Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
Parallel Translations
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Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.
-
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
Show all 3 translations
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Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise;
Which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer, and gatherest her food in the harvest.
Cross-references (27)
- Proverbs 20:4 (v6) The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Proverbs 18:9 (v6) One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
- Proverbs 6:9 (v6) How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
- Proverbs 13:4 (v6) The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Hebrews 6:12 (v6) that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.
Show all 26 cross-references
- Proverbs 30:25 (vv6, 8) The ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.
- Matthew 25:26 (v6) “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.
- Romans 12:11 (v6) not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
- Proverbs 26:13-16 (v6) The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!” As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on…
- Proverbs 19:15 (v6) Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Proverbs 21:25 (v6) The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.
- Job 12:7-8 (v6) “But ask the animals, now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach…
- Proverbs 22:13 (v6) The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
- Proverbs 24:30-34 (v6) I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its…
- Proverbs 10:5 (v8) He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.
- Proverbs 10:26 (v6) As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
- Proverbs 15:19 (v6) The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.
- Matthew 6:26 (v6) See the birds of the sky, that they don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of…
- 1 Timothy 6:19 (v8) laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.
- Proverbs 19:24 (v6) The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
- Job 38:39–39:12 (v7) “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the…
- Proverbs 30:27 (v7) The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks.
- Job 39:26-30 (v7) “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and…
- Job 41:4-34 (v7) Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind…
- Proverbs 1:17 (v6) For the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird;
- Isaiah 1:3 (v6) The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know. My people don’t consider.”
26 distinct cross-references across this passage (27 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v6 If the word of God cannot instruct thee, yet…
If the word of God cannot instruct thee, yet learn at the little pismire to labor for thyself and not to burden others.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Pro 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider…
Pro 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Ver. 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard.] Man, that was once the captain of God’s school, is now, for his truantcy, turned down into the lowest form as it were, to learn his A B C’s again; yea, to be taught by these lowest creatures. So Christ sends us to school to the birds of the air, and lilies of the field, to learn dependence upon divine providence, {Mat 6:25-29} and to the stork, crane, and swallow, to be taught to take the seasons of grace, and not to let slip the opportunities that God putteth into our hands. {Jer 8:7} This poor despicable creature the ant, is here set in the chair to read us a lecture of sedulity and good husbandry. What a deal of grain gets she together in summer! What pains doth she take for it, labouring not by daylight only, but by moonshine also! What huge heaps hath she! What care to bring forth her store, and lay it drying on a sunshine day, lest with moisture it should putrefy, &c. Not only Aristotle, Aelian, and Pliny, but also Basil, Ambrose, and Jerome, have observed and written much of the nature and industry of this poor creature; telling us in addition that in the ant, bee, stork, &c., God hath set before us, as in a picture, the lively resemblance of many excellent virtues, which we ought to pursue and practise. These, saith one, are veri laicorum libri, the true laymen’s books, the images that may teach men the right knowledge of God and of his will, of themselves and their duties.
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 On vv6–8 This is another distinct precept; and it is for…
This is another distinct precept; and it is for the most part as needless to seek, as hard to find, coherence in the proverbs and counsels of this book.
Her ways; her actions and manner of living, especially her diligence and providence, which are the things commended in her, Pro 6:7,8; of which naturalists give many instances, as that the ants watch the fittest seasons for all things, that they provide most plentifully against the time of famine, that they never hinder, but always assist, one another in their work, and unite their force together to carry away such things as are too large or heavy for one of them; that they prepare fit cells or repositories for their corn in the ground, and such as the rain cannot easily reach; and if through excessive rain their corn be wet, they bring it forth to be dried; that they bite off the ends of the grains of corn that they may not grow, &c.
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 On v6 Solomon, in these verses, addresses himself to the sluggard…
Solomon, in these verses, addresses himself to the sluggard who loves his ease, lives in idleness, minds no business, sticks to nothing, brings nothing to pass, and in a particular manner is careless in the business of religion. Slothfulness is as sure a way to poverty, though not so short a way, as rash suretiship. He speaks here to the sluggard,
I. By way of instruction, Pro 6:6-8. He sends him to school, for sluggards must be schooled. He is to take him to school himself, for, if the scholar will take no pains, the master must take the more; the sluggard is not willing to come to school to him (dreaming scholars will never love wakeful teachers) and therefore he has found him out another school, as low as he can desire. Observe,
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1. The master he is sent to school to: Go to the ant, to the bee, so the Septuagint. Man is taught more than the beasts of the earth, and made wiser that the fowls of heaven, and yet is so degenerated that he may learn wisdom from the meanest insects and be shamed by them. When we observe the wonderful sagacities of the inferior creatures we must not only give glory to the God of nature, who has made them thus strangely, but receive instruction to ourselves; by spiritualizing common things, we may make the things of God both easy and ready to us, and converse with them daily.
2. The application of mind that is required in order to learn of this master: Consider her ways. The sluggard is so because he does not consider; nor shall we ever learn to any purpose, either by the word or the works of God, unless we set ourselves to consider. Particularly, if we would imitate others in that which is good, we must consider their ways, diligently observe what they do, that we may do likewise, Phi 3:17.
3. The lesson that is to be learned. In general, learn wisdom, consider, and be wise; that is the thing we are to aim at in all our learning, not only to be knowing, but to be wise. In particular, learn to provide meat in summer; that is, (1.) We must prepare for hereafter, and not mind the present time only, not eat up all, and lay up nothing, but in gathering time treasure up for a spending time. Thus provident we must be in our worldly affairs, not with an anxious care, but with a prudent foresight; lay in for winter, for straits and wants that may happen, and for old age; much more in the affairs of our souls. We must provide meat and food, that which is substantial and will stand us in stead, and which we shall most need. In the enjoyment of the means of grace provide for the want of them, in life for death, in time for eternity; in the state of probation and preparation we must provide for the state of retribution. (2.) We must take pains, and labour in our business, yea, though we labour under inconveniences. Even in summer, when the weather is hot, the ant is busy in gathering food and laying it up, and does not indulge her ease, nor take her pleasure, as the grasshopper, that sings and sports in the summer and then perishes in the winter. The ants help one another; if one have a grain of corn too big for her to carry home, her neighbours will come in to her assistance. (3.) We must improve opportunities, we must gather when it is to be had, as the ant does in summer and harvest, in the proper time. It is our wisdom to improve the season while that favours us, because that may be done then which cannot be done at all, or not so well done, at another time. Walk while you have the light.
4. The advantages which we have of learning this lesson above what the ant has, which will aggravate our slothfulness and neglect if we idle away our time. She has no guides, overseers, and rulers, but does it of herself, following the instinct of nature; the more shame for us who do not in like manner follow the dictates of our own reason and conscience, though besides them we have parents, masters, ministers, magistrates, to put us in mind of our duty, to check us for the neglect of it, to quicken us to it, to direct us in it, and to call us to an account about it. The greater helps we have for working out our salvation the more inexcusable shall we be if we neglect it.
