Proverbs 10:4

Study note

Setting — Solomon (or a later wisdom teacher) addresses a general audience of sons and learners within the Proverbs 10–22 collection. No specific occasion is named; the sayings stand as standing instruction.

The words — The verse deliberately contrasts כַף (khaf, "palm") with יָד (yad, "hand"), two different words for the same body part, pairing the "palm of laxness" against the "hand of the diligent." The text chooses two distinct terms to mark the contrast rather than repeating one.

The thread — Proverbs 19:15, 20:4, and 13:4 all tie the same slacking to hunger or empty hands, confirming this as a recurring wisdom motif rather than an isolated saying.

Why it lands — It makes a direct causal claim about the reader's own hands and asks them to identify which state they are in. There is no exception clause or appeal to circumstance; the demand is simply to work.

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.