Proverbs 12:27

The lazy person does not roast ¹  his prey, but personal possessions ²  are precious to the diligent.

The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

A lazy man does not roast his prey, But the precious possession of a man is diligence.

Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find.

A lazy life is an empty life, but "early to rise" gets the job done.

He who is slow in his work does not go in search of food; but the ready worker gets much wealth.

The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth.

The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.

The lazy person does not roast ¹  his prey, but personal possessions ²  are precious to the diligent.

¹ tc The MT reads יַחֲרֹךְ (yakharokh) from II חָרַךְ (kharakh, “to roast”?). On the other hand, several versions (LXX, Syriac, Vulgate) reflect a Hebrew Vorlage of יַדְרִיךְ (yadrikh) from דָרַךְ (darakh, “to gain”), meaning: “a lazy person cannot catch his prey” (suggested by Gemser; cf. NAB). The MT is the more difficult reading, being a hapax legomenon, and therefore should be retained; the versions are trying to make sense out of a rare expression.

tn The verb II חָרַךְ (kharakh) is a hapax legomenon, appearing in the OT only here. BDB suggests that it means “to start; to set in motion” (BDB 355 s.v.). The related Aramaic and Syriac verb means “to scorch; to parch,” and the related Arabic verb means “to roast; to scorch by burning”; so it may mean “to roast; to fry” (HALOT 353 s.v. I חרך). The lazy person can’t be bothered cooking what he has hunted. The Midrash sees an allusion to Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. M. Dahood translates it: “the languid man will roast no game for himself, but the diligent will come on the wealth of the steppe” (“The Hapax harak in Proverbs 12:27,” Bib 63 [1982]: 60-62). This hyperbole means that the lazy person does not complete a project.

² tn Heb “the wealth of a man.”