Proverbs 13:4

“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing, etc.] He desires knowledge, but does not care to be at any pains to get it, and so has it not; he desires riches, but chooses not to make use of the means, to be diligent and industrious, and so he is without them; he desires to wear good clothes and rich raiment, but is unwilling to labour for them, and therefore is clothed with rags; he desires food, and plenty of it, but refuses to work for it; and he that will not work should not eat, and therefore he has it not, but starves and famishes: and, in spiritual things, the sluggard desires heaven and happiness, but does not care to do the duties of religion; he would die the death of the…”

“(Compare Pro 12:11, Pro 12:27).”

“desireth: Pro 10:4, Pro 12:11, Pro 12:24, Pro 26:13; Num 23:10 but: Pro 2:2-9, Pro 8:34; Joh 6:27; Heb 6:11; Pe2 1:5-11 made: Pro 11:25, Pro 28:25; Psa 92:14; Isa 58:11 Proverbs 13:5”

“The three proverbs ( Pro 13:1-3) which refer to hearing and speaking are now following by a fourth which, like Pro 13:2 and Pro 13:3, speaks of the נפשׁ. The soul of the sluggard desires, yet has not; But the soul of the industrious is richly satisfied. The view that the o in נפשׁו עצל is the cholem compaginis, Bttcher, 835, meets with the right answer that this would be the only example of a vocal casus in the whole of gnomic poetry; but when on his own part (Neue Aehrenlese, 1305) he regards נפשׁו as the accus. of the nearer definition (= בּנפשׁו), he proceeds inadvertently on the view that the first word of the proverb is מתאוּה, while we read מתאוּה, and נפשׁו is thus the nom. of the…”