Proverbs (Part 062) - Pro 6:10-12

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10. Pro 6:10 - "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:" A. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, i. Solomon continues his condemnation of the sluggard. ii. Yet - I. 1. a. In addition, or in continuation; besides, also; further, furthermore, moreover; with a numeral or the like = ‘more’, as yet a, yet one = ‘another’, ‘one more’ a. The sluggard is always wanting just a "another" 15 minutes or just "one more" hour of sleep. b. But just another 15 minutes turns into 30, 45, or 60 minutes as the snooze button keeps getting hit. iii. He always needs just "a little" more sleep. a. Little adj. - I. Opposed to great. Often synonymous with small. b. His slothfulness is more easily justified and rationalized if it is only "a little" more sleep. c. But a bunch of "littles" soon adds up to "a lot." B. a little folding of the hands to sleep: i. Fold v. - 6. a. trans. To lay (the arms, etc.) together, so as to overlap; to clasp (one's hands) together. Also intr. for refl. In mod. use freq. with together. ii. People often fold their hands together when they sleep, either in front of them or under their head. iii. This "little" sleep (laziness) ends up compounding over the course of years, and it eventually ends up in one's property being overgrown and left in ruin (Pro 24:30-34). iv. Slothfulness will eventuate in one's buildings falling down (Ecc 10:18). v. A fool foldeth his hands together (sleeps) and eateth his own flesh (destroys himself through laziness) (Ecc 4:5). a. He will bring himself to poverty and hunger which will consume and harm his body (Pro 19:15; Pro 23:21). b. He will also destroy his family who are his flesh (Gen 2:24; Gen 29:14; Isa 58:7). 11. Pro 6:11 - "So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." A. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, i. Sleeping excessively leads to poverty (Pro 20:13; Pro 23:21). a. Poverty n. - 1. a. The condition of having little or no wealth or material possessions; indigence, destitution, want (in various degrees: see poor a. 1). b. Sleeping too much causes poverty because the sluggard is sleeping instead of working. c. If he would get up and work, he would be filled with food and necessary possessions (Pro 20:13). ii. The poverty of the sluggard will come "as one that travelleth." a. Travel v. - 1. To torment, distress; to suffer affliction; to labour, toil; to suffer the pains of parturition; etc.: see travail v. 1–4. 2. a. intr. To make a journey; to go from one place to another; to journey. Also fig. b. Travelers (especially in Biblical times) showed up unexpectedly (2Sa 12:4; Job 31:32). c. Likewise, poverty will not come to the sluggard immediately, but it will show up when he is not expecting it. (i) If the sluggard fails to plant in the cold weather of spring, he may have enough food to get him through the summer, but he will suffer later when the next harvest doesn't come (Pro 20:4). (ii) If we don't work and save money while we can, poverty will eventually catch up with us years later when we are old and can't work anymore. d. It often takes years for sin to catch up with us, but it always will (1Ti 5:24-25; Gal 6:7). B. and thy want as an armed man. i. The sluggard will be left in poverty. a. Want n. - 1. predicatively, or quasi-adj. (Something that is) wanting, missing. In Ormin const. with dative. Obs. rare. (last usage in 1400) 2. a. Deficiency, shortage, lack (of something desirable or necessary, esp. a quality or attribute). 3. a. The state of lacking the necessaries of life; penury; destitution. Also, the condition of lacking food; famine; starvation. to come to want: to be reduced to penury. b. Penury n. - 1. The condition of being destitute of or straitened in the necessaries of life; destitution, indigence, want; poverty. c. Destitution n. - 1. The action of deserting or forsaking. Obs. (not used until 1656) 2. Deprivation of office; discharge; dismissal. 3. a. The condition of being abandoned or left helpless, of being deprived or bereft (of anything). b. The condition of wanting or being lacking (of or †in anything); want. 4. spec. The condition of being destitute of resources; want of the necessaries of life. ii. His want will come as "an armed man." a. Armed ppl. - 1. lit. Furnished with arms or armour; fully equipped for war. b. Armed men are men of war who come to conquer and destroy. c. Want (poverty and destitution) will come to the sluggard like an invading soldier who will not spare. d. Like an armed soldier, poverty will destroy the sluggard (Pro 10:15). e. The idle soul shall suffer hunger just as the people of a conquered country (Pro 19:15). C. Take heed and abstain from laziness because poverty will come upon the sluggard unexpectedly and mercilessly. 12. Pro 6:12 - "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth." A. Solomon switches topics from condemning laziness to condemning wickedness and frowardness in verses 12-15. B. A naughty person, a wicked man, i. Naughty adj. - 1. Having or possessing naught; poor, needy. (last usage in 1377) 2. a. Of persons: Morally bad, wicked. Obs. b. Of children: Wayward, disobedient, given to doing wrong. a. A naughty person is a bad person (Jer 24:2). b. This verse defines what a naughty person is: a wicked man. c. The dictionary defines naughty exactly as the Bible does. d. The Bible has a built-in dictionary. ii. Wicked adj. - 1. Bad in moral character, disposition, or conduct; inclined or addicted to wilful wrong-doing; practising or disposed to practise evil; morally depraved. (A term of wide application, but always of strong reprobation, implying a high degree of evil quality.) iii. Solomon goes on to warn us of the characteristics and the judgment of evil men in the coming verses. C. walketh with a froward mouth. i. Walk v. - II. intr. To journey, move about, esp. on foot. 2. To go from place to place; to journey, wander. 4. a. To go about in public, live, move (in a place or region). ii. Froward adj. - 1. Disposed to go counter to what is demanded or what is reasonable; perverse, difficult to deal with, hard to please; refractory, ungovernable; †also, in a wider sense, bad, evilly-disposed, ‘naughty’. (The opposite of toward.) iii. In other words, a wicked man goes about life in a manner and communicates in a way that is contrary, unreasonable, perverse, difficult to deal with, hard to please, and ungovernable. iv. God hates a froward mouth (Pro 8:13), and so should we. v. A wicked man with a froward mouth is the kind of man that we want to avoid at all costs (Psa 101:4). a. This kind of man will do nothing but cause trouble (Pro 16:28-30). b. He has a difficult life ahead of him (Pro 22:5; Pro 13:15). c. Working for a man like this is miserable (1Pe 2:18-19). d. Employing a man like this is foolish and dangerous. e. Wisdom from the word of God will deliver us from such a wretch (Pro 2:10-15).