Proverbs 26:16

“The sluggard [is] wiser in his own conceit, etc.] It is a sort of a solecism, a kind of a contradiction in terms for a sluggard to be wise, who is so slothful as to make no use of the means of getting wisdom and knowledge. And it must be a mere conceit in him that he is wise, and especially that he is wiser than seven men that can render a reason; not alluding to the number of a king’s counsellors, who return him an answer to what he inquires of them, as Aben Ezra thinks; such as were the “seven” princes of the king of Persia, (<170114>Esther 1:14). Since to have such an exact number might not obtain in Solomon’s time, either in Persia, or in his own court, or elsewhere: but it signifies a…”

“The thoughtless being ignorant of their ignorance are conceited.”

“Seven - The definite number used for the indefinite (compare Proverbs 24:16). Reason - Better, a right judgment. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A reason - A satisfactory reason of ail their actions. Proverbs 26:17”

“Pro 26:12, Pro 12:15; Pe1 3:15 Proverbs 26:17”

“16 The sluggard is wise in his own eyes, More than seven men who give an excellent answer. Between slothfulness and conceit there exists no inward necessary mutual relation. The proverb means that the sluggard as such regards himself as wiser than seven, who all together answer well at any examination: much labour - he thinks with himself - only injures the health, blunts men for life and its joys, leads only to over-exertion; for the most prudent is, as a general rule, crack-brained. Bttcher's "maulfaule" \[slow to speak\] belongs to the German style of thinking; עטל לשׁנא in Syr. is not he who is slow to speak, but he who has a faltering tongue. (Note: The Aram. עטל is the Hebr. עצל, as…”