is most injurious to his advancement.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The contrast is between steady industry and rashness (compare…
The contrast is between steady industry and rashness (compare Pro 19:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Thoughts — Plans or purposes.
5. Thoughts — Plans or purposes.
Diligent — Or energetic.
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Hasty — Inconsiderate, rash, or in haste to be rich, catching eagerly at every seeming advantage, which often proves to be a disadvantage.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. but of every one] i.e. but the thoughts…
5. but of every one] i.e. but the thoughts (supplied from the first clause) of every one. It is more literal, however, and at the same time avoids attributing “thoughts” to him whose fault is want of thought, to render with R.V.
But every one that is hasty hasteth only to want.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) The thoughts of every one that is hasty…
(5) The thoughts of every one that is hasty tend only to want.—This proverb is met with on all sides: “More haste, worse speed”; “Festina lente”; “Eile mit Weile.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness.…
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. Patient industry is rewarded by a certain increase. (comp. Pro_12:11 Pro_13:11 Pro_14:23) Says an English maxim, "Diligence is a fair for tune, and industry a good estate," The Greek gnomists have said tersely Apanta ta kala tou ponountov gignetai Tw ga Yeonei. "To him who labours all good things accrue The man who labours God himself assists.
But of every one that is hasty only to want. Diligence is contrasted with hastiness. The hasting to be rich by any, even nefarious, means (Pro_20:21 Pro_28:20) will bring a man to poverty. There are numerous proverbs warning against precipitancy, which will occur to everyone: Festina lente; "More haste, less speed;" "Eile mit Weile." Propeteia solloiv estia kakwn . (See a long dissertation on Festinatio praepropera in Erasmus"s "Adagia") This verse is omitted in the chief manuscripts of the Septuagint.
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Patient industry.
The contrast between diligence and haste suggests the idea that there must be an element of patience and perseverance in the former if it is to be crowned with success. This may be very different from the Herculean efforts of genius, which astonish the world with spasms of effort and then sink into indifference. It is a quiet, constant, persistent activity. We are to see how much this is superior to the more flashy performances which are not seconded by diligence.
I PATIENT INDUSTRY IN COMMERCE. This is the direct opposite of the gambler"s method. The terrible evil of gambling has not been sufficiently weighed. Its awful temptations, its widespread influence, the frightful moral havoc it is making in all classes of society, are not yet appreciated; for if those evils were duly considered, all who are concerned about the welfare of England would start up in horror at the sight of a stupendous cause of ruin that is rampant in our midst. One of our leading judges has pronounced gambling to be the greatest national evil of England. Now, the spirit of gambling is seen in trade, and the Stock Exchange is with many no better than a huge betting saloon. The greedy race for wealth makes men reckless. But experience shows that it is highly dangerous. The solid success of business men is not attained in this way. The lives of such men as George Moore and Samuel Morley show that honourable industry is a better road to wealth. Even when riches are not acquired and but a few can ever win the prizes it is the road of safety and peace. This means self-denial, hard work, patient waiting, courage under adverse circumstances. In these respects the difference between success and failure depends on our character and effort. When a man is in calm earnest his very thoughts are fertile.
II PATIENT INDUSTRY IN LEARNING. There is a temptation for beginners to seek some royal road to knowledge; but it has never yet been found. The true student must "scorn delights, and live laborious days." Genius may be more than an unlimited capacity for hard work; but assuredly the highest genius will fail of its best fruits if it be swathed in indolence. The lives of great men are nearly always lives of hard-working men. Old-fashioned scholarship may appear less tempting than a short cut to popularity over the flowery fields of literary smartness. But the notoriety that is won so easily is an empty bubble that vanishes at a touch. Study, thought, intellectual industry, will always secure more solid and enduring rewards.
III PATIENT INDUSTRY IN CHRISTIAN WORK. The modern temptation is to snatch at superficial success. An empty popular style and light attractive methods seem to secure results that are denied to more serious conscientious labours. But such a success is a rotten fruit, worthless, and soon ending in shame and bitterness. It is the duty of all who undertake Christian work to adapt it to the people. It is useless to preach if none will come to hear. The preacher ought to try to interest and win his congregation. There is no merit in dulness. The diligent must have his "thoughts." St. Paul was too wise to waste his efforts in "beating the air". (1Co_9:26) But the main efforts must be serious, persistent, persevering. If the seed is sown deeply, it will be slow to show itself; but it will be safely buried in the soil. In the mission field patient industry succeeds, while more exciting and hasty efforts only end in an ultimate collapse.
See homily on Pro_27:23. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness.
Pro_21:5
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness.
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Diligence
Diligence, while it is opposed to laziness, is opposed also to rashness--to premature and inconsiderate haste. The diligent man first plans and then acts. He proceeds thoughtfully and systematically. Diligence can effect little, unless accompanied with careful forethought. Diligence means steady perseverance in execution. The projects of the attentive, plodding, persevering man, who begins in earnest and goes on to the end in earnest, prepared for difficulties, are those that promise to produce, and generally do produce, a favourable result. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_21:5. Thoughts, rather the counsels, the calculatings.
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_21:5. Thoughts, rather the counsels, the calculatings.
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Pro_21:6. Vanity tossed to and fro. Rather a fleeting breath. The Hebrew word hebel, here translated vanity, means rapour.
Pro_21:7. Robbery, or violence, rapacity.
Pro_21:8. Zöckler translates the first clause of this verse, “Crooked is the way of the guilty man.” Fausset remarks that the Hebrew word ish (man) expresses a man once good; froward implies his perversity, by having left the good way. Right, i.e., direct, straightforward.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:5; Pro_21:7; Pro_21:17
TWO ROADS TO WEALTH
I. The most likely road to lead to wealth.
1. Thoughtful diligence as opposed to thoughtless haste. We have before considered the necessity of thought before action (see on chap. Pro_20:18), and the same idea is conveyed in the use of the first noun here (see Critical Notes). But although it is wise and necessary to think before we act, thinking must only be preparatory to action, and must not take its place. It is good for a man to make a good plan of his house before he begins to build; but a house on paper only will not shelter him from the winter storms. It is advisable for the captain to study his chart well before he embarks upon his voyage, but if he does no more he will never reach the desired port. So it is good for a man to take counsel with himself and others before he sets out upon the voyage of commercial life—before he begins to build for a competency or a fortune; but after the thought and with the thought there must be action, and there must be painstaking and persevering action. He must not be all eagerness to-day and indifference to-morrow—he must not work hard this week and neglect his business next week;—such a man may get rich by a mere chance speculation or by a dishonest act, but, apart from all higher considerations, it is not the best road, because it is not the most likely road. No doubt there are men who have made their fortunes by short cuts—by what is called luck, or by craft and robbery—but these are the exceptions, and the way of diligent perseverance is the one by which riches are generally gotten.
2. Self-denial as opposed to self-indulgence. “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich” (Pro_21:17). He who spends in self-indulgence as fast as he earns will be always poor. The lover of pleasure and luxury will not be a lover of hard work, and as we have just seen, it is that alone by which most men grow rich. And the extravagant and idle man will not be very likely to keep within his means, and to confine himself to honest ways of making money. And both these roads are roads which lead in the end to ruin. It is not likely that Solomon here refers to any poverty except material poverty. But it is also true that no man whose heart is set upon the gratification of his own selfish desires—whose life is one of self-indulgent ease—can ever be rich in the only true and lasting riches. He must always be in poverty as to character, as to intellectual wealth, and as to the gratitude and respect of those whom he might bless with his riches. “If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s (or another’s), who shall give you that which is your own?” Luk_16:11-12). He is a poor man who has nothing but what he must leave behind him when he leaves the world. The greatest millionaire has nothing he can call his own if he has not a godly character.
II. The only blessed road to wealth, viz., the way of truth as opposed to lying, the way of honesty as opposed to dishonesty. We need not consider these sins separately, for they are inseparable in human character and conduct. The liar is a thief, for by his tongue he cheats men of their rights, and the thief lies in action as well as in word. Solomon does not say that thieves and liars shall not grow rich. As a matter of fact they often do, and leave far behind them in their race those who are plodding slowly on in the path of honest diligence. But he looks to the end of such a way of making money, and of those who so make it. It often vanishes like a vapour (see Critical Notes), while the man who made it still lives. One falsehood leads to another, and a little dishonesty bringing success leads to another and another, each one on a larger scale, until the bubble becomes too thin, and it bursts and all is gone. But if the rogue keeps his fortune till the last—if he meets death a rich man, and is buried with all the pomp of wealth,—retribution awaits him before the tribunal of a righteous God. He sought death and destruction while he lived, and he found it even here;—destruction of character and spiritual death, and he who here “refused to do judgment” goes to meet his judge a morally self-ruined man—one whose spiritual deathblow has been dealt by his own hand. (On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. Pro_13:11, page 306.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_21:5. Haste may have much of diligence in the temperament. But as indolence is its defect, this is its excess, its undisciplined impulse. The hand too often goes before, and acts without the judgment. Hence our English philosopher wisely counsels us—“not to measure dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of the business.” A wise man had it for a bye-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion—“Stay a little that we may make an end the sooner.” To choose time is to save time, and an unreasonable motion is but “beating the air.” The heavenly race is not to be run by so many heats, but by a steady course. “Run,” not with haste or speed, but “with patience the race set before us.” (Heb_12:1.) The seed springing up in haste withered. (Mat_13:20-21.)—Bridges.
