Proverbs Chapter 18 verse 9 Holy Bible
He also that is slack in his work Is brother to him that is a destroyer.
read chapter 18 in ASV
He who does not give his mind to his work is brother to him who makes destruction.
read chapter 18 in BBE
He also who is indolent in his work is brother of the destroyer.
read chapter 18 in DARBY
He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
read chapter 18 in KJV
read chapter 18 in WBT
One who is slack in his work Is brother to him who is a master of destruction.
read chapter 18 in WEB
He also that is remiss in his work, A brother he `is' to a destroyer.
read chapter 18 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 9. - He also that is slothful (slack) in his work. A man that does his work in some sort, but not heartily and diligently, as one who knows that labour is not only a duty and necessity, but a means of sanctification, a training for a higher life. Is brother to him that is a great waster; a destroyer. "Brother" is used as "companion" in Proverbs 28:24 (comp. Job 30:29), for one of like attributes and tendencies; as we say, "next door to;" and the destroyer is, as Nowack says, not merely one who wastes his property by reckless expenditure, but one who delights in such destruction, finds a morbid pleasure in haves and ruin. So the maxim asserts that remissness in duty is as mischievous as actual destructiveness. "An idle brain," say the Italians, "is the devil's workshop." The word rendered "great" is baal (Proverbs 1:19), "owner," patrono (Montanus), domino (Vatablus); and, taking this sense, according to Wordsworth and others, the sentence implies that the servant who is slothful is brother to a master who is a prodigal. But the interpretation given above is best founded. The LXX., reading מתרפא instead of, מתרפה, renders, "He who healeth not (ὁ μὴ ἰώμενος) himself in his works is brother to him who destroyeth himself." Maxims concerning laziness are found in other places; e.g. Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 12:11, 24; Proverbs 23:21.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(9) He also that is slothful in his work.--Whatsoever it may be that is committed to his care, is "brother to him that is a great waster," or "destroyer "; neglect of duty causes almost as much mischief in life as active wickedness.
