"A lazy man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence"
lazy
This is the Hebrew word emiyyah which means laxness, slackness, laziness, negligent.
Solomon is acting like a life coach to those who need to recognize certain types of people that will come across their path. You do not want to become the partner of a lazy person or become a lazy person yourself. So you need to know the clues that will tip you off to this character flaw in other people or in yourself.
The character flaw that Solomon exposes here is that lazy people skip essential or crucial steps to get what they want. It is not that they don't know the steps; it is that they just skip them. This is a sign of laziness. Eliminate this tendency in yourself and lower your association and/or contracts with partners like this.
roast
This is the Hebrew word charak which means scorch, parch, or roast. The idea here seems to be cook in some form. The person who caught a game animal would clean it and then cook it on an open spit which would kill parasites and other bacteria.
The point Solomon is trying to make is that lazy people are unwilling to do basic things. They just want the easy way. They take risks to get to what they want then suffer the consequences for what they have not done.
Solomon is saying that there are clues to the fact that you are dealing with lazy or slack people. The clue is that they skip crucial steps.
precious
This is the Hebrew word yaqar which means precious, rare, splendid, weighty. The idea here is that this is rare. It is wonderful to possess personally and to see evidenced in your friends, family, and associates. This quality of diligence is extremely valuable.
possession
This is the Hebrew word hon which means wealth, sufficiency, riches, possession. Solomon is separating out character qualities that are worth paying the price to develop. One of them is diligence.
diligence
This is the Hebrew word charuts which means sharp, diligent. The idea of staying with it; the idea of doing all the parts of a project and not skipping any just because it is easier; making sure that you are fully prepared for the task at hand.
Is the person prepared? Does he/she take the necessary steps in order to produce the best outcome? Are you skipping steps in order to get what you want?
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz