Proverbs 22:13 Commentary and Bible Study

Solomon is like a sketch artist who takes a blank sheet of paper and draws in a few simple lines and lo and behold a complete picture stands before our eyes. Much of the picture remains missing and it is the eye of the viewer that fills in the details. He seems to delight in economy of expression, but that is the nature of a proverb.The sluggard speaks and we must remember this as we consider the words spoken. We are expected to take account of character when we consider the meaning of a man’s words for words come out of the heart and always reflect the man who speaks. The proverb gives us this datum, that we are listening to the words of a sluggard, a sloth, a lazy man. He does not want to go outside perhaps because it is cold out, or there is work to be done outside which he does not want to start, or he does not want to leave the warmth of his bed. But he is not going to admit his fault either to himself or to anyone else, and so he hides the real reason for his not going outside. He offers instead what sound like a perfectly valid explanation for not going out, one that would prevent any reasonable person from endangering themselves. However, it is an exaggeration and a distortion of the truth. There is a lion outside – well no, there was a lion outside, maybe a year ago, but it has not been seen since, or there is the remote possibility of there being a lion outside, but no one has seen one for a long time and the last lion was driven off successfully. But no, the sluggard is going to convince himself and everyone else that if he goes outside he will be slain in the street, and therefore he is fully justified in staying in bed.