Pro_21:6. They seek death because they not only walk in the way to it, but run and fly with post haste as if they were afraid they should come too late or that hell would be full before they got thither. Thus Balaam’s ass never carries him fast enough after the wages of wickedness. Set but a wedge of gold before Achan, and Joshua that could stop the sun in his course, cannot stay him from fingering of it. Judas, in selling his Master, what he doth, doth quickly.—Trapp.
Treasures; literally stores; from a root to shut up. “Tongue;” standing for all instruments of labour (see comment on chap. Pro_12:6). “Lying;” not telling lies in the worldly sense, for, so put, decent sinners would miss the signification, but lying in that high sense in which the most honest worldling may fill the portrait. “Tongue;” just coincident with fact, is of the haste of the last verse; that untrue uttering of thought against conviction in one’s self, and, therefore, hardly to be dreamed of as spared by the Most High. Stores got by this lying career of business may seem solid, because they may be whole blocks of granite in some fire-proof square mile of street; and yet as to their possession the wise man employs a singularly intensive figure. They are driven breath! Surely he will pause at that! But no! They are driven breath as of men chasing after death!… The meaning is, that the hot breath of a man rushing to his doom is like the money made by the deceived impenitent. First, it is utterly perishable; second, it betokens the speed; and third, the voluntary rush to get himself to ruin.—Miller.
And forget not what the “lying tongue” includes—that he is chargeable with the evil who pretends, in any way, to be what he is not, to have what he has not, not to have what he has, to have said what he has not said, or to have done what he has not done, or not to have said and done what he has said and done; who tries to gain an end by any word, or act, or look, or even by silence and concealment designed to convey a false impression—by any means whatever not in harmony with honest truth—with “simplicity and godly sincerity.” This, says Solomon, “is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.” It is a “vanity;” inasmuch as it involves both folly and sin—the folly being made evident in ultimate detection, exposure, shame, and loss—loss of character, loss of confidence, and many a time loss of even what the falsehood had acquired. It is “tossed to and fro.” Men learn it from one another. The man who has been imposed upon retaliates—he has no satisfaction until he has succeeded in duping him by whom he has himself been taken in, in practising on him an equal or a better trick. It is practised with little thought—with the vanity of a light and inconsiderate mind—and laughed at, in many instances, when it proves successful, instead of engendering remorse. Success produces a hundred imitators: and the cheats and the dupes are successively reversed, the dupe becoming in his turn the cheat, and the cheat the dupe.—Wardlaw.
Pro_21:17. Self-indulgence is not human happiness; it is a delirium, not a delight. It is a mere titillation of the dying nerves, not a Divine thrill of our imperishable sensibilities and powers. Its music is the notes of a maniac, not the strains of a seraph.—David Thomas.
He may be rich secularly. For here is a proverb that on earth has but a partial verity. But now, spiritually it is as settled as the heavens. “He that loveth his life shall lose it” (Joh_12:25). A man cannot scale heaven for its “wine.” Unless a man gets higher objects than himself, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And, therefore, it is literally true that the wealth that the soul attains is never made by the very most feverish desire to escape, or by the very most impassioned thirst for the mere joy of heaven. “Man;” the higher name for man. He may be ever so skilful.… “Loving;” not, if it loves, but because it loves. It is no harm to love happiness; but it cannot be in loving it, or because we love it, that we can create everlasting riches.—Miller.
Strange as it may seem, the way to enjoy pleasure is not to love it; to live above it; to “rejoice as though we rejoiced not; to use the world, as not abusing it” (1Co_7:30-31); never pursuing it as our portion, or as making the happiness of an immortal being. The man who gives his whole heart and time to the love of pleasure, and sacrifices to it all his prudence and foresight, is surely on the highroad to poverty. On the same road is he that loveth wine, under the power of a “mocking delusion.” He that loveth oil—one of the most precious fruits of Canaan—may find, that “those who could not live without dainties came to want necessaries.”—Bridges.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only…
v. 5. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; because they are industrious and thrifty, they have success; but of every one that is hasty, only to want; for haste, that is, rashness, lack of proper planning, makes waste.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the diligent
the diligent
This nominal adjective can be translated as a noun phrase. AT: "a diligent man" or "a man who works hard" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
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comes only to poverty
The abstract noun "poverty" can be translated as an adjective. AT: "only becomes poor" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Acquiring riches
"Gaining wealth"
a lying tongue
The tongue is a metonym for the words a person uses the tongue to speak. AT: "speaking lies" (See: Metonymy)
a fleeting vapor
The writer likens the riches a person gains by lying to a mist that quickly goes away in the morning. AT: "a disappearing mist" (See: Metaphor)
a snare that kills
The writer speaks of the riches that a person gains by lying as if it were the bait in a hunter's trap; the word "snare" is a metonym for the bait that attracts the animal into the snare. (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
tongue
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.