“As a door turns on its hinges”: The comparison here is between the lazy person and “a door” that swings back and forth but is held in place by “its hinges”. Where people are not familiar with “hinges”, translators may say something like “Like a door that swings open and shut [or, backwards and forwards].”

“So does a sluggard on his bed”: The image is that of the lazy person who does not get out of bed. His only movement is from one side of his body to the other, and he goes nowhere. We may translate, for example, “As a door swings back and forth on it hinges, so a lazy person turns over in his bed.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .