Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 10:18
Through laziness the roof caves in, and in the hands of the idle, the house leaks.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Qoheleth addresses the reader, contrasting the previous verse’s blessing of stable leadership with a warning about domestic and communal decay. He speaks to any household or nation that ignores routine maintenance.
The words — עֲצַלְתָּיִם ('a.tzal.Ta.yim) means laziness or idleness, and יִמַּךְ (yi.Makh) literally means it sinks or caves in. These terms describe the physical failure of the roof rafters under neglect.
The thread — The link between idleness and ruin runs through Proverbs 20:4 and Proverbs 24:30, where the slacker’s failure to work in season produces empty fields. Proverbs 14:1 contrasts this with the wise person who builds and maintains a house.
Why it lands — The text states that structural collapse follows directly from idle hands and deferred repair. It demands consistent, timely labor to prevent preventable decay.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- Proverbs 20:4 The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
- Proverbs 24:30 I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
- Proverbs 21:25 The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.
- Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
- Hebrews 6:11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
- Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
- 2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;