lazy person

The Hebrew that is translated as “lazy person” or “sluggard” or similar in English is translated in Low German as Fuulpelz, an idiomatic term that literally means “someone who wants to rest on an animal hide” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).

See also lazy.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 26:14

“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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 26:14)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 26:14:

  • Kupsabiny: “A lazy person turns around on his bed,
    like when a door swings on a hinged door side.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “A door only turns on its hinges,
    in just the same way, a fool only turns over in bed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “A lazy man just keeps-on-turning on his bed like a door which keeps-on-turning its hinges.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The door continually swings-back-and-forth on the hinge, the same is the lazy-one who merely turns-over-and-over on his sleeping-place (i.e., bed).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “A door continually swings back and forth on its hinges and does not go anywhere;
    similarly , lazy people just continually turn over in their beds and never do anything.” (Source: Translation for Translators)