21:26

This proverb contrasts a lazy person with people who are righteous. The lazy person is greedy. His desires are never satisfied. In contrast, righteous people are generous.

26a All day long he covets more,

26b but the righteous give without restraint.

It is implied from the parallel contrasts that lazy people are not righteous and do not give anything to others. It is also implied that righteous people are not lazy, so their desires are satisfied.

21:26a

All day long he covets more: There is a textual issue in this clause:

(1) The Masoretic Text has “he.” It probably refers back to “the sluggard ” in 21:25. For example:

All day long he is craving (New American Standard Bible)

(2) The LXX has “the wicked.” For example:

All day long the wicked covet (New Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most scholars.

he covets more: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “he desires a desire.” This construction intensifies the meaning of “he desires” in some way. For example:

he craves greedily (NET Bible)
-or-
his cravings go unsatisfied (Revised English Bible)

21:26b

but the righteous give without restraint: In contrast to the lazy person who continually wants more for himself, people who are righteous give generously to others. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

the upright gives without ever refusing (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
but the righteous gives and does not hold back (English Standard Version)
-or-
But people who obey God are always generous. (Contemporary English Version)

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