Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the slacker to those who send him.
Parallel translations
- WEB As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
- KJV As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
- NKJV As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy man to those who send him.
- NASB Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.
- NLT Lazy people irritate their employers, like vinegar to the teeth or smoke in the eyes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A lazy person sent on an errand is as irritating and unreliable as vinegar on the teeth or smoke in the eyes. The proverb warns against the frustration the sluggard causes those who depend on him.
Overview
Using two vivid sensory images of discomfort, Proverbs pictures the exasperation of trusting work to a sluggard who fails to deliver. The point is practical: laziness is not a private fault but harms others who rely on us. Faithfulness in our tasks reflects the trustworthiness of God, who never fails those who depend on Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 26:6Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
- Prov 25:13Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.
- Matt 25:26‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
- Prov 25:20Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- Isa 65:5They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
- Heb 6:12Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
- Rom 12:11Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 10:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.