The sluggard invents a lion in the streets to avoid the work waiting for him.
A small portrait of self-deception appears in Proverbs 22:13: The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside, I will be killed in the streets!" (v. 13). Solomon makes us hear the excuse in the sluggard's own voice.
The sluggard says. The verse is built around what comes out of his mouth, because what comes out of his mouth reveals what is going on inside him. He has work to do; he is reaching for a reason not to do it.
There is a lion outside, I will be killed in the streets! The objection is so improbable that it functions as comedy. Solomon is showing how excuses, exaggerated to the point of absurdity, can still seem reasonable to the man making them. Proverbs 26:13 repeats the same sluggard with the same lion. The verse warns the wise reader to listen to his own excuses with a more skeptical ear.
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Proverbs 22:13 meaning
A small portrait of self-deception appears in Proverbs 22:13: The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside, I will be killed in the streets!" (v. 13). Solomon makes us hear the excuse in the sluggard's own voice.
The sluggard says. The verse is built around what comes out of his mouth, because what comes out of his mouth reveals what is going on inside him. He has work to do; he is reaching for a reason not to do it.
There is a lion outside, I will be killed in the streets! The objection is so improbable that it functions as comedy. Solomon is showing how excuses, exaggerated to the point of absurdity, can still seem reasonable to the man making them. Proverbs 26:13 repeats the same sluggard with the same lion. The verse warns the wise reader to listen to his own excuses with a more skeptical ear.