II. By way of reproof, Pro 6:9-11. In these verses,
1. He expostulates with the sluggard, rebuking him and reasoning with him, calling him to his work, as a master does his servant that has over-slept himself: "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? How long wouldst thou sleep if one would let thee alone? When wilt thou think it time to arise?" Sluggards should be roused with a How long? This is applicable, (1.) To those that are slothful in the way of work and duty, in the duties of their particular calling as men or their general calling as Christians. "How long wilt thou waste thy time, and when wilt thou be a better husband of it? How long wilt thou love thy ease, and when wilt thou learn to deny thyself, and to take pains? How long wilt thou bury thy talents, and when wilt thou begin to trade with them? How long wilt thou delay, and put off, and trifle away thy opportunities, as one regardless of hereafter; and when wilt thou stir up thyself to do what thou hast to do, which, if it be not done, will leave thee for ever undone?" (2.) To those that are secure in the way of sin and danger: "Hast thou not slept enough? Is it not far in the day? Does not thy Master call? Are not the Philistines upon thee? When then wilt thou arise?"
2. He exposes the frivolous excuses he makes for himself, and shows how ridiculous he makes himself. When he is roused he stretched himself, and begs, as for alms, for more sleep, more slumber; he is well in his warm bed, and cannot endure to think of rising, especially of rising to work. But, observe, he promises himself and his master that he will desire but a little more sleep, a little more slumber, and then he will get up and go to his business. But herein he deceives himself; the more a slothful temper is indulged the more it prevails; let him sleep awhile, and slumber awhile, and still he is in the same tune; still he asks for a little more sleep, yet a little more; he never thinks he has enough, and yet, when he is called, pretends he will come presently. Thus men's great work is left undone by being put off yet a little longer, de die in diem - from day to day; and they are cheated of all their time by being cheated of the present moments. A little more sleep proves an everlasting sleep. Sleep on now, and take your rest.
3. He gives him fair warning of the fatal consequences of his slothfulness, Pro 6:11. (1.) Poverty and want will certainly come upon those that are slothful in their business. If men neglect their affairs, they not only will not go forward, but they will go backward. He that leaves his concerns at sixes and sevens will soon see them go to wreck and ruin, and bring his noble to nine-pence. Spiritual poverty comes upon those that are slothful in the service of God; those will want oil, when they should use it, that provide it not in their vessels. (2.) "It will come silently and insensibly, will grow upon thee, and come step by step, as one that travels, but will without fail come at last." It will leave thee as naked as if thou wert stripped by a highwayman; so bishop Patrick. (3.) "It will come irresistibly, like an armed man, whom thou canst not oppose nor make thy part good against."
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 On vv6–8 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler. None to…
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler. None to guide and direct her what to do; nor any to overlook her, to see that she does aright, or to oblige her to work, and keep her to it; nor any to call her to an account, and correct her for doing amiss; and nevertheless diligent and industrious, doing everything of herself, by the instinct of nature, readily and willingly: and yet how slothful are men; who, besides the dictates of nature, reason, and conscience, have parents, masters, ministers, and magistrates, to guide, direct, exhort, instruct, and enforce! so Aristotle (k) says of the ant, that it is without any ruler or governor.
(k) Hist. de Animal. l. 1. c. 1.
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 On v6 Go - This is a distinct precept; and it…
Go - This is a distinct precept; and it is for the most part as needless to seek, as hard to find, coherence in the Proverbs.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v6 Verse 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard] נמלה…
Verse 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard] נמלה nemalah, the ant, is a remarkable creature for foresight, industry, and economy. At the proper seasons they collect their food-not in the summer to lay up for the winter; for they sleep during the winter, and eat not; and therefore such hoards would be to them useless; but when the food necessary for them is most plentiful, then they collect it for their consumption in the proper seasons. No insect is more laborious, not even the bee itself; and none is more fondly attached to or more careful of its young, than the ant. When the young are in their aurelia state, in which they appear like a small grain of rice, they will bring them out of their nests, and lay them near their holes, for the benefit of the sun; and on the approach of rain, carefully remove them, and deposit them in the nest, the hole or entrance to which they will cover with a piece of thin stone or tile, to prevent the wet from getting in. It is a fact that they do not lay up any meat for winter; nor does Solomon, either here or in Pr 30:25, assert it. He simply says that they provide their food in summer, and gather it in harvest; these are the most proper times for a stock to be laid in for their consumption; not in winter; for no such thing appears in any of their nests, nor do they need it, as they sleep during that season; but for autumn, during which they wake and work. Spring, summer, and autumn, they are incessant in their labour; and their conduct affords a bright example to men.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v6 Pro 6:6-8. Go to the ant, &c. — “Nor…
Pro 6:6-8. Go to the ant, &c. — “Nor are industry and diligence requisite in this alone, but in all thy affairs; to which, therefore, if thou art slothful, I must excite thee by the example of the ants; whose orderly and unanimous diligence, in collecting and preserving food for themselves, if thou wilt observe, thou mayest be ashamed” to be indolent, “and learn hereafter to imitate their provident care.” Which having no guide, &c. — “Which is the more remarkable, because they have none to lead and direct them as mankind have; no overseer to exact their labours; no supreme governor to call them to an account for any negligence. And yet they never omit the opportunity they have in harvest to make provision against the winter; but toil perpetually, in gathering and carrying food into the cells they have digged for it in the earth; where they lay it up, and secure it with admirable art; that it may neither be injured by the weather, nor stolen from them by other creatures.” — Bishop Patrick.
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 On vv6–7 The warning against the wastefulness of the prodigal is…
The warning against the wastefulness of the prodigal is followed by a warning as emphatic against the wastefulness of sloth. The point of comparison with the ant is not so much the foresight of the insect as its unwearied activity during the appointed season, rebuking man’s inaction at a special crisis Pro 6:4. In Pro 30:25, the storing, provident habit of the ant is noticed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain On v6 ’It is a shame’ — said the heathen philosopher…
’It is a shame’ — said the heathen philosopher — ’not to learn morals from the small animals.’†1 Yet what a proof is it of the degradation of the fall, that "man, created in the image of God," and made wiser than the creation (Gen 1:26 . Job 35:11 ), should be sent, as here, to this insignificant school for instruction! The ant, having no guide to direct her work, no overseer to inspect her, or ruler to call her to account (Compare Pro 30:27, and contrast Exo 5:13-14 ; 1Ki 5:16 ); yet gathereth with diligent foresight the summer and harvest store for her winter need.†2 Let the sluggard consider her ways, and be wise. He sleeps over his work, and, if for a moment half-startled by some rousing call, still pleads for a little more sleep, and folds his hands to sleep. Present ease is all he calculates on, all he provides for. The future he carefully keeps out of sight, to be provided for, like the present, when it comes. Thus life runs to waste. Poverty comes step by step as one that travelleth, and like an armed man, with irresistible violence. (Pro 10:4 ; Pro 13:4 ; Pro 19:15, Pro 19:24 ; Pro 20:4 ; Pro 21:25 ; Pro 24:33-34 .)
Perhaps he perverts his Master’s word to excuse his sloth. But, if we are to "take no anxious thought for tomorrow" (his true meaning),†3 are we to take none at all? Care is a duty, a parental obligation (2Co 12:14 . Compare Gen 30:30 ; Gen 41:33 ), and, therefore, a component part of godliness.†4 Carefulness is a sin (Luk 10:41 . 1Co 7:32 ), a needless burden to ourselves, an unworthy distrust of God. (Mat 6:25, Mat 6:33 .) The diligent use of providential means honours God. (Pro 10:5 ; Pro 24:27 .)
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But much more loudly would we call to the spiritual sluggard. Thou that art sleeping away the opportunities of grace; not "striving to enter in at the strait gate" (Luk 13:24 ); taking thy salvation for granted; hoping that thou shalt "reap that which thou hast not sown, and gather where thou hast not strawed" (Mat 25:26 ) — Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Improve, after this pattern, the summer and harvest season — the time of youth, the present, perhaps the only moment. The ant hath no guide. How many guides have you — conscience — the Bible — ministers! (Job 32:8 . Psa 119:105 . Mal 2:7 .) She has no overseer. You are living before Him, whose "eyes are as a flame of fire." (Pro 15:3 . Rev 1:14 ; Rev 2:18 .) She has no ruler calling her to account. "Every one of us must give account of himself unto God." (Rom 14:12 .) How long then wilt thou sleep, O Sluggard? — is the solemn remonstrance of thy God. (Compare Pro 1:22 ; 1Ki 18:21 .) Thy sleep is not like that of the body, refreshing at the dawn of day; but it is that of the poisoned draught, heavier and heavier; the slumber of death. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give thee light." (Eph 5:14 .) Slight not the call of the present moment. The spell grows stronger, as resistance is delayed. Every day’s slumber makes it more improbable, whether thou wilt ever awaken at all. The intended struggle of tomorrow is a delusion. A thousand such tomorrows there may be; and yet thou mayest be found at last perishing in thy poverty, and the King of terror will come as an armed man to summon thee to judgment.
But how one is made to feel that from this deep slumber no voice but Omnipotence can rouse! Enter the sluggard’s chamber; put aside his curtain; hang over his bed; sound a solemn cry in his ears — How long? endeavour even to open his eyelids to the light of day; and yet the spell is too strong for man. He shifts his posture, murmurs his cry — a little more sleep — and slumbers again. Christians! you feel the helplessness of your work. Then call in the power of God in your brother’s behalf — "Lighten his eyes, lest he sleep the sleep of death." (Psa 13:3 .)
And then, as for thyself — grow in intense energy in thy high calling. Remember, faith without diligence is slumbering delusion. Faith is the practical energy of a living faith.†5 Always, therefore, look at sloth, not as an infirmity, but as a sin, affecting the whole man: growing upon us with unperceived power. Allow it therefore no rest, no time to root itself. Resist it in all its forms — bodily, mental, spiritual: indulgence of sleep and appetite: self-pleasing in all its subtle and plausible workings. Live by rule. Have your time strictly arranged. Be employed in early work for God. Store the mind with useful knowledge; ever reserving the first place for an industrious and prayerful study of the book of God. "Mortify" this baneful lust "through the Divine Spirit" (Rom 8:13 ); drawing all your motives from the death (Rom 6:6 ), the life (Mar 1:32-35 ), the rules of Christ. (Luk 9:23 . Rom 13:11-14 .) Victory will soon declare for you; and how enriching will be the spoil!
Footnotes:
†1 Pudeat ab exiguis animalibus non trahere mores. — Seneca, De Clementia. Lib. i.
†2 Pro 10:5; Pro 30:25 . Horace’s miser quotes this example as an excuse for hoarding. But — as the poet replies — it was to use the hoard in the winter — prudent care, not covetousness. Sat i.32. See also Virgil’s exquisite picture, Æn. iv. 402, &c. The hoarding spirit of the ants, though attested by numerous writers and naturalists, does not characterize those known to us; though the habits of the species in a warmer climate would probably widely differ from our own. Some, however, have thought, that Solomon only refers to their wisdom and prudence in preparing suitable food in summer and harvest, when it is most plentiful. — See Kirby and Spence’s Entomology, ii. 46.
†3 Merimnaw (). Mat 6:34 . Solicite et anxie cogito; at plus est solicitum esse, quam cogitare, as Erasmus notices, and that of Tully confirms, — Solicitudo est ægritudo cum cogitatione. ’The root of the word expresses the dividing of the mind into divers thoughts.’ — Leigh’s Critica Sacra. Compare Php 4:6 .
†4 1Ti 5:8 . Our Lord had a bag for the provision of his family. Joh 13:29 .
†5 This is exactly how this sentence reads in the book (i.e., "Faith is the practical energy of a living faith."). It is wondered however if this might be an error(?). Perhaps it originally read: "Diligence is the practical energy of a living faith." (?). (See preceding sentence.)
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 On v8 Harvest. The economy and diligence of this littel republic…
Harvest. The economy and diligence of this littel republic is admirable. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxx. 11.) --- Some copies of the Septuagint add with St. Ambrose, (Hex. v. []1., &c.; Calmet) "or go to the bee, and behold what a worker it is, and how beautiful is its work; whose labours kings and private people use for health. But it is desirable and glorious to all; and though it be weak in strength, by the love of wisdom it has got forward" (Haydock) in esteem. (Calmet) --- Nature has given the form of a monarchy in bees, and of a democracy in the regulations of the ant. (Tournemine)
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 On v6 The improvident sluggards usually want sureties. Hence, such are…
The improvident sluggards usually want sureties. Hence, such are advised to industry by the ant's example.
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 On vv6, 8 ADMONITIONS AGAINST SLOTHFULNESS, Pro_6:6-11.
ADMONITIONS AGAINST SLOTHFULNESS, Pro_6:6-11.
The principle of making suitable provision for the future lies at the very basis of our happiness, and has its applications and illustrations in various spheres of human action. It is our duty to provide for our future physical wants food, raiment, shelter, and whatsoever the body may need for its well-being. It is our duty, also, to provide, in proper time, for the wants of the mind, by suitable education and discipline, and the laying up of those stores of knowledge which will be needed for our coming offices and responsibilities, that we may perform well our parts both with respect to God and man. Above all, it is our duty and interest to cultivate and improve our moral and spiritual nature, securing those measures of divine grace which will be so much needed in future times of trial and in the service of God and humanity, and which are essential to our happiness, both in this world and the world to come. The application in the text is only to the first of these, but it equally belongs to the others. “Diligent in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” Rom_12:11.
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6. Go to the ant — The ant has, in all ages, been a favourite illustration in the inculcation of the duties of industry, diligence, and forethought, for these little insects are among the most notable examples of the instinctive operation of the principle above inculcated. But the latest researches of naturalists indicate that the (European) ant does not store up grain for the winter, as has been commonly supposed. It is generally torpid in winter and needs no food. Perhaps in warmer climates the case may be different. European ants remain active all winter in hot-houses. They are said to become torpid at 27 Fahrenheit.
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 On vv6–8 6. Go to the ant] Comp. Pro_30:25; where however…
6. Go to the ant] Comp. Pro_30:25; where however the foresight of the little insect is chiefly in view. Here its ceaseless activity, and that of its own free-will, without being set on work or kept up to it by external authority (Pro_6:7), furnishes the lesson to the sluggard.
sluggard] The Heb. word occurs frequently in this Book, but not elsewhere. Forms of the same root occur in Jdg_18:9, “be not slothful to go,” and Ecc_10:18, “by slothfulness the roof sinketh in.”
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Twelfth Address. Chap. 6. Pro_6:6-11. The Sluggard
6–11. Comp. on this Section Pro_24:30-34.
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 On v7 (j). Tenth Discourse:—Against Sloth (Pro_6:6-11)
(j). Tenth Discourse:—Against Sloth (Pro_6:6-11)
(7) Guide.—Properly, judge (the Arabic cadi), then leader, prince.
