Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 22:13

"The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be slain in the streets." — Proverbs 22:13 (ASV)

The point of the satire is the ingenuity with which the slothful man devises the most improbable alarms. He hears that “there is a lion without,” that is, in the broad open country; he is afraid of being slain in the very streets of the city.