Bible Dictionary
SLUGGARD
A sluggard is a sluggish, lazy, or foolish person. The term is used in Proverbs for one who avoids diligence and neglects proper work.
Definition
A sluggard is a sluggish, lazy, or foolish person. The word describes one who avoids diligence and proper work.
Biblical Usage
The term occurs only in the Old Testament, and there only in Proverbs, where it characterizes sluggish behavior.
Historical Background
The underlying word means to be sluggish or stupid. In older English versions it is sometimes translated “slothful.”
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>slug'-ard: Found only in the Old Testament, and there only in Proverbs. It is the rendering given the word 'atsel everywhere in the Revised Version (British and American), but in the King James Version only in Pr 6:6,9; 10:26; 13:4; 20:4; 26:16 (elsewhere the King James Version translates by "slothful"). The root meaning of ['atsel] is "to be sluggish," "stupid." The English word "slug" is said to be "allied to slack" (Webster).</p>