Verse 10 may be taken either as the continuation of the teacher’s remarks or as the reply made by the lazy one.

“A little sleep, a little slumber”: If taken as the words of the teacher, “little” before “sleep” and “slumber” adds to the sarcasm directed at the “sluggard” who has just been asked when he is going to stop sleeping. If these are the words of the lazy person, the sense is “[Let me] take a little more sleep. . ..” “Slumber” renders a word that suggests being drowsy from lack of activity.

“A little folding of the hands to rest”: “Folding of the hands” or crossing the arms over the chest is in preparation for relaxing and sleep. A similar expression is used in Eccl 4.5, where it signifies the inactivity of a fool. “Rest” renders a word that means to lie down for resting. It is the same word as “lie” in verse 9.

For verse 10 as the words of the “the sluggard,” see Good News Translation. Another similar rendering is “All the time he says, ‘I’ll just lie down on my back a little bit and have a rest.'” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch understands verse 10 to be spoken by the teacher but quoting the lazy learner: “ ‘Just a little snooze,’ you say, ‘only a moment of shuteye and the hands laid in the lap.'” A version that addresses lazy people generally in the plural says, “You say, ‘It doesn’t matter, we [exclusive] want to sleep a little bit more. We want to rest for a short time and then we’ll get up.'”

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 .