The term "dally" is not explicitly found in the Bible; however, the concept of idleness, procrastination, or engaging in frivolous activities can be related to biblical teachings. The Bible often warns against wasting time and encourages believers to be diligent and purposeful in their actions.

Biblical Principles on Idleness and Diligence

1. Proverbs on Diligence and Laziness: The Book of Proverbs frequently contrasts the diligent with the lazy, emphasizing the value of hard work and the dangers of idleness. Proverbs 6:6-11 advises, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer; she gathers her food at harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit."

2. New Testament Teachings: The New Testament also addresses the importance of using time wisely. In Ephesians 5:15-16 , Paul exhorts believers, "Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." This passage encourages Christians to be mindful of their actions and to make the most of their time in service to God.

3. The Parable of the Talents: In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents, which underscores the importance of using one's gifts and time effectively. The servant who buried his talent is rebuked for his inaction, illustrating the expectation that believers should actively engage in productive and meaningful endeavors.

4. Warnings Against Idleness: In 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 , Paul addresses the issue of idleness directly: "For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat. Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies. We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living."

Spiritual Implications

The Bible's teachings on diligence and the avoidance of idleness have spiritual implications. Believers are called to live purposefully, using their time and resources to glorify God and serve others. Engaging in activities that are frivolous or wasteful can detract from one's spiritual growth and effectiveness in fulfilling God's purposes.

Practical Application

Christians are encouraged to evaluate their daily activities and priorities, ensuring that they align with biblical principles. This involves setting goals, managing time wisely, and seeking God's guidance in all endeavors. By doing so, believers can avoid the pitfalls of idleness and instead lead lives that are fruitful and pleasing to the Lord.1. (v. i.) To waste time in effeminate or voluptuous pleasures, or in idleness; to fool away time; to delay unnecessarily; to tarry; to trifle.

2. (v. i.) To interchange caresses, especially with one of the opposite sex; to use fondling; to wanton; to sport.

3. (v. t.) To delay unnecessarily; to while away.

DALLY

dal'-i: Occurs in The Wisdom of Solomon 12:26: "But they that would not be reformed by that correction wherein he dallied with them" (paigniois epitimeseos, "child play of correction"), the reference being to the earlier and lighter plagues of Egypt; Version (British and American) renders "by a mocking correction as of children," "by a correction which was as children's play," Greek (as above). He first tried them by those lighter inflictions before sending on them the heavier. In later usage "daily" implies delay.

Vain Hopes.
... So men sometimes dally with a temptation, and linger beside it, courting its company,
instead of flinging it away from them, as the snare of the devil, because ...
//christianbookshelf.org/percival/sermons at rugby/v vain hopes.htm

Third Part of the Book.
... if thou must go out, for thine own profit or that of others, colour not thy going
with any false hue, to feign for thyself an occasion to dally with the world ...
/.../the form of perfect living and other prose treatises/third part of the book.htm

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and ...
... small one and a greater one, so as if the little one be admitted and received, the
greater shall follow; and it may be feared that if they once dally with error ...
/.../brown/christ the way the truth and the life/chapter xvi how to make.htm

Resolves to Go to College. Friends Oppose. Wife Decides It. Hard ...
... work of the Lord. I was afraid to dally about the matter any longer. I
laid the case before the Lord and my wife. I knew she was ...
/.../chapter viii resolves to go.htm

Second Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
... his ears and mind away from the enemy, the assault would be easily repulsed, but
as soon as he opens his ears so far as to dwell upon and dally with temptation ...
/.../xxiii second sermon for the.htm

Against Rash and Vain Swearing.
... What a wildness is it, to dally with that judgment upon which the eternal doom of
all creatures dependeth, at which the pillars of heaven are astonished, which ...
/.../sermons on evil-speaking by isaac barrow/against rash and vain swearing.htm

How Sin came In
... that sing and beckon. But once that awful voice is deadened, they charm,
and allure to dally with them. In the undeveloped condition ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/how sin came in.htm

The Peroration
... tears." If time can mitigate the pangs of real grief, of course the counterfeit
grief assumed in speaking must sooner vanish; so that if we dally, the auditor ...
/.../kleiser/the training of a public speaker/the peroration.htm

The New Jerusalem.
... No foe to man Lurks in the serpent now: the mother sees, And smiles to see, her
infant's playful hand Stretch'd forth to dally with the crested worm, To stroke ...
/.../bliss/a brief commentary on the apocalypse/the new jerusalem.htm

The Home-Parlor.
... They permitted them to dally with the fangs of a viper which found a ready admittance
into their parlor; and upon them, therefore, will rest the responsibility ...
/.../philips/the christian home/chapter xxii the home-parlor.htm

Dally
... to wanton; to sport. 3. (vt) To delay unnecessarily; to while away. Int.
Standard Bible Encyclopedia. DALLY. dal'-i: Occurs in The ...
/d/dally.htm - 7k

Dallying (1 Occurrence)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Dally. Multi-Version
Concordance Dallying (1 Occurrence). Genesis 26:8 And it came ...
/d/dallying.htm - 6k

Daleth (1 Occurrence)

/d/daleth.htm - 7k

Isaac (127 Occurrences)
... d) himself, Genesis 26:8. Of these passages the last two show the verb in the intensive
stem in the signification of (c) "mock" (?), and (d) "dally." We find ...
/i/isaac.htm - 60k

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit What is self-control? | GotQuestions.org

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Dally: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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