Proverbs 21:5

“The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness, etc.] A man that is thoughtful and studious, and wisely forms schemes in his mind, and diligently pursues them; the issue of it is, generally speaking, prosperity and plenty: such a man is usually thriving and flourishing; and this holds good in things spiritual, as well as in things temporal, (<402529>Matthew 25:29); but of everyone [that is] hasty only to want; that is in haste to be rich, and is resolved to be so, right or wrong, he comes at last to poverty and want: or he who is rash and precipitate in acting, who never thinks before he acts, but rashly engages in an affair; or, however, does not give himself time enough to think…”

“The contrast is between steady industry and rashness (compare Pro 19:2).”

“Here diligence is opposed, not to sloth but to haste. Undue hurry is as fatal to success as undue procrastination. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Hasty - Who manages his affairs rashly. Proverbs 21:6”

“thoughts: Pro 10:4, Pro 13:4, Pro 27:23-27; Eph 4:28; Th1 4:11, Th1 4:12 of every: Pro 14:29, Pro 20:21, Pro 28:22 Proverbs 21:6”

“5 The striving of the diligent is only to advantage. And hastening all \[excessive haste\] only to loss; or in other words, and agreeably to the Heb. construction: The thoughts of the industrious are (reach) only to gain, And every one who hastens - it (this his hastening) is only to loss. Vid., at Pro 17:21. At Pro 10:4, Luther translates "the hand of the diligent," here "the plans of an expert \[endelichen\]," i.e., of one actively striving ( Pro 22:29, endelich = מהיר) to the end. The אץ, hastening overmuch, is contrasted with the diligent: Luther well: but he who is altogether too precipitant. Everywhere else in the Proverbs אץ has a closer definition with it, wherefore Hitzig reads אצר,…”