Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 10:1
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honor.
1. Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary ] The division of the chapters obscures the connexion. The maxim now before us is but the figurative expression of the fact stated, without a parable, in the last verse of ch. 9. The “dead flies” are, in the Hebrew, “flies of death,” probably, i.e. poisonous, or stinging flies of the dung-fly, or carrion-fly type. Such insects, finding their way into a vase of precious ointment, would turn its fragrance into a ftid odour. The work of an “apothecary” or manufacturer of unguents was one held in honour in Jerusalem, and the guilds to which they belonged had a special street or bazaar. Few similitudes could describe more vividly the tainting influence of folly, moral or intellectual. It is to the full as expressive as “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” of 1Co 5:6. The experience of every day shews us, how little sins mar the nobleness of a great character; procrastination, talkativeness, indecision, over-sensitiveness to praise or blame, undue levity or undue despondency, want of self-control over appetites or passions, these turn the fragrance of a good name (ch. Ecc 7:1) into the “ill savour” which stinks in the nostrils of mankind.
so doth a little folly ] The completeness of the proverb in the English is obtained by the insertion of the words “so doth.” This is, however, a somewhat over-bold manipulation of the text, and it remains to see whether we can get an adequate meaning without it. The true rendering seems to be as follows, More prevailing (this takes the place of “him that is in reputation,” the primary meaning of the root being that of weight) than wisdom and honour is a little folly. This gives substantially the same meaning as the present English text, though in a different manner. The “little folly” outweighs the wisdom, and diminishes both its actual value and the estimate men form of it. Looking to the language of ch. Ecc 7:1, the effect of a little folly on the reputation of the wise would seem to be the prominent thought. By some commentators the English meaning of the word is retained even with this construction “ More highly prized ( i. e. in the opinion of the unthinking) is a little folly than wisdom and honour,” but this destroys the parallelism with the first clause. The writer does not here speak of the undue honour paid to folly, but of its really destructive power even when matched against wisdom. The saying ascribed to the Chancellor Oxenstiern comes to one’s mind, “ Quantul sapienti regatur mundus! ” One foolish prince, or favourite, or orator prevails against many wise. One element of folly in the character prevails over many excellencies.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This verse is by its meaning so closely connected with Ecc 9:18 that the selection of it for the beginning of a new chapter seems unfortunate.
Apothecary – Rather: a dealer in spices and perfumes (compare Exo 30:25). The swarms of flies in the East very soon corrupt and destroy any moist unguent or mixture left uncovered, and pollute a dish of food in a few minutes.
So doth … – literally, more weighty than wisdom, than honor, is a little folly.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 10:1
Dead flies cause the ointment . . . to send forth a stinking savour.
Dead flies
Among the Jews, oil rendered fragrant by being mixed with precious drugs was used for many different purposes. With it priests and kings were anointed when they entered upon their offices, guests at the tables of the rich were treated to it as a luxury. It was used medicinally for outward application to the bodies of the sick; and with it corpses, and the clothes in which they were wrapped, were besprinkled before burial. Very great care was needed in the preparation of the material used for such special purposes. Elaborately confected as the ointment was, it was easily spoiled and rendered worthless. It was accordingly necessary not only to take great pains in making it, but also in preserving it from contamination when made. A dead fly would soon corrupt the ointment, and turn it into a pestilent odour. So, says the Preacher, a noble and attractive character may be corrupted and destroyed by a little folly; an insignificant-looking fault or weakness may outweigh great gifts and attainments. The fault which shows itself in a character is not like a stain or flaw in a marble statue, which is confined to one spot, and is no worse after the lapse of years, but like a sore in a living body, which weakens and may destroy the whole organism. One cause why the evil influence spreads is that we are not on our guard against it, and it may grow to almost ungovernable strength before we are really convinced that there is any danger. We can recognize at once great errors and heinous vices, and the alarm and disgust they excite prepare us to resist them; but little follies and weaknesses often fill us with an amused contempt for them, which blinds us to their great power for evil. So numerous are the sources from which danger arises, that a long list might be made of the little sins by which the characters of many good men and women are often marred: indolence, selfishness, love of ease, procrastination, indecision, rudeness, irritability, over-sensitiveness to praise or blame, vanity, boastfulness, talkativeness, love of gossip, undue laxity, undue severity, want of self-control over appetites and passions, obstinacy, parsimony. Numerous though these follies are, they may be reduced into two great classes–faults of weakness and faults of strength.
I. Faults of weakness. This class is that of those which are largely negative, and consist principally in omission to give a definite and worthy direction to the nature; want of self-control, love of ease, indolence, procrastination, indecision, selfishness, unfeelingness. Want of self-control over appetites and passions led David into the foulest crimes, which, though sincerely repented of, were most terribly avenged, and have for ever left a stain upon his name. Love of case is the only fault which is implied in the description of the rich man in the parable (Luk 16:19), a desire to be comfortable and avoid all that was disagreeable, but it led him to such callous indifference to the miseries of his fellows, as disqualified him for happiness in the world to come. A very striking illustration of the deterioration of a character through the sin of weakness and indecision is to be found in the life of Eli. His good qualities have not preserved his memory from contempt. This is the sting of the rebuke addressed to the Church of Laodicea (Rev 3:15-16). In Dantes description of the lower world special infamy is attached to this class of offenders, that of those who have never really lived, who have never awakened to take any part either in good or evil, to care for anything but themselves. They are unfit for heaven, and hell scorns to receive them. This miserable mode the dreary souls of those sustain who lived without blame and without praise.
II. Faults of strength. This class includes those faults which are of a positive character, and consist largely in an abuse of qualities which might have been virtues. The very strength of character by which men and women are distinguished may lead by over-emphasis into very offensive deterioration. Thus firmness may degenerate into obstinacy, frugality into parsimony, liberality into extravagance, light-heartedness into frivolity, candour into rudeness, and so on. And these are faults which disgust and repel, and cause us to overlook even very great merits in a character; and not only so, but, if unchecked, gradually nullify those merits. We may find in the character of Christ all the virtues which go to make up holiness so admirably balanced that no one is over-prominent, and therefore no one pushed to that excess which so often mars human excellence. His tender tone was the keen edge of His reproofs, and His unquestionable love infused solemnity into every warning. (Homiletic Magazine.)
Dead flies
Our instances must be taken almost at random; for, like their Egyptian prototypes, these flies are too many to be counted.
I. Rudeness. Some good men are blunt in their feelings, and rough in their manners; and they apologize for their coarseness by calling it honesty, downrightness, plainness of speech. They quote in self-defence the sharp words and shaggy mien of Elijah and John the Baptist, and, as affectation, they sneer at the soft address and mild manners of gentler men. The question, however, is not between two rival graces–between integrity on the one side, and affability on the other; but the question is, Are these two graces compatible? Is it possible for a man to be explicit, and open, and honest, and, withal, courteous and considerate of the feelings of others? Is it possible to add to fervour and fidelity, suavity, and urbanity, and brotherly kindness? There never was one more faithful than the Son of God, but there never was one more considerate. And just as rudeness is not essential to honesty, so neither is roughness essential to strength of character. The Christian should have a strong character; he should be a man of remarkable decision. And he should be a man of inflexible purpose. When once he knows his Lords will, he should go through with it, aye, through fire and water. But this he may do without renouncing the meekness and gentleness which were in Christ. He may have zeal without pugnacity, determination without obstinacy.
II. Irritability. One of the most obvious and impressive features in the Saviours character was His meekness. In a patience which ingenious or sudden provocation could not upset; in a magnanimity which insult could not ruffle; in a gentleness from which no folly could extract an unadvised word, men saw what they could scarcely understand, but that which made them marvel. But many Christians lack this beauty of their Masters holiness; they are afflicted with evil tempers, they cannot rule their spirits, or rather they do not try. Some indulge occasional fits of anger; and others are haunted by habitual, daily, life-long fretfulness. The one sort is generally calm and pellucid as an Alpine lake, but on some special provocation is tossed up into a magnificent tempest; the other is like the Bosphorns, in a continual stir, and even when not a breath is moving, by the contrariety of its internal currents vexing itself into a ceaseless whirl and eddy. But either form, the paroxysmal fury, and the perennial fretfulness, is inconsistent with the wisdom from above, which is peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated.
III. Selfishsess. The world expects self-denial in the Christian; and with reason, for of all men he can best afford it, and by his profession he is committed to it. Attention to the wants of others, care for their welfare, and consideration for their feelings are Scriptural graces for which all Christians ought to be conspicuous. Christianity allows us to forget our own wants, but it does not permit us to forget the necessities of our brethren. It requires us to be careless of our own ease, but it forbids us to overlook the comfort and convenience of other people. (J. Hamilton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER X
Observations on wisdom and folly, 1-3.
Concerning right conduct towards rulers, 4.
Merit depressed, and worthlessness exalted, 5-7.
Of him who digs a pit and removes a landmark, 8, 9.
The use of wisdom and experience, 10.
Of the babbler and the fool, 11-15.
The infant king, 16.
The well-regulated court, 17.
Of slothfulness, 18.
Of feasting, 19.
Speak not evil of the king, 20.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1. Dead flies] Any putrefaction spoils perfume; and so a foolish act ruins the character of him who has the reputation of being wise and good. Alas! alas! in an unguarded moment how many have tarnished the reputation which they were many years in acquiring! Hence, no man can be said to be safe, till he is taken to the paradise of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Dead flies falling into it, and abiding and being putrefied in it, especially in those countries, where there were more filthy and venomous flies, and where the ointments were more pure, and where the air was more hot, than in these parts.
So doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour; which comes to pass, partly because all the actions, and consequently the follies, of such men are most diligently observed, and soonest discerned, and tossed about in the mouths of men, whereas fools and all their carriages are generally disregarded; and partly because of that envious and malicious disposition of mens minds, which makes them quick-sighted to discover, and glad to hear and forward to declare, the faults of such as by their greater eminency did outshine and obscure them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Following up Ec9:18.
him that is in reputationforexample, David (2Sa 12:14);Solomon (1Ki 11:1-43);Jehoshaphat (2Ch 18:1-34;2Ch 19:2); Josiah (2Ch35:22). The more delicate the perfume, the more easily spoiled isthe ointment. Common oil is not so liable to injury. So the higher aman’s religious character is, the more hurt is caused by a sinfulfolly in him. Bad savor is endurable in oil, but not in whatprofesses to be, and is compounded by the perfumer (“apothecary”)for, fragrance. “Flies” answer to “a little folly”(sin), appropriately, being small (1Co5:6); also, “Beelzebub” means prince of flies.“Ointment” answers to “reputation” (Ecc 7:1;Gen 34:30). The verbs aresingular, the noun plural, implying that each ofthe flies causes the stinking savor.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour,…. Such, as Jarchi observes, are in the winter season, which are weak and near to death, and get into precious ointment, prepared after the best manner, where they die, and corrupt and spoil it: or, “flies of deaths” m; deadly ones, which have something in their nature poisonous and pernicious; which, when they light upon the most sweet and savoury ointment, give it an ill smell;
[so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour; a good name is like precious ointment, valuable and fragrant; sin, which is folly, is like a dead fly; not only light and mean, and base and worthless, but hurtful and pernicious, deadly, and the cause of death; and what may seem little, a peccadillo, or, however, one single act of sin, may injure the character of a wise and honourable man, and greatly expose him to shame and contempt, and cause him to stink in the nostrils of men, Ge 36:20; and to be reproached by men, and religion and government to be reproached for his sake. Thus the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah, what a slur did it bring on the character of David, so famous for wisdom and honour, for religion and piety? and the idolatry of Solomon, the wisest of men; Jehoshaphat, that good king, entering into affinity with Ahab; and pious Josiah going to war with the king of Egypt, contrary to the word of the Lord; with many other instances. This teaches how careful men eminent for gifts and grace should be of their words and actions; since the least thing amiss in them is easily discerned, and soon taken notice of, as the least speck in a diamond, or spot in fine linen, clean and white; and there are wicked and envious persons enough watching for their halting, glad to have an occasion against them, and improve everything to the uttermost: this is a caution to wise magistrates, honourable ministers of the word, and eminent professors more especially. The Targum is,
“evil concupiscence, which dwells at the gates of the heart, is as a fly, and is the cause of death in the world; and corrupts a good name, which was before like to anointing oil, perfumed with spices:”
and to the same purpose the Midrash. One of the names of Satan is Beelzebub, the lord of a fly; who, by his temptations, solicits to sin and folly, which produce the effect here mentioned, and therefore to be shunned as a deadly fly in the ointment, Mt 12:24. Gussetius n renders it,
“that which is precious and worthy of honour “proceeds” from wisdom; and folly “comes” from glory, “worldly glory”, in a little time.”
m “muscae mortis”, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Amama, Cocceius, Rambachius. n Ebr. Comment. p. 344.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The second half of the foregoing double proverb introduces what now follows: “Poisonous flies make to stink, make to ferment the oil of the preparer of ointment; heavier than wisdom, than honour, weighs a little folly.” We do not need to change , on account of the foll. sing. of the pred., either into (as possible by Hitz.) or (Luzz.); both are inadmissible, for the style of Koheleth is not adorned with archaisms such as Chirek compaginis; and also such an attrib. clause as , a fly which dies,” is for him too refined; but both are also unnecessary, for a plur. of the subj., in which the plurality of the individuals comes less into view than the oneness of their character, is frequently enough followed by the sing. of the pred., e.g., Gen 39:22; Joe 1:20; Isa 59:12, etc. It is a question, however, whether by , death-bringing, i.e., poisonous flies (lxx, Targ., Luther)
(Note: The Targ. interprets, as the Talm. and Mid. do, deadly flies as a figure of the prava concupiscentia . Similarly Wangemann: a mind buried in the world.)
or dead flies (Symm., Syr., Jerome) is meant. We decide in favour of the former; for (1) for (Ecc 9:4; Isa 37:36), “death-flies” for “dead flies,” would be an affected poetic expression without analogy; while, on the contrary, “death-flies” for “deadly flies” is a genit. connection, such as instruments of death, i.e., deadly instruments and the like; Bttcher understands dung-flies; but the expression can scarcely extend to the designation of flies which are found on dead bodies. Meanwhile, it is very possible that by the expression , such flies are thought of as carry death from dead bodies to those that are living; the Assyr. syllabare show how closely the Semites distinguished manifold kinds of (Assyr. zumbi = zubbi ). (2) In favour of “dead flies,” it has been remarked that that influence on the contents of a pot of ointment is effected not merely by poison-flies, but, generally, by flies that have fallen into it.
But since the oil mixed with perfumes may also be of the kind which, instead of being changed by a dead body, much rather embalms it; so it does not surprise us that the exciter of fermentation is thus drastically described by (lxx); it happens, besides, also on this account, because “a little folly” corresponds as a contrasted figure to the little destructive carcase, – wisdom (“giveth life,” Ecc 7:2), a little folly is thus like little deadly flies. The sequence of ideas (maketh the ointment stink) is natural. The corrupting body communicates its foul savour to the ointment, makes it boil up, i.e., puts it into a state of fermentation, in consequence of which it foams and raises up small blisters, (Rashi). To the asyndeton , there corresponds, in 1 b, the asyndeton ; the Targ., Syr., and Jerome,
(Note: The lxx entirely remodels Ecc 10:1: . . (“a little wisdom is more honour than the great glory of folly”), i.e., ( in the sense of “great multitude”). Van der Palm (1784) regards this as the original form of the text.)
who translate by “and,” are therefore not witnesses for the phrase , but the Venet. ( ) had this certainly before it; it is, in relation to the other, inferior in point of evidence.
(Note: ; thus in the Biblia rabb. 1525, 1615, Genoa 1618, Plantin 1582, Jablonski 1699, and also v. d. Hooght and Norzi. In the Ven. 1515, 1521, 1615, is found with the copulat. vav, a form which is adopted by Michaelis. Thus also the Concord. cites, and thus, originally, it stood in J., but has been corrected to . F., however, has , with the marginal remark: (Simson ha-Nakdam, to whom the writer of the Frankf. Cod. 1294 here refers for the reading , without the copul. vav, is often called by him his voucher). This is also the correct Masoretic reading; for if were to be read, then the word would be in the catalogue of words of which three begin with their initial letter, and a fourth has introduced a vav before it (Mas. fin. f. 26, Ochla veochla, Nr. 15).)
In general, it is evident that the point of comparison is the hurtfulness, widely extending itself, of a matter which in appearance is insignificant. Therefore the meaning of Ecc 10:1 cannot be that a little folly is more weighty than wisdom, than honour, viz., in the eyes of the blinded crowd (Zckl., Dchsel). This limitation the author ought to have expressed, for without it the sentence is an untruth. Jerome, following the Targ. and Midrash, explains: Pretiosa est super sapientiam et gloriam stultitia parva , understanding by wisdom and honour the self-elation therewith connected; besides, this thought, which Luther limits by the introduction of zuweilen [“folly is sometimes better than wisdom, etc.”], is in harmony neither with that which goes before nor with that which follows.
Luzz., as already Aben Ezra, Grotius, Geiger, Hengst., and the more recent English expositors, transfer the verbs of Ecc 10:1 zeugmatically to Ecc 10:1: similiter pretiosum nomine sapientiae et gloriae virum foetidum facit stolidtias parva . But forbids this transference, and, besides, , “honoured on account of,” is an improbable expression; also presents a tautology, which Luzz. seeks to remove by glossing , as the Targ. does, by . Already Rashi has rightly explained by taking (Syr. jakir , Arab. wakur , wakur ), in its primary meaning, as synon. of : more weighty, i.e., heavier and weighing more than wisdom, than honour, is a little folly; and he reminds us that a single foolish act can at once change into their contrary the wisdom and the honour of a man, destroying both, making it as if they had never been, cf. 1Co 5:6. The sentence is true both in an intellectual and in a moral reference. Wisdom and honour are swept away by a little quantum of folly; it places both in the shade, it outweighs them in the scale; it stamps the man, notwithstanding the wisdom and dignity which otherwise belong to him, as a fool. The expressive is purposely used here; the dealer in ointments ( pigmentarius ) can now do nothing with the corrupted perfume, – thus the wisdom which a man possesses, the honour which he has hitherto enjoyed, avail him no longer; the proportionally small portion of folly which has become an ingredient in his personality gives him the character of a fool, and operates to his dishonour. Knobel construes rightly; but his explanation (also of Heiligst., Elst., Ginsb.): “a little folly frequently shows itself more efficacious and fruitful than the wisdom of an honoured wise man,” helps itself with a “frequently” inserted, and weakens to a subordinated idea, and is opposed to the figure, which requires a personality.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Advantages of Wisdom. | |
1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
In these verses Solomon shows,
I. What great need wise men have to take heed of being guilty of any instance of folly; for a little folly is a great blemish to him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour, and is as hurtful to his good name as dead flies are to a sweet perfume, not only spoiling the sweetness of it, but making it to send forth a stinking savour. Note, 1. True wisdom is true honour, and will gain a man a reputation, which is like a box of precious ointment, pleasing and very valuable. 2. The reputation that is got with difficulty, and by a great deal of wisdom, may be easily lost, and by a little folly, because envy fastens upon eminency, and makes the worst of the mistakes and miscarriages of those who are cried up for wisdom, and improves them to their disadvantage; so that the folly which in another would not be taken notice of in them is severely censured. Those who make a great profession of religion have need to walk very circumspectly, to abstain from all appearances of evil, and approaches towards it, because many eyes are upon them, that watch for their halting; their character is soon sullied, and they have a great deal of reputation to lose.
II. What a deal of advantage a wise man has above a fool in the management of business (v. 2): A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, so that he goes about his business with dexterity, turns his hand readily to it, and goes through it with despatch; his counsel and courage are ready to him, whenever he has occasion for them. But a fool’s heart is at his left hand; it is always to seek when he has any thing to do that is of importance, and therefore he goes awkwardly about it, like a man that is left-handed; he is soon at a loss and at his wits’ end.
III. How apt fools are at every turn to proclaim their own folly, and expose themselves; he that is either witless or graceless, either silly or wicked, if he be ever so little from under the check, and left to himself, if he but walk by the way, soon shows what he is; his wisdom fails him, and, by some impropriety or other, he says to every one he meets that he is a fool (v. 3), that is, he discovers his folly as plainly as if he had told them so. He cannot conceal it, and he is not ashamed of it. Sin is the reproach of sinners wherever they go.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ECCLESIASTES
CHAPTER 10
IMPACT OF FOLLY
Verse 1 continues the thought of Ecc 9:18, regarding the impact of evil. As dead flies would pollute ointment, left uncovered, so also will even a little folly harm the reputation of one regarded as wise and honorable.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Ecc. 10:1. Dead flies.] Lit., Flies of death; because, as such, they corrupt the ointment. The apothecary.] A dealer in spices. Thus it is not the common kind, but a costly, fragrant unguent that is here intended. A little folly.] Little in proportion to the entire mass of wisdom whose properties and influence it injures.
Ecc. 10:2. A wise mans heart is at his right hand.] By the heart we are to understand the inclinations, for these influence the understanding and the judgment. The wise mans heart is in its right place. His feelings are on the side of wisdom and truth; and therefore his whole nature. But a fools heart at his left.] His inclinations are averse from wisdom and truth. He has sinister aims and purposes.
Ecc. 10:4. The spirit of the ruler rise up against thee.] A ruler capable of committing great offences against thee, when his spirit is stirred up in anger.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Ecc. 10:1-4
THE EXCELLENCIES OF WISDOM
I. As seen in the Contrasted Qualities of the Wise Man and the Fool. The intrinsic excellencies of wisdom are clearly manifest to all who have true spiritual insight, and that sympathy which is the best interpreter of its object. But there are some broad general features of wisdom which strike conviction of their excellence into the mind of every beholder. They are seen to great advantage when we contrast the action of wisdom and folly in regard to the roots or fruits of moral conduct.
1. As to motive and aim. The fools motive or aim is always sinister. He has no straightforward designs and purposes, but deals in what is sly and left-handed. (Ecc. 10:2.) The very centre of motion isas it wereshifted from its true place, and the result is nothing but the utmost moral confusion and disorder. But the motives and aims of the wise man, on the other hand, are pure and right. His heartthe principal fount and spring of actionis in the right place. Hence his character is marked by simplicity, and free from guile.
2. As to self-knowledge. The fool is under a complete delusion in regard to himself. He grows exalted in the imagination that he is wise. No revelation of his true self has been vouchsafed to his mind, and in the conceit of ignorance he is both happy and hold. When a fool at length knows that he is such, he has attained to the beginning of wisdom. He has already entered into the outer courts of her temple, and may yet know her mysteries and see her glory. But while this self-knowledge is hidden from him, the worst consequences of ignorance must follow. On the slightest occasions of life, in the common ways of duty and intercourse, his want of wisdom is manifest. He may be even said to proclaim himself a fool. (Ecc. 10:3.) He has not even the sense to leave his true character to be discovered by slow inference, or to be concealed by silence and caution; he must needs precipitate the conclusion. Contrast this with the character of the wise man who learns to know himself, and does not bring discredit upon his wisdom by failing to show it when the occasion demands. Such a man will use that discretion, which, if it does not altogether hide his faults, will preserve them from being prominent.
3. As to self-government. Men are often placed in circumstances of great provocation where it is difficult to calm the anger that rises in the breast. The case is here supposed where a wise man is confronted with the insolence and tyranny of authority. (Ecc. 10:4.) A conflict arises within him between the high sense of justice and the proper reverence due to that authority, as such. But prudence guides the wise man; he has learned to govern his passions, and by a calm demeanour tames the fury which threatened him. But the fool lacks discretion in such trying situations. He is stubborn and unyielding; and for want of self-government, his passion breaks forth to his own injury. He has not the wisdom to wait and be calm, nor the faith to believe in the triumph of the meek.
II. As seen in the Exquisite Delicacy of the Wise Mans Character. (Ecc. 10:1.) The character of the wise man is here compared to ointment; not of the common sort, but of the perfumerone which is prepared with rare and costly ingredients. Such a compound may be spoiled and rendered valueless by so small a thing as the decaying remains of flies. Such is the delicacy and rare preciousness of the wise mans character that the beauty and value of it may be impaired by a few faults. Coarse and common things are not easily injured. The chiefest dangers threaten that which is most skilfully and delicately contrived. The risks of such moral disasters arise from the very excellence of the wise mans character.
1. In such, small blemishes are more conspicuous. Small blemishes in the character of the fool, standing as they do in the thick multitude of graver faults, easily escape notice. But in the character of the wise man, these are soon detected, as a black spot upon white ground. Men have a keen eye for the occasional weaknesses and indiscretions of human virtue.
2. In such, small blemishes are more ruinous. The wise man has an influence for good, and that influence is sensibly abated by even the appearance of shortcomings and moral deformities. He that is in reputation for wisdom and honour may, by retaining but a few faults, greatly fail to benefit mankind to that extent which is warranted by his strong virtues. The fragrance of a good mans life may be injured, yea, almost changed into a baneful influence, by the admixture of but a few faults and follies.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc. 10:1. Those vibrations and disturbances which would not interfere with the proper action of some rude machinery would, in the instruments of the astronomer, be a source of disadvantage and error. The spirit of the wise man is trained to the finest issues, and may be injuriously affected by an apparently small cause.
The imperfection of human nature is such that even the wisdom of the wisest is seldom found unmixed with baser matter.
The wise are a standing rebuke to others, therefore men are prone to exaggerate their faults.
A certain grace and attractiveness of behaviour is necessary to give full effect and influence to the finest assemblage of virtues. In addition to the greatest excellencies, we must have whatsoever things are lovely.
A mans character is the expression of his true self; in fact, the express image of the invisible things in him. His reputation depends upon the manner in which he is imaged and represented to the eye of society. Hence while the real character of the wise man may not be seriously affected, his reputation may suffer loss.
The principle is especially applicable to a Christian profession; and the best use we can make of it is to exemplify it in some of those flaws and failings which destroy the attraction and impressiveness of men truly devout and God-fearing. Our instances must be taken almost at random; for, like their Egyptian prototypes, these flies are too many to be counted.
1. Rudeness.
2. Irritability.
3. Selfishness. The subject is uninviting, and time would fail did we speak of the parsimony, the indolence, the egotism, the want of intelligence, the want of taste, by which many excellent characters are marred, and by which the glory of the Gospel is often compromised [Dr. J. Hamilton].
Ecc. 10:2. Right desires and inclinations are as necessary to the character of the wise man as nobility and strength of mind. They place him in the position of the best advantage for all good and true work.
Fools have no dexterity in duty. They can, at best, but awkwardly imitate the virtues of the wise.
1. A wise man minds his own proper business; whereas the fool neglects what belongs to himself, and is exceedingly officious, intermeddling, and full of sagacious counsel, in every ones concerns but his own. Any wisdom he has is at his left hand, it is applied in the wrong place.
2. The understanding of the wise man is at all times ready for his immediate directionat his right hand. So that, being steadily applied to its proper business, it is prepared to meet times of emergency. The fool, on the contrary, is ever uncertain, ever at a loss, all hesitation and perplexity. His wisdom is always to seek.
3. That which the wise man does, his wisdom enables him to do wellwith skill and dexterity. The fool, when he does anything at all, does it with his left hand; not only applying any little fragments of wisdom he may possess in a wrong direction, but bungling, blundering, and failing, even in that which he attempts [Wardlaw].
Ecc. 10:3. A fool is mischievous without art, as he is a hypocrite without deceiving. A man must have some understanding to conceal the want of it.
The fool does not need, as the Pharisees did, to sound a trumpet before him. He is his own herald.
That quality of fools by which they quickly reveal themselves, even in the most ordinary intercourse of life, may be reckoned as one of the wise compensations of Providence; for thus wicked men are often prevented from doing the utmost mischief.
Not that he intends to convey this impression, but that, in point of fact, he does convey it. So long, indeed, as he holdeth his peace, even a fool may be counted wise (Pro. 17:28). But he has only to open his lips in order to let out the secret, and to show what he really is. His ignorance, his petulance, his indiscretion, his self-complacency and presumption, let all who meet him know that he is a fool. He talks loudly and confidently on subjects regarding which wiser men hardly venture to give an opinion. The wise are like deep rivers, which flow quietly. The fool is like the shallow stream, which brawls and makes a noise [Buchanan].
The fool, having no true self-knowledge, is puffed up with conceit and vanity; therefore he fails rightly to interpret the effects of his own folly upon others. He is the last to detect the derision and contempt which he himself has excited.
Ecc. 10:4. The wise man when oppressed by the powerful does not allow himself to be driven by passion into acts of rebellion. He stands firmly at the post of duty, and is content to wait till the indignation be overpast, and audience be given to the still small voice of reason and truth.
Where the obligation of duty is clear, we should not be moved from our steady purpose of obedience by the sudden outburst of unrighteous anger.
There are times when a wise man may abstain from insisting upon his own proper rights. In the conflict with human authority, swayed by fierce passions, he learns meekly to endure, knowing that what is right and true is more likely to have due recognition when those passions have subsided.
If we meet anger with anger, we wage a conflict in which nothing can be gained, and everything may be lost.
There is a wonderful power in the arts of conciliation. A soft answer turneth away wrath; and what is better still, when a mans ways please God, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Esther and Mordecai succeeded in getting the persecuting edict of Ahasuerus recalled, by committing their way unto the Lord, and by waiting for the fitting moment to speak. And well it were, for the interests of peace and love, if, in less conspicuous spheres of life, the same prudent course were always followed. How often are lasting enmities and divisions caused simply for want of a little of that yielding, whose power to pacify even great offences Solomon so justly celebrates [Buchanan].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THOSE WHO LACK Wis. 10:1-11
1. The foolish worker is in trouble. Ecc. 10:1-4
TEXT 10:14
1
Dead flies make a perfumers oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.
2
A wise mans heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.
3
Even when the fool walks along the road his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.
4
If the rulers temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 10:14
373.
What lesson in Ecc. 9:18 is illustrated again in Ecc. 10:1?
374.
Where does a foolish mans heart lead him?
375.
What is meant by toward the left (verse two)?
376.
A fool demonstrates to all that he is a fool because he is lacking in what?
377.
A wise man should maintain his composure although the ruler does what?
PARAPHRASE 10:14
A large amount of perfumers oil is ruined by a few dead flies. They send forth a vile odor, putrify and negate the value of the oil. So even a little foolishness may outweigh wisdom and honor. A wise mans mind will lead him to the right while a fools mind will lead him to the leftas one thinks so he will act. Even the walk of a foolish man manifests his foolishness. His heart and understanding fail him and he demonstrates to all who look upon him that he is a fool. Suppose the ruler himself loses control of his temper, acts the part of a fool, and turns against you, do not flee from your position (the right side)stand firm. Many great offenses have been diverted through patient resistance and a gentle spirit.
COMMENT 10:14
The unfortunate division of the chapter at this point suggests that the author is turning to a new subject. However, the following eleven verses are a series of sayings and illustrations which further demonstrate the principles set forth in the close of chapter nine.
Ecc. 10:1 Dead flies are literally flies of death. The statement at the close of the preceding chapter, one sinner destroys much good, is metaphorically illustrated by the flies which fall into the perfumers oil. It is close to the statement of Paul that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough (1Co. 5:6). A precious, expensive jar of mixed perfume can be ruined by the foreign influence of dead flies. So the most noble monarch or righteous person could be destroyed by one sinful act. The concept of flies of death is purposely intended to be much stronger than the fact that a fly falls into the oil. The flies are poisonous, destructive creatures which can potentially corrupt and destroy. One who is great in wisdom and honor may fall prey to evil and thus meet with destruction.
Even in life, how often does the one secret, unconfessed sin poison the mind until it renders the whole of man useless? Surely, a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.
The costly perfume is putrified and made to stink. Thus the value of the perfume as well as its practical use is nullified. The lesson of the flies of death serve to remind one that there is no such thing as insignificant sins.
Ecc. 10:2 The association of good with the right hand and evil with the left hand is nothing new. Pagans have long believed that the right is synonymous with good luck, while the left is identified with bad luck. Although the Christian disdains attributing the events of life to luck, he recognizes that a distinction is made in the Bible concerning right and wrong in association with the right and left hands. (Cf. Mat. 25:31-33; Mat. 25:41; Luk. 1:11; Act. 7:56)
It is commonly said today that his heart is in the right place. By this one means that his heart directs him toward the right. For years many considered left-handed persons sinister, shifty and generally distrustful. This was true because the majority of people were right-handed. Thus the association of foolishness with the left, and wisdom with the right, was a natural distribution. The right hand has always been a place of honor while the left is one of less importance. It is this and nothing more that should be made from the comparison.
Heart is equal to the judgment of the mind as used in verse three and also in Pro. 2:2; Pro. 14:33; Pro. 15:28.
Ecc. 10:3 Verses two and three should be considered together. The grammatical construction of the sentences is such that it is more the idea of following a direction of duty of obligation than placing the emphasis upon the hands. The fool of this verse shows no sense of direction. It is said of him that even when he walks along the road, he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool. Along the road suggests that in his simplist acts he gives evidence of being a fool. If the mind is filled with folly, it isnt long until such evil finds expression. If he had learned wisdom at home (Deu. 6:4-9) he undoubtedly would have manifested it in the way.
Ecc. 10:4 The figure of a ruler rising against the wise is revived. When this happens, one should not move from his place or position, for truth does not change. (Cf. COMMENT Ecc. 8:3) If one moves from his position of wisdom, his only alternative is to follow the behavior of the fool. Thus, the verse admonishes one to remain consistent in following the greatest of all qualitieswisdom! Such composure practiced by the wise will smother in the birth great offenses. Study Pro. 10:12; Pro. 15:1; Pro. 25:15; Jas. 5:6-10. Examples from Old Testament history are found in Jacob overcoming Esau (Genesis 32-33) and David who triumphed over Saul (1 Samuel 26).
FACT QUESTIONS 10:14
494.
The first eleven verses of chapter ten illustrate what principle?
495.
Explain the lesson taught by the flies of death.
496.
Explain why people have ascribed evil to the left hand and good to the right hand.
497.
What is implied by along the road?
498.
What single alternative does one face when he chooses to forsake his wise position?
499.
What happens when power is intrusted to unwise men? (Cf. verse five)
500.
State the truth amplified by verses six and seven.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
1. Ointment of the apothecary Better, of the perfumer; that is, perfumed ointment. This is in the form of a proverb, and there is one in the Arabic to the same effect. In sultry climates this result might easily be produced. This verse, strictly translated would read, As for dead flies, one will make perfumed ointment to ferment with a stink. It forcibly illustrates what was said of one fool at the end of the previous chapter. The latter part of the verse is strangely given in the authorized version. By the Hebrew it is simply said, A little folly is heavier than wisdom and honour: applying at once the proverb here given.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Sayings Comparing the Wise and the Unlearned and Thoughtless ( Ecc 10:1-3 ).
Ecc 10:1
‘Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to smell and putrefy, so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour.’
The effect of dead flies in ointment is to ruin the ointment which had previously been so sweet smelling. In the same way the effect of folly, either his own or another’s, can destroy all of a man’s wisdom and reputation, because one example of such folly may counterbalance all he is and has done, like the fly in the ointment. It may destroy his reputation. It may cause annoyance and result in antagonism or lack of confidence, and thus prevent co-operation. Or it may ruin whatever wisdom has been presented by others. There are some things that are never forgotten, so we should be careful what we say. One piece of folly can counteract a great deal of wisdom.
Ecc 10:2
‘A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but an unlearned man’s is at his left.’
The right side is the side of the sword arm and the right arm is the strongest, at least in theory (compare Psa 16:8; Psa 110:5; Psa 121:5) Thus the heart at the right side is better protected. The point is that the wise man protects what is most important, and allocates his strength accordingly (compare Ecc 2:14). Also it could indicate that the wise man ensures that he uses his strength properly in order to protect what he deems is most important. His thinking means that he makes use of his stronger capacity when it is really needed. The unwise may be more careless.
Ecc 10:3
‘Yes also when the fool walks by the way his understanding fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.’
The point here is that a man soon reveals by his actions whether he is sensible or thoughtless in whatever he is doing. The wise man used his right hand to protect himself and his wisdom. The fool soon gives himself away. He goes out without protection. The illustration probably has in mind the need in those days to ensure readiness for trouble when using a byway. The unwise are careless and slack and are not on the alert. They travel without their weapons. Thus all know they are fools. They are unprepared.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Sayings About the Wise ( Ecc 9:11 to Ecc 10:12 ).
His philosophy having come up with the fact that all a man has to look forward to is the life just described, the Preacher now recognises that he is a wise man and must therefore give some advice on living that life. Thus he proceeds to enunciate his wisdom.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ecc 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Ecc 10:1
Ecc 10:2 A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.
Ecc 10:2
Ecc 10:3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
Ecc 10:3
Ecc 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
Ecc 10:10
Many times while working at a task, we do not have ideal circumstances in which to work. We do not always have the best tools or the right weather. We may not be feeling up to par, etc., but the task can be done more efficiently if we will just use a little wisdom (Jas 1:5).
Jas 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Ecc 10:11-14 The Tongue of the Wise and the Fool Ecc 10:11-14 deals with man’s tongue. Ecc 10:12-13 is a wonderful illustration of Jas 3:5-6. The tongue of the foolish kept on until it ended up causing mischievous by the fool.
Jas 3:5-6, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”
Ecc 10:18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.
Ecc 10:18
Pro 24:3, “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:”
Illustration – Having served as a maintenance supervisor and construction manager, I have seen how quickly a piece of real estate can decay and fall into ruin. It takes constant care to maintain a piece of property (Pro 24:30-34).
Pro 24:30-34, “I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.”
Ecc 10:19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things.
Ecc 10:19
Ecc 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Ecc 10:20
Ecc 10:20 could be a reference to the ability of demon spirits to hear what we say, and then make plans to cause a hindrance to our plans. A demon is able to take a thought that we said and put it into someone’s mind. However, it is more likely to refer to the fact that the king has the divine gift to discern the heart of those under him in order to rule them effectively; this give given by God. Thus, our thoughts are communicated to a leader over us in the spirit realm. A good example of this is found in the testimonies of those who have visited heaven and saw how easy it is to know one another’s thoughts in that heavenly realm. Or, how often has a husband and wife understood the thoughts of the other, since they are spiritually joined. We are spiritually placed under authorities on earth. The Lord can reveal to a leader the thoughts and mind of his people.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Indoctrination: Practical Wisdom to Fear God In Ecc 7:1 thru Ecc 11:8 the Preacher gives illustrations of practical wisdom, or doctrine on how to fear God in this life. In other words, these proverbs give us wisdom on how to bring our lives into God’s divine plan that we were created to pursue. Much of this passage is delivered as a collection of proverbs, or short, pithy sayings, that summarize wisdom and is very similar to the book of Proverbs in structure. However, I believe that these particular set of Proverbs are designed to guide us into finding the answers for how to serve the Lord with all of our strength.
Why is this section the longest one in the book of Ecclesiastes? Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that the underlying theme of the book is the keeping of God’s commandments in the fear of the Lord. Thus, the Preacher takes the time to list these commandments. In a similar way, the longest section in the book of Proverbs is wisdom’s call (Proverbs 1-9), since man’s daily walk in wisdom requires him to constantly recognize and hear wisdom’s call in order to make the right decisions each day.
Outline Here are a number of topics discussed in this section:
Wisdom Seen in Being Sober-minded Ecc 7:1-6
Wisdom’s Ability to Protect Ecc 7:11-12
Wisdom Found in Recognizing God’s Hand in Daily Life Ecc 7:13-14
Wisdom Found in Moderation Ecc 7:15-18
Wisdom Found in Ignoring What Others Say About You Ecc 7:21-22
The Preacher’s Pursuit of Wisdom Ecc 7:23-25
The Tongue of the Wise and the Fool Ecc 10:11-14
The Principles of Sowing and Reaping Ecc 11:1-6
A Reminder of the Vanities of Life Ecc 11:7-8
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
In the Midst of Presumption and Arrogance
v. 1. Dead flies, v. 2. A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, v. 3. Yea, also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, v. 4. If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, v. 5. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler, v. 6. Folly is set in great dignity, v. 7. I have seen servants, v. 8. He that diggeth a pit, v. 9. Whoso removeth stones, v. 10. If the iron be blunt,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Ecc 10:1-3
Section 11. A little folly mars the effect of wisdom, and is sure to make itself conspicuous.
Ecc 10:1
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor. This is a metaphorical confirmation of the truth enunciated at the end of the last chapter, “One sinner destroyeth much good.” It is like the apostle’s warning to his converts, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1Co 5:6). The Hebrew expression is literally, “flies of death,” which may mean either “dead flies,” as in our version and the Vulgate (muses morientes), or “deadly, poisonous flies,” as in the Septuagint ( ). The latter rendering seems preferable, if we regard the use of similar compound phrases, e.g. “instruments of death” (Psa 7:14 : [13]); “snares of death” (Psa 18:5); and in New Testament Greek, , “the death-stroke” (Rev 13:3, Rev 13:12). The flies meant are such as are poisonous in their bite, or carry infection with them. Such insects corrupt anything which they touchfood, ointment, whether they perish where they alight or not. They, as the Hebrew says, make to stink, make to ferment, the oil of the perfumer. The singular verb is here used with the plural subject to express the unity of the individuals, “flies” forming one complete idea. The Septuagint rendering omits one of the verbs: , “Corrupt a preparation of sweet ointment.” The point, of course, is the comparative insignificance of the cause which spoils a costly substance compounded with care and skill. Thus little faults mar great characters and reputations. “A good name is better than precious ointment” (Ecc 7:1), but a good name is ruined by follies, and then it stinks in men’s nostrils. The term, “ointment of the apothecary,” is used by Moses (Exo 30:25, etc.) in describing the holy chrism which was reserved for special occasions. So doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. The meaning of the Authorized Version is tolerably correct, but the actual rendering will hardly stand, and one wants some verb to govern “him that,” etc. The other versions vary. Septuagint, “A little wisdom is more precious () than great glory of folly;” Vulgate, “More precious are wisdom and glory than small and short-lived folly;” Jerome, “Precious above wisdom and glory is a little folly.” This last interpretation proceeds upon the idea that such “folly” is at any rate free from pride, and has few glaring faults. “Dulce est desipere in loco,” says Horace (‘Carm.,’ 4.12. 28). But the original is best translated thus: “More weighty than wisdom, than honor, is a little folly.” It is a painful fact that a little folly, one foolish act, one silly peculiarity of manner or disposition, will suffice to impair the real value of a matt’s wisdom and the estimation in which he was held. The little clement of foolishness, like the little insect in the ointment, obscures the real excellence of the man, and deprives him of the honor that is really his due. And in religion we know that one fault unchecked, one Secret sin cherished, poisons the whole character, makes a man lose the grace of God. (For the same effect from another cause, see Eze 3:20; Eze 33:13.) Jerome sees in the “dead flies” wicked thoughts put into the Christian’s mind by Beelzebub, “the lord of flies.”
Ecc 10:2, Ecc 10:3
A tetrastich contrasting wisdom and folly.
Ecc 10:2
A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. There is here no reference to the classical use of right and left, as ominous of success and disaster, which is never found in the Old Testament. The right hand is the place of honor, the left of inferiority, as a matter of fact, not of superstition and luck. The symbolism is intimated in Christ’s account of the judgment (Mat 25:31, etc.). But in the present passage we should best paraphraseThe wise man’s heart, his understanding and sentiments, lead him to what is right and proper and straightforward; the fool’s heart leads him astray, in the wrong direction. The former is active and skilful, the latter is slow and awkward. One, we may say, has no left hand, the other has no right. To be at the right hand is to be ready to help and guard. “The Lord is at thy right band,” to protect thee, says the psalmist (Psa 110:5). The wise man’s mind shows him how to escape dangers and direct his course safely; the fool’s mind helps him not to any good purpose, causes him to err and miss his best object.
Ecc 10:3
Yea, also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way. As soon as ever he sets his foot outside the house, and mixes with other men, he exhibits his folly. If he remained at home he might keep his real ineptitude concealed; but such persons as he are unconscious of their inanity, and take no pains to hide it; they go where, they act as, their foolish heart prompts them. There is no metaphor here, nor any reference to the fool being put in the right path and perversely turning away. It is simply, as the Septuagint renders, His wisdom (Hebrew, heart) faileth him. Ginsburg and others render, “He lacketh his mind,” want of heart being continually taken in the Book of Proverbs as equivalent to deficiency of understanding (Pro 6:32; Pro 7:7, etc.). But Delitzsch and Wright consider the order of the words and the suffix to be against this view, and they translate as the Authorized Version, i.e. his understanding is at fault. And he saith to every one that he is a fool. The sentence is ambiguous, and capable of two interpretations. The Vulgate has, Cumipse insipiens sit, omnes stultos aestimat. Jerome quotes Symmachus as rendering, “He suspects all men that they are fools.” According to this view, the fool in his conceit thinks that every one he meets is a fool, says this in his mind, like the sluggard in Pro 26:16, “Who is wiser in his own conceit than ten men that can render a reason.” Another explanation, more closely in accordance with the foregoing clauses, takes the pronoun in “he is a fool” to refer to the man himself, se esse stultum (comp. Ps 9:21 [20], “Let the nations know themselves to be but men”). As soon as he goes abroad, his words and actions display his real character; he betrays himself; he says virtually to all with whom he has to do, “I am a fool” (comp. Pro 13:16; Pro 18:2). It is hard to say to which interpretation the Septuagint inclines, giving, , “And all that he will think is folly.”
Ecc 10:4-7
Section 12. Illustration of the conduct of wisdom under capricious rulers, or when fools are exalted to high stations.
Ecc 10:4
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee. “Spirit” (ruach) is here equivalent to “anger,” as Jdg 8:3; Pro 29:11. The idea seems to be that a statesman or councilor gives wise advice to a monarch, which the latter takes in bad part, and shows strong resentment against the person who offered it. Now, when a man knows himself to be in the right, and yet finds his counsel rejected, perhaps with scorn and reproach added, he is naturally prone to feel sore, and to show by some overt act his sense of the ill treatment which he has received. But what says wisdom? Leave not thy place (makom); i.e. position, pest, office. Do not hastily resign the situation at court to which you have been appointed. Some, not so suitably, take the expression, “leave thy place,” figuratively, as equivalent to “give way to anger, renounce the temper which becomes you, lose your self-possession.” But Wright, from the analogous use of matstsale and maamad in Isa 22:19, confirms the interpretation which we have adopted. Compare the advice in Ecc 8:3, where, however, the idea is rather of open rebellion than of a resentment which shows itself by withdrawal. Origen (‘De Princip.,’ 3.2) explained “the spirit of the ruler” to be the evil spirit; and Gregory, commenting on this passage, writes (‘Moral.,’ 3:43), “As though he had said in plain words, ‘If thou perceivest the spirit of the tempter to prevail against thee in aught, quit not the lowliness of penitence;’ and that it was the abasement of penitence that he called ‘our place,’ he shows by the words that follow, ‘for healing [Vulgate] pacifieth great offences.’ For what else is the humility of mourning, save the remedy of sin?” (Oxford transl.). For yielding pacifieth great offenses. Marpe, “yielding,” is rendered “healing” by the versions. Thus ; euratio (Vulgate). But this translation is not so suitable as that of Symmachus, , “moderation.” The word is used in the sense of” gentleness,” “meekness,” in Pro 14:30; Pro 15:4; and the gnome expresses the truth that a calm, conciliating spirit, not prone to take offence, but patient under trying circumstances, obviates great sins. The sins are those of the subject. This quiet resignation saves him from conspiracy, rebellion, treason, etc; into which his untempered resentment might hurry him. We may compare Pro 15:1 and Pro 25:15; and Horace, ‘Cam.,’ 3. 3, “Justum et tenacem propositi virum,” etc.
“The man whose soul is firm and strong,
Bows not to any tyrant’s frown,
And on the rabble’s clamorous throng
In proud disdain looks coldly down.”
(Stanley.)
They who regard the “offenses” as those of the ruler explain them to mean oppression and injustice; but it seems plain from the run of the sentence that the minister, not the monarch, is primarily in the mind of the writer, though, of course, it is quite true that the submission of the former might save the ruler from the commission of some wrong.
Ecc 10:5
Koheleth gives his personal experience of apparent confusion in the ordering of state affairs. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. Power gets into the hands of an unwise man, and then errors are committed and injustice reigns. As an error which proceedeth from the ruler. The here is caph veritatis, which denotes not comparison, but resemblance, the idealization of the individual, the harmony of the particular with the general idea. The evil which he noticed appeared to be (he does not affirm that it is) a mistake caused by the ruler; it so presented itself to his mind. The caution observed in the statement may be owing partly to the tacit feeling that such blots occasioned difficulties in the view taken of the moral government of the world. He does not intend to refer to God under the appellation “Ruler.” The Septuagint renders, , “As if it came involuntarily;” Vulgate, to much the same effect, Quasi per errorem egrediens. The idea here is either gnat the evil is one not produced by any intentional action of the ruler, but resulting from human imperfection, or that what appears to be a mistake is not so really. But these interpretations are unsuitable. Those who adhere to the Solomonic authorship of our book see here a prophetic intimation of the evil of Jeroboam’s rule, which evil proceeded from the sins of Solomon himself and his son Rehoboam. (So Wordsworth, Motais, etc.)
Ecc 10:6
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. This is an instance of the error intimated in the preceding verse. A tyrannical ruler exalts incompetent persons, unworthy favorites, to “great heights”, as it is literallyputs them into eminent positions. “Folly” is abstract for concrete, “fools.” And the rich sit in low place. “The rich” (ashirim) are not simply those who have wealth, however obtained, but men of noble birth; , as Plumptre appositely notes, persons of ancestral wealth, who from natural position might be looked upon as rulers of men. Such men would seek eminent stations, not from base motives of gain, but from an honorable ambition, and yet they are often slighted by unworthy princes and kept in low estate. The experience mentioned in this and the following verses could scarcely have been Solomon’s, though it has been always common enough in the East, where the most startling changes have been made, the lowest persons have been suddenly raised to eminence, mistresses and favorites loaded with dignities, and oppression of the rich has been systematically pursued.
Ecc 10:7
I have seen servants upon horses. A further description of the effect of the tyrant’s perversion of equity. Such an allusion could not have been made in Solomon’s reign, when the importation of horses was quite a new thing (1Ki 10:28). Later, to ride upon horses was a distinction of the nobility (Jer 17:25). Thus Amaziah’s corpse was brought on horses to be buried in the city of David (2Ch 25:28): Mordecai was honored by being taken round the city on the king’s own steed (Est 6:8, etc.). Princes walking as servants upon the earth. “Princes” (sarim); i.e. masters, lords. Some take the expressions here as figurative, equivalent to “those who are worthy to be princes,” and “those who are fit only to be slaves;” but the literal is the true interpretation. Commentators quote what Justin (41.3) says of the Parthians, “Hoc denique discrimen inter serves liberos-que, quod servi pedibus, Liberi non nisi equis iuccdunt.” Ginsburg notes that early travelers in the East record the fact that Europeans were not allowed by the Turks to ride upon horses, but were compelled either to use asses or walk on foot. In some places the privilege of riding upon horseback was permitted to the consuls of the great powersan honor denied to all strangers of lower degree. Among the Greeks and Romans the possession of a horse with its war-trappings implied a certain amount of wealth and distinction. St. Gregory, treating of this passage (‘Moral.,’ 31.43), says, “By the name horse is understood temporal dignity, as Solomon witnesses . For every one who sins is the servant of sin, and servants are upon horses, when sinner’s are elated with the dignities of the present life. But princes walk as servants, when no honor exalts many who are full of the dignity of virtues, but when the greatest misfortune here presses them down, as though unworthy.”
Ecc 10:8-11
Section 13. Various proverbs expressing the benefit of prudence and caution, and the danger of folly. The connection with what has preceded is not closely marked, but is probably to be found in the bearing of the maxims on the conduct of the wise man who has incurred the resentment of a ruler, and might be inclined to disaffection and revolt. They are intentionally obscure and capable of a double sensea necessary precaution if the writer lived under Persian despots.
Ecc 10:8
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. This proverb occurs in Pro 26:27, and, as expressive of the retribution that awaits evil-doers, finds parallels in Psa 7:15, Psa 7:16; Psa 9:15; Psa 10:2; Ecclesiasticus 27:25, 26. The” pit” (gummats, ) is such a one as was made to capture wild animals, and the maker of it is supposed to approach it incautiously, and to fall into it. But the scope of our passage is rather to speak of what may possibly occur than to insist on the Nemesis that inevitably overtakes transgressors. Its object is to inspire caution in the prosecution of dangerous undertakings, whether the enterprise be the overthrow of a tyrant, or any other action of importance, or whether, as some suppose, the arraignment of the providential ordering of events is intended, in which ease there would be the danger of blasphemy and impatience. And whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. The futures throughout verses 8 and 9 ,are not intended to express certainty, as if the results mentioned were inevitable, but rather possibility, and might be rendered, with Delitzsch, “may fall,” “may bite,” etc. The “hedge” is rather a wall (Pro 24:31), in the crevices of which poisonous snakes have made their abode, which are disturbed by its demolition (comp. Ames 5:19). Nachash, here used, is the generic name of any serpent. The majority of the snakes found in Palestine are harmless; but there are some which are very deadly, especially the cobra and those which belong to the viper family. There is no allusion here to the illegal removal of landmarks, a proceeding which might be supposed to provoke retribution; the hedge or wail is one which the demolisher is justified in removing, only in doing so he must look out for certain contingencies, and guard against them. Metaphorically, the pulling down a wall may refer to the removal of evil institutions in a state, which involves the reformer in many difficulties and perils.
Ecc 10:9
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith. It is natural to consider this clause as suggested by the breaking of a wall in the preceding verse; but as this would occasion a jejune repetition, it is better to take it of the work of the quarryman, as in 1Ki 5:17, where the same verb is used. The dangers to which such laborers are exposed are well known. Here, again, but unsuccessfully, some have seen a reference to the removal of landmarks, comparing 2Ki 4:4, where the word is translated “set aside.” As before said, the paragraph does not speak of retribution, but advises caution, enforcing the lesson by certain homely, allusions to the accidents that may occur m customary occupations. He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. Cutting up logs of wood, a man may hurt himself with axe or saw, or be injured by splinters, etc. If we take the idea to be the felling of trees, there is the danger of being crushed in their fall, or, according to the tenor of Deu 19:5, of being killed inadvertently by a neighbor’s axe. Vulgate, Qui scindit ligna vulnerabitur ab eis, which is more definite than the general term “endangered;” but the Septuagint has, , as in the Authorized Version. Plumptre sees here, again, an intimation of the danger of attacking time-honored institutions, even when decaying and corrupt.
Ecc 10:10
If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge. The illustration at the end of the last verse is continued. The “iron” is the axe used in cutting wood; if this be blunted by the work to which it is put, and he, the laborer, has not sharpened the edge (Hebrew, the face, as in Eze 21:1), what is the consequence? How is he to carry on his work? Then must he put to more strength. He must put more force in his blows, he must make up for the want of edge by added power and weight. This is the simplest explanation of the passage, which contains many linguistic difficulties. These may be seen discussed at length in the commentaries of Delitzsch, Wright, Nowack, etc. The translation of Ginsburg is not commendable, “If the axe be blunt, and he (the tyrant’s opponent)do not sharpen it beforehand (phanim, taken as an adverb of time), he (the tyrant) shall only increase the army.” The Septuagint is obscure, , “If the axe should fall, then he troubles his face, and he shall strengthen his forces (? double his strength);” Vulgate, Si retusum fuerit ferrurn, et hoc non ut prius, sed hebetatum fuerit, multo labore exacuetur, “If the iron shall be blunted, and it be not as before, but have become dull, it shall be sharpened with much labor.” But wisdom is profitable to direct; rather, the advantage of setting right is (on the side of) wisdom. Wisdom teaches how to conduct matters to a successful termination; for instance, it prompts the worker to sharpen his tool instead of trying to accomplish his task by an exertion of mere brute strength. The gnome applies to all the instances which have been mentioned above. Wisdom alone enables a man to meet and overcome the dangers and difficulties which beset his social, common, and political life. If we apply the whole sentence to the case of disaffection with the government or open rebellion, the caution given would signifySee that your means are adequate to the end, that your resources are sufficient to conduct your enterprise to success. Septuagint Vatican, , “And the advantage to man is not wisdom.” But manuscripts A and C read, : Vulgate, Post industriam sequetur sapientia, “After industry shall follow wisdom.”
Ecc 10:11
The last proverb of this little series shows the necessity of seizing the right opportunity. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment. The Authorized Version is not quite correct. The particle , with which the verse begins, is here conditional, and the rendering should be, If the serpent bite, etc.; the apodosis comes in the next clause. The idea is taken up from Ecc 10:8. If one handles a serpent without due precaution or without knowing the secret of charming it, one will suffer for it. The taming and charming of poisonous snakes is still, as heretofore, practiced in Egypt and the East. What the secret of this power is has not been accurately determined; whether it belongs especially to persons of a certain idiosyncrasy, whether it is connected with certain words or intonations of the voice or musical sounds, we do not know. Of the existence of the power from remote antiquity there can be no question. Allusions to it in Scripture are common enough (see Exo 7:11; Psa 58:5; Jer 8:17; Ecclesiasticus 12:13). If a serpent before it is charmed is dangerous, what then? The Authorized Version affords no sensible apodosis: And a babbler is no better. The words rendered “babbler” (baal hallashon) are literally “master of the tongue,” and by them is meant the , “the serpent-charmer.” The clause should run, Then there is no use in the charmer. If the man is bitten before he has time to use his charm, it is no profit to him that he has the secret, it is too late to employ it when the mischief is done. This is to shut the stable door after the steed is stolen. The maxim enforces the warning against being too late; the greatest skill is useless unless applied at the right moment. The Septuagint translates virtually as above, “If a serpent bites when not charmed ( ), then there is no advantage to the charmer ( ).” The Vulgate departs from the context, rendering, Si mordeat serpens in silentio (i.e. probably “uncharmed”), nihil eo minus habet qui occulte detrahit, “He is nothing better who slanders secretly,” which St. Jerome thus explains: the serpent and the slanderer are alike, for as the serpent stealthily infuses its poison, so the secret slanderer pours his venom into another’s breast.
Ecc 10:12-15
Section 14. The mention of “the master of the tongue” in Ecc 10:11 leads the author to introduce some maxims concerned with the contrast between the words and acts of the wise, and the worthless prating and useless labors of the fool.
Ecc 10:12
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; literally, are grace; i.e. they net only are pleasing in form and manner, but they conciliate favor, produce approbation and good will, convince and, what is more, persuade. So of our blessed Lord it was said, “All bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words ( ) which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22; cutup. Psa 45:2). In distinction from the unready man, who, like the snake-charmer in the preceding verse, suffers-by reason of his untimely silence, the wise man uses his speech opportunely and to good purpose. (A different result is given in Ecc 9:11.) But the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. This is a stronger ex-prosaic, than “ruin” or “destroy.” Speaking without due forethought, he compromises himself] says what he has shamefully to withdraw, and brings punishment on his own head (cutup. Pro 10:8, Pro 10:21; Pro 18:7).
.
“Untimely speech has ruined many a life.”
Ecc 10:13
The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness. A confirmation of the last clause of the preceding verse. The fool speaks according to his nature. “As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness” (1Sa 24:13; cutup. Pro 15:2; Isa 32:6). As soon as he opens his month he utters folly, unwisdom, silliness. But he does not stop there. The end of his talk is mischievous madness. By the time he has finished, he has committed himself to statements that are worse than silly, that are presumptuous, frenzied, indicative of mental and moral depravity. Intemperate language about the secrets of God’s providence and the moral government of the world may be intended. Some think that the writer is still alluding to dangerous talk concerning a tyrannical ruler, seditious proposals, secret conspiracies, etc. The text itself does not confirm such notion with any certainty.
Ecc 10:14
A fool also is full of words. The word for “fool” here is oaks/, which implies a dense, confused thinker. Alive the word was kesil, which denotes rather the self-confidence of the dull and stupid man. Moreover the fool multiplieth words. He not only speaks foolishly, but he says too much (comp. Ecc 5:2). It is not mere loquacity that is here predicated of the fool, though that is one of his characteristics, but, as-the rest of the verse shows, the prating of things about which he knows nothing. He talks as though he knew everything and there were no limitation to human cognition. A man cannot tell what shall be. And yet, or although, no man can really predict the future. The fool speaks confidently of such things, and thereby proves his imbecility. Instead of “what shall be,” the Septuagint has, , “What has been and what shall be;” the Vulgate, Quid ante se fuerit, “What has been before him.” This reading was introduced probably to obviate a seeming tautology in the following clause, And what shall be after him, who can tell? But this clause has a different signification from the former, and presents a closer definition. The future intended may be the result of the fool’s inconsiderate language, which may have fatal and lasting consequences; or it may refer to the visitation of his sins upon his children, in accordance with the denunciation of Deu 5:9; Deu 29:20-22; or it may include the life beyond the grave. The uncertainty of the future is a constant theme; see Ecc 3:22; Ecc 6:11, Ecc 6:12; Ecc 7:14; Ecc 8:17; and compare Christ’s parable of the rich fool (Luk 12:16-20), and St. James’s warning in his Epistle (Jas 4:13-16).
Ecc 10:15
The labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. The transition from plural to singular is here made, The work of fools wearieth him that knoweth not, etc. “Fools’ work” signifies, perhaps, the vain speculations about Providence which Koheleth constantly condemns; or at any rate, all vain and objectless toil and trouble. Not to know the way to the city is probably a proverbial saying expressive of gross ignorance concerning the most obvious matters. How should one, who fails in the knowledge open to all experience, be able to investigate and give an opinion about abstruse questions (comp. Isa 35:8)? For the last clause other interpretations have been proposed, such as, the fool knows not how to transact public business (which is introducing a modern idea); the oppressed peasant knows not the way to the town where he might obtain redress; he is so foolish that he does not understand where he may find patrons whom he may bribe to plead his cause; he is an Essene, who avoids cities; he cannot make his way to the new Jerusalem, the city of God. But these artificial explanations are to be rejected, while the simple interpretation given above is plainly consistent with the context. The lesson is not to meddle with things too high, especially when you are ignorant of the commonest matters. A little wisdom would prevent endless and useless trouble.
Ecc 10:16-20
Section 15. Koheleth returns to the theme mentioned in Ecc 10:4-7. and speaks of folly in one who holds the position of king, and the need of wisdom and prudence in the subjects of an unworthy ruler.
Ecc 10:16
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child! “Child” is naar, which term included any age up to manhood. Some interpret the word here, as in Greek, in the sense of “slave,” contrasting it with “the son of nobles” in the following verse. But it can hardly signify more than servitor, attendant; and in Ecc 10:7 the antithesis to “prince” is ebed, not naar. The child in the present case is a youthful, inexperienced ruler, who does not realize his responsibilities, and is the tool of evil advisers. What particular instance, if any, Koheleth had in view it is impossible to say. Of course, many expositors see a reference to Rehoboam. whom, at forty years of age, his own son Abijah calls naar (2Ch 13:7), and who was certainly childish in his conduct (1Ki 12:1-14). Hitzig connects the passage with the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was but five years old at the death of his father, B.C. 205, the reins of government being assumed by Agathocles and his sister Agathoclea, who occasioned serious disasters to the laud. To support this opinion, the date of our book has to be considerably reduced (see Introduction). It is best to take the gnome as a general expression, like that in Isa 3:12, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.” Thy princes eat in the morning. Eating here implies feasting and banqueting, beginning the day with sensual enjoyment instead of such honest work as attending to state matters, administering justice, etc; as becomes good rulers. None but profligates would thus spend the early morning. “These are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day,” says St. Peter, repudiating the charge of intoxication (Act 2:15). “Woe unto them,” cries Isaiah (Isa 5:11), “that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink!” Even the heathen censured such debauchery. Cicero thus abuses Antonius: “At quam multos dies in ea villa turpissime es per-bacchatus. Ab hora tertia bibebatur, ludebatur, vomebatur” (‘Philipp.,’ 2.41). Curtius (5. 7. 2) reprehends “de die convivia inire.” The Greeks had a proverb to denote abnormal sensuality,
Ecc 10:17
Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles! cujus rex nobilis est (Vulgate), , “son of free men”. Some would regard “son of nobles” as a periphrasis expressive of character, equivalent to the Latin generosus, as “son of strength,” equivalent to “strong man;” “son of wickedness,” equivalent to “wicked man;” but the phrase may well be taken literally. Koheleth (Ecc 10:7) has expressed his disgust at the exaltation of unworthy slaves to high positions; he here intimates his adherence to the idea that those who descend from noble ancestors, and have been educated in the higher ranks of society, are more likely to prove a blessing to their land than upstarts who have been placed by caprice or favoritism in situations of trust and eminence. Of course, it is not universally true that men of high birth make good rulers; but proverbs of general tenor must not be pressed in particulars, and the author must be understood to affirm that the fact of having distinguished ancestors is an incentive to right action, stirs a worthy emulation in a man, gives him a motive which is wanting in the lowborn parvenu. The feeling, noblesse oblige, has preserved many from baseness (comp. Joh 8:39). Thy princes eat in due season; not like those mentioned in Ecc 10:16, but in tempore, , at the right time, the “season” which appertains to all mundane things (Ecc 3:1-8). For strength, and net for drunkenness. The preposition here is taken as expressing the objectthey eat to gain strength, not to indulge sensuality; but it is more in accordance with usage to translate “in, or with, manly strength,” i.e. as man’s strength demands, and not degenerating into a carouse. If it is thought incongruous, as Ginsburg deems, to say, “princes eat for drunkenness,” we may take drunkenness as denoting excess of any kind The word in the form here used occurs nowhere else. The Septuagint, regarding rather the consequences of intoxication than the actual word in the text, renders, , “And they shall not be ashamed.” Thus, too, St. Jerome, Et non in confusione. St. Augustine (‘De Civit.,’ 17:20) deduces from this passage that there are two kingdomsthat of Christ and that of the devil, and he explains the allegory at some length, going into details which are of homiletic utility. Another interpretation is given by St. Jerome, quoted at length by Corn. a Lapide, in his copious commentary.
Ecc 10:18
By much slothfulness the building decayeth. The subject is still the state. Under the image of a house which falls into ruin for lack of needful repairs, is signified the decay that surely overtakes a kingdom whose rulers are given up to indolence and debauchery, and neglect to attend to the affairs which require prompt care (comp. Amo 9:11). Such were they whom Amos (Amo 6:6) denounced, “That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.” “Much slothfulness” is expressed in the original by a dual form, which gives an intensive signification. Ewald and Ginsburg take it as referring to the “two idle hands;” but the intensifications of the dual is not unprecedented (see Delitzsch, in loc.). The rest of this clause is more accurately rendered, the rafters sink, i.e. the timber framework, whether of roof or wall, gives way. This may possibly not be noticed at once, but it makes itself known unmistakably ere long. And through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through; rather, the house leaketh, the roof lets in the rain. Septuagint, , “Through laziness of hands the house will drip.” The very imperfect construction of the fiat roofs of Eastern houses demanded continual attention. Such common and annoying occurrences as a leaky roof are mentioned in the Book of Proverbs (see Pro 19:13; Pro 27:15). Plautus, ‘ Mostell.,’ 1.2.28
“Ventat imber, lavit parietes; perpluunt
Tigna; putrefacit aer operam fabri.”
“The rain comes down, and washes all the walls,
The roof is leaky, and the weather rough
Loosens the architect’s most skilful work.”
Ecc 10:19
A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry. Here is a cause of the decay spoken of above. The rulers spend in revelry and debauchery the time and energy which they ought to give to affairs of state. More literally, for merriment they make bread, and wine [that] cheereth life; i.e. they use God’s good gifts of bread and wine as means of intemperance and thoughtless pleasure. So a psalmist speaks of wine as making glad the heart of man (Psa 104:15); and Ben-Sira says, “Wine is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk moderately: what life is there to a man that is without wine? for it was created to make men glad. Wine measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness of the .heart, and cheer fullness of the mind”. But money answereth all things; i.e. grants all that such persons want. It requires money to provide rich food and costly wines; this they possess, and they are thus able to indulge their appetites to the utmost. It concerns them not how such resources are obtainedwon by extortion from a starving people, exacted in exorbitant taxation, pillaged by unscrupulous instruments; they want gold to expend on their lusts, and they get it same-how, and with it all that in their view makes life worth living. Commentators alto Horace, ‘ Ep.,’ 1.6.36, “Scilicet uxorem,” etc.
“For whya portioned wife, fair fame, and friends,
Beauty and birth on sovereign Wealth attends.
Blest is her votary throned his bags among?
Persuasion’s self sits perched upon his tongue;
Love beams in every feature of his face,
And every gesture beams celestial grace.”
(Howes.)
Corn. a Lapide appositely quotes
“quidquid nummis praesentibus opta,
Et veniet; clausum possidet arca Jovem.”
“If thou hast gold, then wish for anything,
And it will surely come; the money-box
Hath in it a most potent deity.”
Pineda, followed by Metals, suggests that this verse may be taken in a good sense. He would make verse 18 correspond to verse 16, characterizing the government of debauchees, and verse 19 correspond to verse 17, representing the rule of temperate princes where all is peace and prosperity. But there is nothing grammatical to indicate this arrangement; and the explanation given above is doubtless correct. The Septuagint Version is not faithful in our present text, though it is followed virtually by the Syriac: “For gladness they make bread and wine and oil, that the living may rejoice, and to money all things will humble themselves, will obey” (doubly translating the word).
Ecc 10:20
Curse not the king, no not in thy thought. Under the above-mentioned circumstances, a man might be tempted to abuse and curse these ill-conditioned rulers. Koheleth warns against this error; it is dangerous to give way to it (comp. Exo 22:28). In Ecc 8:2 the motive for submission to the king is placed on religious grounds; in the present passage the ground is prudence, regard for personal safety, which might be compromised by plain speaking, especially when one has to do with such depraved and unscrupulous persons. We may compare David’s generous conduct to his cruel persecutor Saul, whom he spared because he was the Lord’s anointed (1Sa 24:6, l0; 1Sa 26:9, etc.; 2Sa 1:14). Madda, “thought,” “consciousness,” is rare, and is supposed to belong to late Hebrew (see 2Ch 1:10, 2Ch 1:11, 2Ch 1:12; Dan 1:4, Dan 1:17). The Septuagint translates it : Vulgate, cogitatio. To encourage such thoughts in the mind is to run the risk of openly expressing them at some unguarded moment; for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Curse not the rich in thy bedchamber. In ability to injure, the rich stand in the same category as the king. You are not safe , “in your very bedchamber,” where, if anywhere, you would fancy yourself free from espionage. But “walls have ears,” says the proverb (comp. Hab 2:11; Luk 19:40); and the King of Syria is warned, “Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words thou speakest in thy bedchamber” (2Ki 6:12). “That which ye have spoken in the ear in closets ( ) shall be proclaimed upon the housetops” (Luk 12:3). For a bird of the air shall carry the voice. A proverbial saying, common to all languages, and not to be referred especially to the story of the cranes of Ibycus (see Erasmus,’ Adag.,’ s.v. “Ultio malefacti“) or to the employment of carrier pigeons. We say of secret information, “a little bird told me.” Plumptre quotes Aristophanes, ‘Aves,’ 575
“No one knows of my treasure, save, it may be, a bird.”
On which the Scholiast notes, “There is a proverb extant, ‘ No one observes me but the passing bird'” (comp. Erasmus, ‘ Adag.,’ s.v. “Occulta”). In Koheleth’s day informers evidently plied their trade industriously, and here meet, not only with notice, but ironically with reprobation. On the general sentiment of the verse, we may quote Juvenal, ‘Sat.,’ 9.102, “O Corydon, Corydon,” thus versified in Ginsburg’s commentary
“And dost thou seriously believe, fond swain,
The actions of the great unknown remain?
Poor Corydon! even beasts would silence break,
And stocks and stones, if servants did not, speak.
Bolt every door, stop every cranny tight,
Close every window, put out every light;
Let not a whisper reach the listening ear,
No noise, no motion; let no soul be near;
Yet all that passed at the cock’s second crow,
The neighboring vintner shall, ere day-break, know.”
That which hath wings (compare Latin ales); the possessor (baal) of a pair of wings, a periphrasis for “a bird,” as in Pro 1:17. We had “master of the tongue,” Pro 1:11; so in Dan 8:6, Dan 8:20, “having horns,” is “master (baal) of horns.”
HOMILETICS
Verses 1-7, 12-15
The dispraise of folly.
I. FOLLY MARS THE FINEST REPUTATION.
As one sinner destroyeth much good (Ecc 9:18), and flies of death, or poisonous flies, cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking savor, so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
1. It mars their beauty. As the poisonous flies so affect the perfumer’s ointment that it begins to ferment and lose its fragrance, a little folly mixed up with a great deal of wisdom and honor impairs these in such a fashion and to such an extent, that they cease to attract the good opinion of beholders, and the person possessed of them is rather known as a fool than esteemed as a wise man.
2. It destroys their value. As the dealer in ointments cannot sell his corrupted pigment, so neither can the man whose wisdom and honor are tainted with folly any longer wield that power for good he might otherwise have done. The influence exerted by his wisdom and honor is directly counteracted and frequently overbalanced by the influence of his folly.
II. FOLLY CONSTITUTES AN UNSAFE GUIDE. “The wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.” This has been thought to mean:
1. The fool’s heart is in the wrong place, in contrast to the wise man’s, which is always in the right place (Hengstenberg). This sentiment is true. The fool’s heart is not directed towards those objects upon which its affections ought to be set, while the wise man’s is. This enough to make folly an unsafe conductor.
2. The fool’s heart never acts at the right time, while the wise man’s does (Ginsburg), because the wise man’s heart is always at his right hand, his acting hand, his working hand; while the fool’s is always at the left hand, the wrong hand, the hand with which a person usually finds it difficult to act. This a second reason why no man should accept folly as a leader. It can never seize the opportunity, never strike while the iron is hot, never do anything at the proper moment or in an efficient manner.
3. The fool’s heart is always unlucky in its auguries, whereas the wise man’s heart is always lucky (Plumptre). If this were the correct interpretationwhich we think it is notit would state what would not be surprising, were it true, that the fool’s forecasts were usually falsified, and would present another argument for not committing one’s self to the directorship of folly.
4. The fool’s heart always leads in the wrong direction, as distinguished from the right direction in which the wise man’s heart ever goes. This, undoubtedly, is true. The fool is a person wholly destitute of that wisdom which is profitable to direct (verse 10), and without which no man can walk safely (Pro 3:23). A final consideration against enrolling beneath the banner of folly.
III. POLLY INVARIABLY BETRAYS ITS OWN STUPIDITY. “Yea also, when the fool walketh by the way, his understanding faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.” As it is certain that no man can conceal his true character for ever, or even for long, so likewise is it certain that a zany, a buffoon, a fool, will discover his sooner than most people. He will proclaim himself to be a fool:
1. By his irrational behavior. His understanding will fail him at critical times and on important subjects. He will reveal his ignorance, want of sense, lack of principle, emptiness of grace.
