Proverbs 26:16 (BSB)

The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

From Proverbs 26. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 26:16

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 26:16: Observe, 1. The high opinion which the sluggard has of himself, notwithstanding the gross absurdity and folly of his slothfulness: He thinks himself wiser than seven men, than seven wise men, for they are such as can render a reason.
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 26:16: The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit,.... 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.
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 26:16: The thoughtless being ignorant of their ignorance are conceited.
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 26:16: Pro 26:16 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...