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 On vv6–8 Vers. 6-11. Tenth admonitory discourse. Warning against sloth. The…
Vers. 6-11. Tenth admonitory discourse. Warning against sloth. The ethical connection of this discourse with the preceding has already been pointed out. Sloth militates against prosperity; it is the prolific parent of want, and, even more surely than suretyship, leads to misfortune and ruin, The certainty with which ruin steals upon the sluggard may be the reason why the teacher closes the discourse in the way he does. In the case of suretyship such an issue is uncertain; there is the possibility of escape, the surety may prevail upon his friend to release him from his obligation, and so he may escape ruin; but with sloth no such contingency is possible, its invariable end is disaster. So far as the grammatical structure of the two discourses is concerned, they appear to be quite independent of each other, the only points of coincidence observable being the repetition of one or two words, which is purely accidental (cf. "go" in vers. 3 and 6, and "sleep" and "slumber" in vers. 4 and 10).
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The ant (Hebrew, n"malah) is here brought forward as supplying an example of wisdom to the sluggard. The habits of this insect, its industry and providence, have in all ages made it the symbol of these two qualities, and not only the sacred, but also profane writers have praised its foresight, and held it up for imitation. The ant is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament, and on both occasions in our book. (see present passage and Pro_30:25) The derivation of n"malah is either from the root nam, with reference first to the silence with which it moves, and secondly to its active yet unperceived motion (Delitzsch), or from namal, i.q. malal, "to cut off," from its cutting off or consuming seeds (ab incidendis seminibus) (Buxtorf, Gesenius). The Aramaic name, shum"sh"manah, however, points to its activity and rapid running hither and thither (Fleischer). Sluggard; Hebrew, atsel, a verbal adjective tbund only in the Proverbs. The primary idea of the root atsal is that of languor and laxity. The cognate abstract nouns ats"lah and ats"luth, equivalent to "slothfulness," occur in Pro_19:15 Pro_31:27. Consider her ways; attentively regard them, and from them derive a lesson of wisdom. Her ways are the manner in which the ant displays her industry and foresight.
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The ant.
Scripture sends us to nature. Even the smallest works of nature are full of Divine lessons to him who has eyes to read them. Sometimes we are bidden to consider the heavens, but now we are invited to consider the ant. The telescope has its lessons; so also has the microscope. But when a man refuses to hear the voice of God, will he hear the voice of an insect prophet? Possibly. It takes an eagle"s eye to gaze at the sun; but any eye can look on the earth. If a man"s vision is too weak to look at the burning bush, the fiery pillar, the mystic Shechinah, let him turn his eyes to the glowworm at his feet, and perhaps even that humble torch bearer may rave him from stumbling.
I GO TO THE ANT, AND LEARN NOT TO DESPISE LITTLE THINGS. Of late the doings of the ant have been very carefully looked into, and very wonderful facts have come to light. Among ants there are engineers, constructing elaborate tunnels and carrying on complicated building operations; stock-keepers, guarding and feeding the aphis, like a cow, for the juice they extract from it; agriculturists, carefully clearing ground of all weeds, in order to let only certain grasses grow within the prepared area, and storing up corn underground, which by a marvellous instinct they first kilt so as to prevent it from germinating; slave holders, who attack tribes of black ants, carry off the young and keep these to wait on them and feed them, becoming meanwhile so helpless as to be absolutely unable to feed themselves, and dying of starvation when deprived of the help of their slaves; and some so far imitating our habits as to keep pet insects insects which they feed and attend to but which apparently render them no service, As we look at the diminutive ant, we may well wonder "That one little head could carry all he knew.
We must not mistake bigness for greatness. Tartary is bigger than Greece. Athens was a little city in comparison with Babylon. Despise not one of the little ones. And we too with our short lives and dwarf powers, may we not do something worth living for?
II GO TO THE ANT, AND LEARN NATURE"S LESSON OF WORK. It is with no small labour that the agricultural ant of Syria clears its field, keeps it well weeded, gathers in the corn, and stores this in subterranean granaries. Nature is a great factory. All life involves work. Even the silent forest apparently sleeping in the hush of noon is busy, and if only we had ears to hear, we might detect the elaboration of the sap and the growth of the leaf, showing that every tree is hard at work on its appointed task.
1. Work according to ability. The ant cannot build a cathedral. But he can make an ant hill. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
2. Work in face of danger. One careless footstep may demolish a whole city of ant life, and crush hundreds of its inhabitants. Yet the little creatures toil on without heeding a danger which they cannot avert.
3. Work perseveringly. Any one who has watched an ant struggling with a heavy load may well be rebuked by the patient insect. If the ant hill is destroyed, the ants soon set to work and commence mining and building, and reducing the chaos to order again.
4. Work harmoniously. It is the union of great numbers that enables the ants, though a very small folk, to effect very considerable results. The Church can do what passes the power of individuals, but only when the individuals are severally doing their share of labour.
III GO TO THE ANT, AND LEARN THE DUTY OF PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE. The ant works from instinct, and we must admire the wisdom of the great Maker, who has taught it unconscious habits of providence. But we are endowed with powers of looking before and after, and therefore are left to our own will to be deliberately provident. It is strange that many people have no prudence in temporal things. In prosperous times they are recklessly self-indulgent. In harder times they are in destitution. These people abuse Christian charity; and unwise Christian charity is guilty of indirectly encouraging their improvidence. Thus they lose independence, self reliance, and the wholesome discipline of present restraints for the sake of future needs. But if earthly prudence is practised, shall we stop there? Are we consistent in our providence? We have provided for the natural winter: have we provided for other, more terrible, winters? We may have a philosophy of life which suits the happy sunshine, but how are we provided against the storms and frosts of the winter of sorrow? There is a wintry blast that ultimately kills the hardiest flower. Have we made provision for the winter of death? Happy they who in bright summer, and happier they who in youth"s springtime, have found a Saviour who will be their Bread of life and their Shelter in the chills of grief, in the dread winter of death!
Vers. 6-11. The sluggard admonished.
I THE PICTURE OF INSECT INDUSTRY. The ant was viewed as the very picture of laboriousness in ancient as in modern times. It is interesting that the German word for "industrious" (emsig) seems derivable from amessi, "emmet, ant." The like may probably be traceable in some English dialects,
1. The industry of the ant has all the appearance of a virtue. For it seems unforced; there is no judge, superintendent, or onlooker, or taskmaster, to superintend its work. Contrast with the representations on various monuments of the taskmasters with whips superintending gangs of labourers.
2. It is provident industry. It lays up against the rainy day. The closer study of ant life by modern observers opens a world of marvel, and suggests other lines of thought. It is sufficient for didactic purposes to note the general principle; the external appearances of nature reveal moral analogies.
II THE CONTRAST OF HUMAN SLOTH. (Vers. 9-11)
1. The lazy man seems as if he would sleep forever (ver. 9).
2. He knows not when he has reposed enough (ver. 10). An ironic limitation of his langour, his lazy attitude. The arms ever crossed, instead of being opened and ready for toil. "When I begin to turn about," said the Duke of Wellington, "I turn out.
3. The result of sloth (ver. 11). Poverty surprises him like a robber, and want like an armed man. A striking picture of the seeming suddenness with which men may sink into destitution. But it is only seeming; it has been long really preparing.
