So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
The verse is addressed to the sluggard who folds his hands and sleeps instead of acting, teaching that idleness, laziness and inactivity bring poverty and need. Folding the hands in idleness leads directly to want overtaking the inactive person. That poverty and want come as one that travels and as an armed man means they arrive surely, as a traveler arrives and an armed man strikes. Their coming is sudden and forceful, like a traveler arriving or an armed man overtaking, with a power that cannot be resisted.
The verse therefore calls for daily and persistent labor, for idleness is shameful while labor is honorable and life-giving. It calls for industrious habits and frugality, treating the aim to support oneself rather than depend on others as a worthy ambition. The folded hands picture people who know the truth and the work they should do yet remain inactive instead of doing it. They are asleep to their duty to serve.
Sleeping instead of acting also warns against delaying repentance, for the opportunity of mercy passes and the unprepared are left without excuse and found wanting. Want coming like an armed man also pictures wrong habits and unguided desires which, once they have become second nature, rise forcefully to aid temptation when reason and conscience fail to restrain them. Coming like an armed man also pictures how sleep overpowers with irresistible stupor one who has sacrificed needed sleep for study and labor through reading and study, so that he cannot stay alert and serve when his work is needed. The same image pictures the sudden and forceful mental dullness that settles on Brother Smith as his weakened nature recovers. The image of want arriving like an armed man also pictures a sudden severe cold that hemmed travelers in and delayed their move.
The verse is addressed to the sluggard who folds his hands and sleeps instead of acting, teaching that idleness, laziness and inactivity bring poverty and need. Folding the hands in idleness leads directly to want overtaking the inactive person. That poverty and want come as one that travels and as an armed man means they arrive surely, as a traveler arrives and an armed man strikes. Their coming is sudden and forceful, like a traveler arriving or an armed man overtaking, with a power that cannot be resisted.
The verse therefore calls for daily and persistent labor, for idleness is shameful while labor is honorable and life-giving. It calls for industrious habits and frugality, treating the aim to support oneself rather than depend on others as a worthy ambition. The folded hands picture people who know the truth and the work they should do yet remain inactive instead of doing it. They are asleep to their duty to serve.
Sleeping instead of acting also warns against delaying repentance, for the opportunity of mercy passes and the unprepared are left without excuse and found wanting. Want coming like an armed man also pictures wrong habits and unguided desires which, once they have become second nature, rise forcefully to aid temptation when reason and conscience fail to restrain them. Coming like an armed man also pictures how sleep overpowers with irresistible stupor one who has sacrificed needed sleep for study and labor through reading and study, so that he cannot stay alert and serve when his work is needed. The same image pictures the sudden and forceful mental dullness that settles on Brother Smith as his weakened nature recovers. The image of want arriving like an armed man also pictures a sudden severe cold that hemmed travelers in and delayed their move.