Topic
Idle; Idleness
9 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Exodus 5:8ISBE
And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
- Exodus 5:17ISBE
But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
- Proverbs 19:15ISBE
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Proverbs 31:27ISBE
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
- Ecclesiastes 10:18ISBE
¶ By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
- Ezekiel 16:49ISBE
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
- Matthew 20:3ISBE
And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
- Matthew 20:6ISBE
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
- Luke 24:11ISBE
And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 9 references
i'-d'-l, i'-d'-l-nes: Both words, adjective and noun, render different Hebrew words (from `atsel, "to be lazy," raphah, "to relax," and shaqaT, "to be quiet"). According to the Yahwistic narrative Pharaoh's retort to the complaints of the Israelites was a charge of indolence (Ex 5:8,17). It was a favorite thought of Hebrew wisdom--practical philosophy of life--that indolence inevitably led to poverty and want (Pr 19:15; Ec 10:18). The "virtuous woman" was one who would not eat the "bread of idleness" (Pr 31:27). In Eze 16:49 for the King James Version "abundance of idleness," the Revised Version (British and American) has "prosperous ease." In the New Testament "idle" generally renders the Greek word argos, literally, "inactive," "useless" (Mt 20:3,6). In Lu 24:11 "idle talk" corresponds to one Greek word which means "empty gossip" or "nonsensical talk."
T. Lewis
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.