Proverbs 10:26 (BSB)

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

From Proverbs 10. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 10:26

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 10:26: Observe, 1. Those that are of a slothful disposition, that love their ease and cannot apply their minds to any business, are not fit to be employed, no, not so much as to be sent on an errand, for they will neither deliver a message with any care nor make any haste back.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 10:26: As vinegar to the teeth,.... Which, with its coldness and sourness, blunts the teeth, and makes it troublesome to eat: the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "as the sour grape is hurtful to the teeth;'' sets them on edge; and as smoke to the eye; dims the sight, causes the eye to water, and is very pernicious and vexatious: so is the sluggard...
• Geneva Bible Notes (Reformed), Geneva Bible Study Notes on Proverbs 10:26: As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so [is] the sluggard to them that send him. (l) He is trouble and grief to him about any business.
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 10:26: Pro 10:26 This proverb stands out of connection with the series: As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, So is the sluggard to them who gives him a commission. A parabolic proverb (vid., p. 9), priamel-like in its formation (p. 13).