"Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks."

This seems to be. comment upon the previous verses. Solomon has just discussed slothful rulers. "Certainly "sloth" (18) which silently destroys. neglected house or. sluggish spirit, is as fatal to. kingdom as to. building or. person. Nothing else is needed to bring it down, and nothing is more devastating. Whatever kinds of damage can be safely overlooked, decay is not among them: time is on its side" (Kidner p. 95). Hence the house under consideration is the "state of the nation". When those in authority are more concerned with their own personal pleasures, than the welfare of the nation, the nation falls apart (Amos 6:6).

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Old Testament