III MORAL ANALOGY AND APPLICATION. Sloth in all its forms is ruinous to body and soul. Mental inertness and vacuity is a common form, The mind must be aroused, interested, filled. Here is one of the great sources of drunkenness, because of depression. If you have no occupation, invent one. Goad your temper by hopes and fears, if it will not wake up without them. In religion "be not slothful." Work at the practical or theoretical side of it, whichever suits your capacity best. Work out your own salvation. Take it all for granted, and you will presently find that all has slipped away, and naught remains but an impoverished intellect, a stagnant will. J.
Vers. 6-11. Sloth and diligence.
In this land and in this age, in England in the nineteenth century, there is little room for the sluggard; there is comparatively little temptation to sluggishness; the force of a rushing stream carries all along with it at a rapid pace. Nevertheless, it is true
I THAT SOME MEN FIND THEMSELVES UNDER SPECIAL TEMPTATION TO SLOTH. This may be a matter of
(1) bodily infirmity, the misfortune of an exceptional physical constitution;
(2) mental disposition, inherited from others, and to a large extent deserving of pity rather than censure;
(3) moral character, the impress of a bad habit a spiritual result which has to be blamed as much as to be deplored.
II THAT IT IS TO BE REGARDED AS UNWORTHY OF CHRISTIAN MANHOOD.
1. It is rebuked by the humbler creation (vers. 6-8). That which the ant does instinctively, and without any intelligent guide or instructor, we ought to do, who are endowed with reason, and who have so many human teachers and friends to direct, admonish, and. prompt us; who have, moreover, the admonitions of a Divine Teacher and Friend to enlighten and quicken us.
2. It is contemptible in the sight of man, our brother. There is something more than a tone of strong remonstrance, there is a perceptible admixture of contempt in the address, "Thou sluggard" (ver. 6), and also in the raillery of the ninth and tenth verses, "How long wilt thou sleep!... Yet a little sleep," etc. The industrious man cannot look at the slothfulness of the sluggard, at the supineness of the careless, at the dilatoriness of the halfhearted, without irrepressible feelings of aversion and contempt; he is compelled to scorn them in his heart.
III THAT IT MUST BE OVERCOME IN OUR OWN TEMPORAL INTERESTS. (Ver. 11) Sloth soon ends in ruin. Bankruptcy waits on negligence. Temporal ruin comes:
1. Unexpectedly. "Poverty comes as one that travelleth." It has started a long time, it has traversed many a road, crossed many a valley, surmounted many a hill; but, though travelling long, it is only in sight during the last ten minutes of its journey. So ruin begins its course as soon as a man neglects his duties; it travels far and long, its form is hidden behind the hills, it is only just toward the last that its countenance is seen and recognized; then, before he expected it, Poverty stares him in the face, and grasps his hand with cruel clutch.
2. Irresistibly. "Want as an armed man." At last no measures can be taken. Friends are alienated, relatives are wearied, all good habits are gone, the courage which might have risen to the occasion is broken by continued sluggishness of spirit; the man is disarmed of every weapon, and is at the mercy of well armed Want. Indolence not only brings about ruinous circumstances, but it robs us of the spirit by which adversity might be met and mastered; it places us helpless at the feet of the strong.
"Let us, then, be up and doing;" for while sloth is rebuked on every side, and leads down to inevitable ruin, on the other hand, diligence
(1) is in accordance with the will of God concerning us; (Rom_12:11 1Ti_5:8 2Th_3:6-14)
(2) commands a genuine prosperity; (see Pro_22:29)
(3) braces the character and imparts spiritual strength;
(4) places us in a position to show kindness to the unfortunate; (Eph_4:28)
(5) in the sphere of religion ensures ultimate and complete salvation. C. (2Pe_1:5, 2Pe_1:10, 11 2Co_5:9)
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 On vv6–7 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways,…
Pro_6:6
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
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Little preachers and great sermons
There is a twofold revelation of God--in the Bible and in nature. In relation to this revelation, men divide into three classes--
1. Those who study neither. Their intellects are submerged in animalism and worldliness.
2. Those who study one and disparage the other. Some devout Christians regard nature as not sufficiently sacred and religious for their investigation. Some scientific men try to turn the results of their researches against the Bible.
3. Those who reverentially study the teachings of both. They treat them as volumes from the same Author.
The allusion in the text shows that the Bible encourages the study of nature.
1. It sends us to nature in order to attest its first principles.
2. It refers us to nature for illustrations of its great truths.
3. It refers us to nature in order to reprove the sins it denounces. To reprove us for our spiritual indolence it directs us to the ants. The sluggard we now deal with is the spiritual sluggard, not the secularly indolent man, but the man who is neglecting the culture of his own spiritual nature and the salvation of his own soul. The ants teach these important lessons.
I. That the feebleness of your power is no just reason for your indolence. The ants are feeble, but see how they work. Naturalists have shown their ingenuity as architects, their industry as miners and builders. Remember three things--
1. All power, however feeble, is given for work.
2. You are not required to do more than you have power to accomplish.
3. All power increases by use.
II. That the activity of others is no just excuse for your indolence. In the ant-world you will see millions of inhabitants, but not one idler; all are in action. One does not depend upon another, or expect another to do his work. The Christian world is a scene of action, but not one of the million actors can do your work.
III. That the want of a helper is no just excuse for your indolence. Each ant is thrown upon his own resources and powers. Self-reliantly each labours on, not waiting for the instruction or guidance of another. Trust your own instincts; act out your own powers; use the light you have; look to God for help.
IV. That the providence of God is no just reason for your indolence. God provides for His creatures through the use of their own powers. He does not do for any creature what He has given that creature power to do for himself.
1. Like these little ants, you have a future.
2. Like these little creatures, you have to prepare for the future.
3. Like these little creatures, you have a specific time in which to make preparation.
Then do not talk of Providence as an excuse for your indolence. He has provided for you richly, but He only grants the provision on condition of the right employment of your powers. There is an inheritance for the good, but only on condition of their working. There is a heaven of knowledge, but only for the student. There is a harvest of blessedness, but only to the diligent husbandman. And your harvest-time will soon be over. (Homilist.)
The foresight and diligence of the ant
The wisdom of providence is eminently conspicuous in the limits it has set to the faculties of the human mind. As experience of the past is of far more importance in the conduct of life than the most accurate and intimate acquaintance with the future, the power of memory is more extensive and efficient than the faculty of foresight. It was wise and merciful to afford us but an indistinct perception of the future. But here man acts in opposition to the will of his Maker. He has withheld from us distinct knowledge of the future, yet how often do we act as if we were familiarly acquainted with it. Our confident expectation of the continuance of life encourages that indolence about their immortal interests in which so many of the children of men waste the season allotted for their preparation for eternity. The admitted history of the ant does more than corroborate and confirm the statement of Solomon in this text. But it is not as a curious fact in natural history, or even as furnishing a theme of praise to the wise and munificent Author of Nature, that the wise man introduces the history and habits of the ant. It is as a rebuke to the sloth and indolence of rational and accountable beings.
I. We are admonished and reproved by the sagacity and care with which the ants make preparation for the winter. Nature has given them an instinctive anticipation of the necessities and severity of winter. Grain after grain is borne along, and having been carefully prepared against revegetation, is added to their little store. The winter of our year is fast approaching; are we making all needful preparations?
II. We are admonished by the sagacity with which the ant selects and seizes the proper season of preparation for winter. The food proper for storage can only be obtained at particular seasons; and if these are neglected, want and wretchedness reign throughout the cells. The present life is the season in which you are called to make provision for the days that are to come.
III. The incessant and unintermitted activity and diligence with which the ant plies her summer task present another important lesson of wisdom to the rational and accountable family of God. It is not an occasional exercise in which this curious creature is engaged. Day after day do these industrious tribes issue forth to the work of gathering. And here, again, they teach us wisdom. The great work to which religion calls us is not one that can be taken up and laid aside at pleasure.
IV. The harmony, union, and concord which prevail among the ants suggest a lesson for us. The instinct which prompts them to assist each other in their busy labours has been celebrated as one of the most interesting manifestations of Creating Wisdom. How beautifully does it accord with some of the most frequently repeated precepts of the gospel! And also with such counsel of the apostle as this, Bear ye one anothers burdens. (John Johnston.)
Sluggishness
I. Sluggishness or idleness is a great sin.
1. It is a sin against nature, for all living things put out that strength God hath given them.
2. It is against Gods commandment. It is stealing for a man to live on other mens labours, and do nothing himself.
3. Idleness produces many other sins: such as disobedience to parents, drunkenness, adultery (as in Davids ease), stealing, lying, and cheating.
4. Idleness brings many miseries upon man: such as diseases, poverty, unmercifulness in others, loss of heaven and pains of hell. If the idler object that he hurts none but himself, we reply, So much the worse. Remember, thou must give account of thy time; of thy talents; of thy thoughts; of thy idle words; of thy deeds; of neglecting thy family; of doing no good in the commonwealth.
II. Little creatures may teach great men much wit. From the ant they may learn--
1. Providence.
2. Labour.
3. Order. (Francis Taylor, B. D.)
A secular sermon an foresight
The busy ant is to be our minister. The great lesson it teaches is foresight, the duty of rightly improving the passing hour, the wisdom of making the best of our opportunities. The faculty of foresight, the power of doing something for the future, is a faculty most divine. Rightly educated and developed, it gives man peculiar elevation, and invests him with commanding influence. He who sees farthest will rule best. Foresight is not to be confounded with distrust. The wise exercise of foresight makes life pleasant--
1. By economising time. The man who has least to do takes most time to do it in. Our greatest men have been the most severe economists of time.
2. By systematising duties. Some persons have no power of systematising. Such men fret themselves to death, and do not perish alone. The men in the Church who do the least are generally the men of leisure.
3. By diminishing difficulties. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Foresight numbers and weighs contingencies. The person who is destitute of foresight multiplies the difficulties of other people. The ant makes the best of her opportunities. Every life has a summer, and every life a winter. In recommending preparation for lifes winter I am not advocating penuriousness. Covetousness is an affront to God. The liberal soul shall be made fat. (J. Parker, D.D.)
A lazy man
Our text points to the sluggard--the lazy man. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? There are many lazy people in the world. They are generally not worth much, not much wanted, nor of much use, except as beacons. They are not often prosperous. An idle man, says Mr. Spurgeon, makes himself a target for the devil; and the devil is an uncommonly good shot. An idle mans heart is the devils nest; his hands the devils tools; while the devil lays in wait for active, busy men, the idle man is actually waiting for the devil to set him a job. A race of idle men would create a famine. There are men who are absolutely too indolent to seek for salvation, tis too much trouble! And there are lazy Christians too; idlers in the Masters vineyard. A little sleep, etc.
1. Here is a self-indulgent man. This little speech means, I am comfortable; dont disturb me; let me alone to enjoy myself. This is the wish of many a sinful man. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, living purely selfish lives; for self-indulgence may, and generally does, mean selfishness. Self-indulgence is easy. Tis easier to give the reins to our appetites than to curb them; to slide than to climb; to please ourselves than to deny ourselves. If we would be men of mark for holiness, usefulness, of eminence either in things temporal or spiritual, we must know something of self-denial. Men who take it easy rarely make much headway. Look round amongst Christian workers, business men, great philanthropists, successful inventors, men illustrious or famous in any walk of life; read the biographies of men who have been renowned for any good thing--you will find that they were men of self-denial, not self-indulgent. Moses was a self-denying man; he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; and Moses prospered; he became very great; he was appointed leader and commander of the people of Israel. The apostles were self-denying men; hear them: We have left all, and have followed Thee. A little sleep, etc.
2. Here is a procrastinating man. He does not mean to sleep always, not even for long--only for a little while. He only wants a little sleep, and then he will be stirring. Think of hours, days, lives, wasted in little delays; of souls lost by little delays! No man deliberately intends to be always a slave to sin, the devil, his own lusts. Not always--no; but just now it is pleasant, convenient. Courage to take now the decisive step--now! To-morrow may never come. (G. B. Foster.)
The ant and its nest
The truth of Solomons reference to the ant, which has been questioned before now, is fully vindicated. Dr. Macmillan has found the food stored up in the nests of the ants, and he adds this interesting information: Examining the seeds collected in the nests of the ants on the top of the hill at Nice more particularly with my magnifying glass, I found to my astonishment that each seed had its end carefully bitten off. And the reason of this was perfectly plain. You know each seed contains two parts--the young plant or germ lying in its cradle, as it were, and the supply of food for its nourishment, when it begins to grow, wrapped round it. Now the ants had bitten off the young plant germ, and they left only the part which was full of nourishment. And they did this to prevent the seeds from growing and exhausting all the nourishment contained in them. If they did not do this the seed stored under the ground, when the rains came, would shoot, and so they would lose all their trouble and be left to starve. I could not find in the heap a single seed that had not been treated in this way. Of course, none of the seeds that had their ends bitten off would grow; and you might as well sow grains of sand as the seed found in ants nests.
The necessity of providing for the spiritual experiences of the future
I. The important and interesting truth which these words suggest. That provision ought to be made for the future.
1. We should make provision for the soul.
2. What is the kind of provision needed for the soul?
3. The period against which we are to make this provision. The winter of death and eternity.
II. The season in which this provision is to be made. The ants secure their winter requirements during the summer. Our life may be compared to summer for two reasons--
1. Because during the summer we have every needful opportunity of getting ready for the winter.
2. Because summer is the only time in which this provision for the winter can be made.
III. The reproof which is here given to those who neglect to make the provision.
1. The force of this rebuke arises from the insignificance of the being by whose conduct we are reproved.
2. The disadvantageous circumstances in which they are said to be placed.
3. From that which they make their provision.
4. From the season against which they provide.
5. From the epithet applied to those who are negligent.
IV. The advice which the wise man gives.
1. A lesson of wisdom.
2. A lesson of industry.
3. A lesson of perseverance. If not making this preparation, what will by and by be our moral destitution! (J. Coe.)
Industry
The indolent and improvident are here addressed. They are sent to the inferior creation for a lesson; and not to the greatest and noblest of the animals, but to one of the least and most insignificant of the insects. The providence of the ant has, by some naturalists, been questioned. It has been alleged that during winter they are, like some other insects, in a state of torpidity, and therefore need not the precaution ascribed to them in Pro_6:8. On this we observe--
1. If the fact of their laying up provisions be ascertained, all analogy more than warrants the conclusion that it is for some end.
2. It is said the stock laid up is not for winter, but for the sustenance of the young, when they need the almost undivided attention of the whole. But as a proof of providence, this comes to the same thing.
3. The assertion that the laying up of provisions by the ant is a mistake may not apply to the ants of every country. In tropical climates they do lay up provisions. The main lesson the sluggard has to learn from the ant is industry.
Three grounds of this duty are indicated in Scripture--
1. That persons may not be a burden on society or on the Church.
2. That they may be out of the way of temptation; for there are many temptations in idle habits.
3. That they may have wherewith to assist others, whose needs, from unavoidable causes, may be greater than their own. One perilous characteristic of sloth is, that it is ever growing. (R. Wardlaw.)
The teaching of the ant
Man was created with more understanding than the beasts of the earth. But our minds are so debased by our apostasy from God that the meanest creatures may become our teachers.
I. The character of the person whom the wise man here addresses. The sluggard! Sloth casteth into a deep sleep, and in the verses following the text the sluggard is represented as in this state. He spends his time in fruitless wishes. He is discouraged by the least opposition. He creates imaginary dangers for himself. We know well who they are whose hands refuse to labour, who are clothed with rags, and make poverty not only their complaint, but their argument. But sloth is not confined to the common affairs of life, nor the character of a sluggard to men in any particular station. There is sloth in religion; neglecting the one thing needful, the care of our immortal souls.
II. The counsel or advice which the wise man hath given us. The ant instructeth us not by speech, but by actions. Therefore we are called to consider her ways; how she is employed, and for what ends she is active. The wisdom we learn from the ant is the wisdom of acting suitably to our superior nature and our glorious hopes. We learn from the ant three things--
1. A foresight and sagacity in making provision for the time to come. How dreary must the winter of life be, when the previous seasons have been passed in sloth, in idleness, or in folly!
2. Activity and diligence. The ant never intermits her labours as long as the season lasts. Happy were it for man that he as faithfully employed his precious time to render himself useful in this world, or to prepare for eternity.
3. Sagacity in making use of the proper season for activity. Opportunity is the flower of time; or it is the most precious part of it, which, if once lost, may never return. Foresight, diligence, and sagacity the ant employs by an instinct of nature. She has no guide, but we have many guides. She hath no overseer, but man acts under the immediate inspection of Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire. And the voice of conscience in us is the voice of God. The ant hath no ruler, or judge to call her to account for her conduct; but every one of us must give account of himself to God.
III. Improvement of the subject.
1. The sluggard sins against the very nature which God hath given him.
2. The sluggard sins against the manifest design of providence.
3. The sluggard sins against the great design of the gospel. Let us then be no longer slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. (R. Walker.)
Lessons for children from the ant
An ant could tell us strange things. She could tell about the houses they live in, some of which are forty stories high, twenty stories being dug out, one beneath another, under the earth, and twenty stories being built up over them, above ground; she could tell about the different kinds of trades they follow, how some are miners, and dig down into the ground; some are masons, and build very curious houses, with long walls, supported by pillars, and covered over with arched ceilings. She could tell how some are carpenters, who build houses out of wood, having many chambers which communicate with each other by entries and galleries; how some are nurses, and spend their whole time taking care of the young ones; some are labourers, and are made, like the negro slaves, to work for their masters; while some are soldiers, whose only business it is to mount guard, and stand ready to defend their friends and fellow-citizens. The ants teach:
I. A lesson of industry. The ant is a better example of industry than even the bee.
II. A lesson of perseverence. They never get discouraged by any difficulties they may meet with. Perseverance conquers all things.
III. A lesson of union. The benefits of being united, and working together. The union of the ants both preserves them safely and enables them to do great good.
IV. A lesson of kindness. Ants are a very happy set of creatures. There seems to be nothing like selfishness among them.
V. A lesson of prudence, or looking ahead. The power to think about the future, and to prepare for it. (R. Newton, 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 On v6 Pro_6:11. One that travelleth, “a highwayman,” “a footpad.” Armed…
CRITICAL NOTES,—
Pro_6:11. One that travelleth, “a highwayman,” “a footpad.” Armed man, literally, “a man of the shield.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_6:6-11
INDUSTRY AND INDOLENCE
A contrast.
I. The industrious insect.
1. Nature is intended to be a moral teacher to man. The most saintly natures of ancient and modern times have regarded God’s works in this light, and God Himself has led the van in so often pointing man to animate and inanimate Nature for instruction and comfort. He first announced this truth when He said to Noah, “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth” (Gen_9:13). This is the first record of the enlistment of Nature as a helper to the human soul, the first recorded instance of God’s pointing out to man what He intended all natural objects to become to His spiritual nature. Here the son of Solomon is exhorted to gain instruction—to be stirred up to a sense of duty—from a study of one of God’s inferior creatures.
2. Nature becomes the instructor of those only who consider her ways. The existence, within a man’s reach, of the most beautiful painting in the world will be of no advantage to him unless he studies it. It is only as he considers it that it will convey to him the thought of the painter. The works of God are within the reach of men, but they must be looked at and considered if they are to be to Him what God intended them to be. God placed the bow in the cloud and the tiny ant upon the ground to be subjects of meditation. The Psalmist considered the heavens before he was moved with a sense of his own littleness and God’s majesty (Psalms 8). Solomon’s precept is, “Consider the ant.”
3. The lessons which are to be learned from, the study of the ant. Industry, improvement of opportunities, and individual action. The amount of work done by this insignificant insect ought to be enough to shame an indolent man into activity. Her care in embracing present opportunities is a loud rebuke to those who would put off until to-morrow what, perhaps, can only be done to-day. She says, by her diligent use of present hours, “I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work” (Joh_9:4). Especially her individual effort is held up as worthy of imitation (Pro_6:7). While some men wait for another to take the initiative, to clear the path for them, she puts forth her own individual effort without guide, overseer, or ruler. Each man must do his own work in the world, each one has responsibilities of his own which will not admit of being discharged by proxy. He must find out his individual duty, and not try to shift the burden upon the shoulders of another, or wait for another to go before him in the way.
II. The indolent man.
1. He does the right thing at the wrong time, or indulges to excess in a gift of God which is intended to be used in moderation. Sleep is one of God’s most precious gifts to man in his present condition. It is a necessity of human nature. The prophet Elijah had an angel of God to watch over him while he slept. God saw that it was the medicine he most needed in that hour of bodily fatigue and mental depression. But if he had been sleeping at the hour of evening sacrifice, when the nation had to choose between God and Baal on Mount Carmel, he would have been guilty of a great sin against himself, his nation, and his God. Israel was promised the land of rest after they had fought their way through the desert. Rest is the reward of labour and not to be substituted for it. And although intervals of rest are necessary and right, life is meant for work, and the motto of every man ought to be that of the famous coadjutor of the great William of Orange, St. Aldegonde, “Repos ailleurs” (rest elsewhere). The sin of the sluggard is the abuse of a great blessing, the doing a right thing at the wrong time.
2. The consequence of such conduct. This can be abundantly illustrated from human experience. If the farmer rests when, regardless of cold and storm, he ought to be ploughing or sowing, poverty will be coming upon him when his barns ought to be filled with plenty. The man who lets slip his spiritual opportunities through soulindolence, will find himself in a state of soul-poverty at the end of life. When he ought to be reaping an abundant harvest of soul-satisfaction from a life whose energies have been used to bless himself and others, he will find himself in a state of soul-destitution. The rich man said to his soul, “Take thine ease,” when he ought to have aroused it to prepare for the future which was coming up to meet him. But for the neglect of this God branded him as a “fool” (Luk_12:20).
