atsel · sluggard, lazy

What it means

atsel (עָצֵל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “sluggard, lazy”.

Lazy, sluggish; the sluggard, one who will not work.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Someone who won't work and makes excuses.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Proverbs 6:6

  Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise;

• Proverbs 6:9

  How long, sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from your sleep?

• Proverbs 10:26

  Like vinegar to the teeth, and like smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

• Proverbs 13:4

  The soul of the sluggard craves, and there is nothing; but the soul of the diligent will be filled to the full.

• Proverbs 15:19

  The way of the sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.

• Proverbs 19:24

  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.

• Proverbs 20:4

  From autumn the sluggard does not plow; he asks at the harvest, and there is nothing.

• Proverbs 21:25

  The craving of the sluggard will kill him, for his hands refuse to work.

• Proverbs 22:13

  The sluggard says, “A lion is outside! In the middle of the squares I will be murdered!”

• Proverbs 24:30

  I passed by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense;

• Proverbs 26:13

  The sluggard says, “A fierce lion is in the road! A lion among the squares!”

• Proverbs 26:14

  The door turns on its hinge, and the sluggard on his bed.

• Proverbs 26:15

  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too weary to bring it back to his mouth.

• Proverbs 26:16

  The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven who answer with judgment.