Amsal 18:9

18:9 The one who ¹  is slack ²  in his work

is a brother ³  to one who destroys. ⁴ 

[18:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ² tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ³ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”