ILLUSTRATIONS OF Pro_6:6-8
When I began to employ workmen in this country, nothing annoyed me more than the necessity to hire also an overseer, or to fulfil this office myself. But I soon found this was universal, and strictly necessary. Without an overseer very little work would be done, and nothing as it should be. The workmen will not work at all unless kept to it and directed in it by an overseer who is himself a perfect specimen of laziness. He does absolutely nothing but smoke his pipe, order this, scold that one, discuss the how and the why with the men themselves, or with idle passers-by. This overseeing often costs more than the work overseen. Now the ants manage far better. Every one attends to his own business and does it well. In another respect these provident creatures read a very necessary lesson to Orientals. In all warm climates there is a ruinous want of calculation and forecast. Having enough fur the current day, men are reckless as to the future.… Now the ant “provideth her meat in summer.” All summer long, and especially in harvest, every denizen of their populous habitation is busy. As we ride or walk over the grassy plains, we notice paths leading to their subterranean granaries; at first broad, clean and smooth, like roads near a city, but constantly branching off into smaller and less distinct, until they disappear in the herbage of the plain. Along these converging paths hurry thousands of ants, thickening inward until it becomes an unbroken column of busy beings going in search of or returning with their food. I read lately, in a work of some pretension, that ants do not carry away wheat or barley. This was by way of comment on Pro_6:8. Tell it to these farmers, and they will laugh at you. Ants are the greatest robbers in the land. Leave a bushel of wheat in the vicinity of one of their subterranean cities, and in a surprisingly short time the whole commonwealth will be summoned to plunder. A broad, black column stretches from the wheat to the hole, and, as if by magic, every grain seems to be accommodated with legs, and walks off in a hurry along the moving column.—Thompson’s Land and the Book.
Solomon’s lesson to the sluggard has been generally adduced as a strong confirmation of the ancient opinion, that ants have a magazine of provisions for winter; it can, however, only relate to the species of a warm climate, the habits of which are probably different from those of a cold one; so that his words, as commonly interpreted, may be perfectly correct and consistent with Nature, and yet be not at all applicable to the species that are indigenous to Europe. But Solomon does not affirm that the ant laid up in her cell stores of grain, but that she gathers her food when it is most plentiful, and thus shows her wisdom and prudence. The words thus interpreted will apply to the species among us, as well as to those that are not indigenous.—Kirby and Spence’s Entomology.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_6:5. We may infer Rehoboam’s character from such exhortations as these. And these and following precepts derive much interest from what we have reason to believe was his character. His position bore some resemblance to that of our own Charles II., at the voluptuous court of Versaillies, before his accession to the throne, and the character of the one was in some respects similar to that of the other. The unhappy example of his own father Solomon, in his old age, was more potent for evil than the precepts of the Proverbs were for good. At the age of forty-one Rehoboam was a feeble libertine. The warnings of the Icón Basiliké fell flat on the ears of the royal author’s own son, and Rehoboam derived little benefit from the book of Proverbs.—Wordsworth.
Pro_6:6-8. Our whole present life is the time for action; the future for retribution, which shall be ushered in by the judgment: the latter is the harvest (Mat_25:3-4).—Fausset.
How is man degenerated from the nobility of his creation, that an insect must be a pattern unto him. He that goes well without a guide is fit to be a guide, he that does well without an overseer is fit to be an overseer, he that orders himself well without a ruler is fit to be a ruler. Let the ant, therefore, be a guide unto the sluggard, and teach him to guide himself, who guides herself so carefully. Let the ant be his overseer, which he sees to overgo himself so much in pains and labour. Let the ant be his ruler, and by her example command him to work which rules herself so well in working.—Jermin.
First, as the ant in summer gathereth whereupon to live in winter, so every Christian in a time of quietness should gather out of God’s word, that in trouble and adversity he may have wherewith to live spiritually. Secondly, we ought to labour by the example of the ant, that we get the fruit of good works, in the harvest of this present life, so sedulously and diligently, that in the time of winter and judgment we perish not with hunger.—St. Augustine.
These precepts have a spiritual meaning and are to be applied to the soil of the heart and mind. As Bede says here, “The present life is compared to summer and harvest, because now, in the heat of trials, we must reap and lay up for the future, and the day of death and judgment is the winter for which we must prepare, and when there is no more any time for preparation.”—Wordsworth.
Man, that was once the captain of God’s school, is now, for his truantliness, turned down into the lowest form, as it were to learn his A B C again; yea, to be taught by these meanest creatures.… Let no man here object that word of our Saviour, “Take no thought for the morrow.” There is a care of diligence, and a care of diffidence; a care of the head and a care of the heart; the former is needful, the latter sinful.—Trapp.
Pro_6:9. Much more loudly would we call to the spiritual sluggard—thou that art sleeping away the opportunities of grace; not “striving to enter in at the strait gate” (Luk_13:24); taking thy salvation for granted; hoping that thou shalt “reap where thou has not sown, and gather where thou hast not strawed” (Mat_25:26); improve, after this pattern, the summer and harvest season—the time of youth, the present, perhaps the only moment. The ant hath no guide. How many guides have you?—conscience, the Bible, ministers! She has no overseer. You are living before Him “whose eyes are as a flame of fire.” She has no ruler calling her to account. “Every one of us must give account of himself to God.”—Bridges.
Epaminondas, finding one of his sentinels asleep, thrust him through with his sword; and, being chidden for so great severity, replied, “I left him but as I found him.” It must be our care that death serve us not in like sort, that we be not taken napping.… Our Saviour was up and at prayer “a great while before day” (Mar_1:45). The holy angels are styled “watchers” (Dan_4:10), and they are three times pronounced happy that watch (Luk_12:37-38; Luk_12:43).—Trapp.
Pro_6:11. Two things are denoted in this imagery.
1. That idleness will quickly bring poverty.
2. That it will come as a destroyer.—Stuart.
I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide, for the man is effectually destroyed, though the appetite of the brute may survive.—Lord Chesterfield.
God will not support thee without work, but by work, that is His holy ordinance (Gen_3:19): Do thy part, and God will do His.—Egard.
A most dreadful simile! One who has waited for a fight knows how slowly the armed men seem to come up. They may be hours passing the intervening space. There is no sound of them. They are not on the roads, or on the air, either in sight or echo; and yet they are coming on! The intervening time is the sluggard’s sleeping time; and it seems an age. But his want will come.… All slothfulness is, no doubt, rebuked; but especially that which has all heaven for its garnered stores; all hell for its experience of want; all time for its season of neglect; and all eternity to break upon its sleep.—Miller.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 Look at ... consider
Look at ... consider
"Study ... think about" or "carefully observe ... ponder"
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ant
An ant is a small insect that lives underground or in a self-built hill. They usually live in groups of thousands, and they can lift things that are much bigger than they are.
consider her ways
This is a figure of speech using the "ways" of an ant to refer to the behavior of the ant. AT: "consider how the ant behaves" (See: Metonymy)
commander, officer, or ruler
These three words mean basically the same thing and are used to emphasized that no one has formal authority over an individual ant. (See: Doublet)
it prepares its food in the summer ... during the harvest it stores up what it will eat
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and are repeated to show how responsible the ant is. (See: Parallelism)
summer
Summer is the time of the year when some trees bear their fruit.
translationWords
wise
commander
rule
harvest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 6:6-11 Lazy people sleep rather than make necessary provisions…
6:6-11 Lazy people sleep rather than make necessary provisions (see also 24:33-34). They are the opposite of self-motivated and industrious ants. • Extra sleep . . . more slumber sarcastically expresses a lazy person’s ambition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.