Translation commentary on Proverbs 12:24

This saying is similar to others in Proverbs, particularly 10.4; 12.27; 13.4; and 21.5. Its message is: Hard work brings success.

“The hand of the diligent will rule”: “The hand . . . diligent” is the same expression as used in 10.4 and refers to a hard-working person, someone who is energetic and active. However, the sense of “rule” here and “forced labor” in line 2 may give to “hand . . . diligent” the sense of a powerful nation ruling over its weaker neighbor. The word rendered “rule” means to have absolute power and authority over others.

“While the slothful will be put to forced labor”: “The slothful” is literally “slothfulness” or “laziness.” The meaning is clearly “lazy people.” “Forced labor” renders a word that seems to mean “work gang,” that is, a gang of laborers who are forced to do heavy work.

We may translate, for example, “Those who make great efforts become powerful, but the lazy end up as slaves.

“The hard worker will become a boss. But the lazy person will become a poor laborer.”

Contemporary English Version has “Work hard, and you will be a leader; be lazy, and you will end up a slave.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 12:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 12:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “A hardworking person gets rich,
    but the lazy one becomes a slave.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The hand that works hard will rule,
    But lazy people
    will have to become slave laborers.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A diligent man can-possess/acquire a higher position, but a lazy-one on-the-other-hand can-possess/acquire a lower position.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The industrious-one becomes a leader, the lazy-one becomes a slave.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Those who work hard become rulers of others;
    those who are lazy become slaves of others.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 12:24

12:24

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

24a
The hand of the diligent will rule,

24b but laziness ends in forced labor.

This verse contrasts people who work diligently with people who are lazy. The first kind of people will attain positions of authority. The second kind will be forced to work without pay.

12:24a

The hand of the diligent will rule: The word hand here is a figure of speech (synecdoche) in which a part represents the whole. In this context, The hand of the diligent represents a person who works hard. Such a person will rule. In other words, he will rise to a position of power or authority as a master, leader or ruler.

If a literal translation of The hand of the diligent is difficult to understand in your language, some other ways to translate this figure of speech are:

Hard workers will become leaders (New Century Version)
-or-
Diligence brings people to power (Revised English Bible)

12:24b

but laziness ends in forced labor: The term forced labor refers to hard work that a group of people are forced to do without pay. The work that the Israelites did in making bricks and building cities for the Egyptians is a good example. Another example is the hard work that the Israelites were forced to do for King Solomon.

A number of English versions use expressions translate the term forced labor with the singular word “slave.” For example:

be lazy and become a slave (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
being lazy will make you a slave (Good News Translation)

These versions are probably using the word “slave” in the general sense of a person who is forced to work without pay. However, the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as forced labor here is never used of an individual, domestic slave. As noted above, it refers to a group of workers.

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