Commentaire sur Les Proverbes 19:24

A lazy man hid his hand in a kettle Heb. בצלחת, in a hot kettle, in which, when removed from the fire and emptied, one may warm his hand. Similar to it in Chronicles (II 35:13): “they cooked in pots, in cauldrons, and in kettles (בצלחות),” In the name of Rabbi Isaac HaLevi I heard that בצלחת is derived from the expression of the Aramaic translation of ויבקע “and he split,” which is וצלח. At the time of the cold and the frost, since the cold and the frost crack and split the hands. [Hence, we render: A lazy man hid his hand in winter.] But I heard that is a rend of a cloak called fenditura [in Italian, in German Riss, Spalt, Schlitz], i.e., he hides it in his bosom.