Proverbs 22:13

“The slothful [man] saith, [there is] a lion without, etc.] Or, “in the street”. This he says within himself; or to those who call out to him, and put him on doing the business of his proper calling, whether in the field or elsewhere, which, through his slothfulness, he has a disinclination to; and therefore frames excuses, and suggests this and that difficulty or danger in the way, expressed by a “lion without”; and which shows the folly and weakness of his excuses, since lions do not usually walk in cities, towns, and villages, and in the streets of them, but in woods and mountains; I shall be slain in the streets; by the lion there; or I shall never be able to get over the difficulties,…”

“Frivolous excuses satisfy the indolent man's conscience.”

“The point of the satire is the ingenuity with which the slothful man devises the most improbable alarms. He hears that “there is a lion without,” i. e., in the broad open country; he is afraid of being slain in the very streets of the city. return to 'Top of Page'”

“22:13 Of the many proverbs on laziness (10:4-6, 26; 12:11; 13:4; 14:4; 15:19; 18:9; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:25; 26:13), this is among the funniest. Lazy people will come up with any outlandish excuse for not working.”

“The slothful: That is, the slothful man uses any pretext, however improbable, to indulge his love of ease and indolence. Pro 15:19, Pro 26:13-16; Num 13:32, Num 13:33 Proverbs 22:14”

“13 The sluggard saith, "A lion is without, I shall be slain in the midst of the streets." Otherwise rendered, Pro 26:13. There, as here, the perf. אמר has the meaning of an abstract present, Gesen. 126. 3. The activity of the industrious has its nearest sphere at home; but here a work is supposed which requires him to go forth ( Psa 104:3) into the field ( Pro 24:27). Therefore חוּץ stands first, a word of wide signification, which here denotes the open country outside the city, where the sluggard fears to meet a lion, as in the streets, i.e., the rows of houses forming them, to meet a רצח (מרצּח), i.e., a murder from motives of robbery of revenge. This strong word, properly to destroy,…”