The Meaning of Proverbs 10:4 Explained

Proverbs 10:4

KJV: He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

YLT: Poor is he who is working -- a slothful hand, And the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Darby: He cometh to want that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

ASV: He becometh poor that worketh with a slack hand; But the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He becometh poor  that dealeth  [with] a slack  hand:  but the hand  of the diligent  maketh rich. 

What does Proverbs 10:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 10:1-16 - The Righteous And The Wicked
Wealth has its advantages, which are more than apparent. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, Proverbs 10:15; but the treasures which have been obtained by wickedness are soon dissipated. They profit nothing, Proverbs 10:2. This book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but rather for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently and rightly.
But there is another kind of wealth, which will never take wings to fly away, which no moth can corrupt nor thief steal, and which will avail not only here but here-after. Note the antithesis of Proverbs 10:2. If you would increase your wealth, give it away. See Proverbs 10:4.
The covering work of love, referred to in Proverbs 10:12, is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 13:7, r.v., margin, 1 Peter 4:8, and James 5:20. God covers sin, so that the memory of it is obliterated, Ezekiel 33:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 10

1  Proverbs of Solomon: observations of moral virtues, and their contrary vices

What do the individual words in Proverbs 10:4 mean?

He becomes poor who has a hand slack but the hand of the diligent makes rich
רָ֗אשׁ עֹשֶׂ֥ה כַף־ רְמִיָּ֑ה וְיַ֖ד חָרוּצִ֣ים תַּעֲשִֽׁיר

רָ֗אשׁ  He  becomes  poor 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רוּשׁ  
Sense: to be poor, be in want, lack.
עֹשֶׂ֥ה  who  has 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
כַף־  a  hand 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: כַּף  
Sense: palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand.
רְמִיָּ֑ה  slack 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: רְמִיָּה 
Sense: laxness, slackness, slackening, deceit, treachery.
וְיַ֖ד  but  the  hand 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
חָרוּצִ֣ים  of  the  diligent 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: חָרוּץ 
Sense: sharp-pointed, sharp, diligent.
תַּעֲשִֽׁיר  makes  rich 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָשַׁר  
Sense: to be or become rich or wealthy, enrich, pretend to be rich.