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