2. In the most public manner. As he walks by the way. As not being in the least degree ashamed of his folly, perhaps hardly conscious he is making such an exhibition of himself.
3. To the most unlimited extent. He will make himself known, not to his friends in private, but to his neighbors in the street, and not to one or two merely of these, but to every one he meets.
IV. FOLLY FREQUENTLY ASCRIBES ITS OWN CHARACTER TO OTHERS. The fool saith of every one he meets, “He is a fool,” i.e. the individual whom he meets is (Vulgate, Luther, Plumptre). Though this translation is doubtful, it supplies a true thought; that as insane people often count all but themselves insane, so foolsintellectual, moral, and religiousnot infrequently regard themselves as the only truly wise persons, and look upon the rest of mankind as fools.
V. FOLLY IS OFTEN GUILTY OF GREAT RASHNESS. “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding allayeth great offences” (verse 4). The folly here alluded to consists in three things.
1. In flaming up into indignation at an unmerited accusation. Charges of such sort were to be expected by one who served an Oriental despot, and are not uncommon in ordinary life in the experience of subordinates who serve choleric masters. “The spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes” are no doubt hard to bear; but it is not a sign of wisdom to fume against them, and fret one’s self into anger.
2. In hastily retiring from the post of duty. As a statesman might resign his seals of office on being reprimanded by his sovereign, or a workman lay down his tools on being challenged by his master, or a domestic servant throw up her situation on being found fault with by her mistress.
3. In failing to see the better way of meekness and submission. The advantages of gently and patiently bearing false accusations or unjust ebullitions of temper against one are obvious. Such yielding
(1) usually has the effect of softening the anger and checking the railing of the accuser (Pro 15:1);
(2) puts an end to further offences on the part of the irate superior, whether ruler or master, who, were his rage to be increased by resistance, might proceed to greater manifestations of his temper; and
(3) prevents the offended himself from rushing into more serious transgressions, as he might do were he to give way in turn to his angry passions.
VI. FOLLY SOMETIMES ATTAINS TO UNDESERVED HONOR. “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun folly set in great dignity, and the rich in low place servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth” (verses 5-7).
1. The commonness of this phenomenon. “The eunuch Bagoas long all-powerful at the Persian court” (Delitzsch), Louis XI. exalting the base-born to places of honor, and Edward II; James I. of England or Henry III. of France, lavishing dignities on their minions, may be cited as examples. Nothing more frequent in everyday life than to see persons of small capacity and little worth promoted over the heads of their superiors in talent and goodness.
2. The cause of this phenomenon. In one sense the wisdom of God, the chief Ruler of men and things (Hengstenberg), but in another sense, and that the one here intended, the arbitrary power of men “dressed in a little brief authority.”
3. The evil of this phenomenon. It discourages merit, and inflates folly with pride; rewards incapacity, and despises real ability; places influence in wrong hands, and weakens the power of good men to benefit their age.
VII. FOLLY SELDOM KNOWS WHEN TO HOLD ITS TONGUE. “The lips of a fool will swallow up himself,” etc. (verses 12-14).
1. The wise man’s words are few, the fool’s endless. The former is “swift to hear, but slow to speak” (Jas 1:19); the latter hears nothing, learns less, and chatters incessantly. The former is known by his silence (Pro 17:28; Pro 29:11); the latter, by the multitude of his words (verse 3).
2. The wise man’s words are gracious, the fool’s ruinous. The lips of the wise are a tree of life (Pro 11:30; Pro 15:4), and disperse knowledge amongst their fellows (Pro 15:7), whilst they preserve themselves (Pro 14:3); but a fool’s mouth is his own destruction (Pro 17:7), and the complete beggarment of all that listen to him (Pro 14:23; Pro 17:7).
3. The wise man’s words improve as they proceed, the fool’s deteriorate as they flow. The former carry with them the ripe fruits of thought and experience, growing richer and weightier as they move slowly on; the latter progress from bad to worse, beginning with foolishness and ending with mischievous madness.
VIII. FOLLY IS FREQUENTLY UNABLE TO DO THE SIMPLEST THINGS. “The labor of fools wearieth every one of them, for he knoweth not how to go to the city” (verse 15).
1. The fool’s ignorance is dense. So simple a matter as finding his way along a country road to the city is beyond his comprehension. Plumptre cites in illustration the proverbs, “None but a fool is lost on a straight road,” and “The ‘why’ is plain as way to parish church.”
2. The fool’s presumption is immense. He who cannot do so small a matter as find his way to the city proposes to “enlighten the world and make it happy” through his words or his works. So people who know nothing about a subject often imagine themselves qualified to teach it to others, and persons of no capacity put themselves forward to attempt undertakings of greatest difficulty.
3. The fool’s labor is vast. Having neither knowledge nor ability, he labors with “great travail” to expound what he does not understand, and perform what he has neither brains nor hands to execute.
LESSONS.
1. Forsake the foolish and live (Pro 9:6).
2. Get wisdom; get understanding (Pro 4:5).
Verses 8-11
Gnomic wisdom; or, a string of double-edged proverbs.
I. DIGGING PITS AND FALLING INTO THEM. “He that diggeth a pit shall [or, ‘may’] fall into it” (verse 8). An old proverb, borrowed from Solomon (Pro 26:27), who in turn may have learnt it from David (Psa 7:15; Psa 9:15; Psa 57:6), it may point to one or other of two thoughts.
1. The necessity of exercising caution in all works of danger. One who hollows out a trench or pit for the purpose of snaring wild animalsa perfectly legitimate designmay, either by standing too near the edge and causing the treacherous earth to give way, or by stumbling on it in the dark at an unexpected moment, fall in, in which case he will suffer not for having done wrong, but merely for having failed to act with circumspection and prudence (Pro 14:15; Pro 22:3; Pro 27:12).
2. The possibility of evildoers overreaching themselves. In this case the pit is supposed to be dug for a wicked purpose, as e.g. to ensnare another to his ruin. In this sense the proverb has found expression in almost all literatures. Shakespeare speaks of the engineer being “hoist with his own petard.” Haman was hanged upon the gallows he had built for Mordecai (Est 7:10). “Plots and conspiracies are often as fatal to the conspirators as to the intended victims’ (Plumptre).
II. BROKEN HEDGES AND BITING SERPENTS. “Whoso breaketh through a fence, a serpent shall bite him” (verse 8). The hedge, or rather fence, or stone wall, was a customary haunt of serpents; so that one engaged in breaking down such a structure had need to beware of being bitten by the reptiles infesting it. Hence a variety of lessons according as the words are viewed.
1. An admonition to workers. To go cautiously about their employments, if these are dangerous, as a person would who had to pull down or break through an old wall in which serpents were lodged. Many accidents occur, inflicting damage on the workers, for want of a little foresight.
2. A warning to transgressors. That Nemesis may overtake them in the very act of their evil doing. If they break through a neighbor’s fence to steal his fruit, or pull down his wall so as to injure his property, they need not be surprised if they are caught in the act. Wickedness has a habit of avenging itself, sometimes with great rapidity and with terrible severity, on those who perpetrate it. This is true of all breaking down of those fences or laws with which God has girt man. Every violation of lawphysical, intellectual, moral, social, religiousis visited with its own particular biting serpent of penalty.
3. A caution to reformers. If they will set themselves to pull down the old walls of decayed and worthless institutions, or to break through the fences of time-honored customs, they must prepare themselves for being bitten by the serpents in the cranniesfor encountering the opposition, criticism, hate, and often persecution of those who have vested interests in the abuses proposed to be rectified or swept away. Reformers should count the cost before beginning their work of reformation.
III. HEWING OR REMOVING STONES AND HURTING ONE‘8 SELF. “Whoso heweth out [or, ‘moveth’] stones shall he hurt therewith” (verse 9). Again of double import, teaching:
1. The duty of guarding one’s self against the perils that may attend a perfectly legitimate occupation. Viewed in this light, the stone-moving may simply mean the pulling down of a wall, which, if it be carelessly performed, may fall and inflict a hurt upon the worker; and the stone-hewing may refer to the work of quarrying, which may be attended with great risk from the flying about of chips.
2. The inevitable recompense of all wrongdoing. If the stone-moving alludes to the removing of a neighbor’s landmark, then the proverb stands as a reminder of the curse pronounced against that ancient sin (Deu 19:14; Deu 27:17). The use of landmarks, at least as then employed, has ceased; but the distinction between “mine” and “thine “remains; and every invasion of another’s rights is a wickedness which in course of providence will receive its just recompense of reward (Exo 20:15).
IV. CLEAVING LOGS AND CUTTING FINGERS. “He that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby” (verse 9). The three thoughts already mentioned are again repeated.
1. The need of caution. Wood-splitting being a dangerous occupation.
2. The certainty of retribution. The cutting down of trees, especially fruit trees, being regarded as an act of wrongful oppression, and as such forbidden by the Law, even m a siege (Deu 20:19, Deu 20:20), the hurt that might come to one in wood-cutting (Deu 19:5) may be viewed as suggestive of the penalty of disobedience.
3. The peril of reform. The cutting down of trees is, in this instance, taken as symbolic of the hewing down of decayed institutions.
V. BLUNT TOOLS AND HEAVY BLOWS. “If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct” (verse 10). The lessons are two.
1. Every work has its own appropriate tools. Wood-cutting requires axes, and not merely blunt pieces of iron; pit-digging demands spades; stone-hewing chisels. Each occupation has its own implement. This the dictate of common sense.
2. Every tool should be kept in a fit condition for its work. This the teaching of wisdom. A woodman with a blunt axe must strike oftener and heavier than he would need to do were his axe sharp. So the man who enters on any task without the requisite sharpness of intelligence and sagacity will find his work proportionately hindered.
VI. BITING SERPENTS AND TARDY CHARMERS. “If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer;” or, “Surely the serpent will bite without, or where there is no, enchantment” (verse 11); which again offers two thoughts.
1. That the serpent of temptation will do its deadly work unless timorously repressed. This may be done by resisting its first approaches, if they cannot be eluded altogether (Jas 4:7), by crushing down the rising inclination within one to yield, by diligently considering the sinfulness of that to which one is solicited (Gen 39:9), by calling in the help of God against the adversary (Eph 6:10-18).
2. That if once the serpent of temptation has done its deadly work there is no use whatever of resorting to such means of repression. Such means are then too late. To employ them then is much the same thing as to shut the stable door when the steed has been stolen.
Verses 8-11
Good thoughts for bad times; or, words from the wise.
I. THE NECESSITY OF CAUTION. Especially in difficult and dangerous works. He who digs a pit must be on his guard against falling into it; he who pulls down a stone wall must look out for serpents; he who hews stones or removes them must be careful not to hurt himself in the process; he who cleaves or splits timber must see that he is not endangered thereby. “The prudent man looketh well to his going.”
II. THE RECOMPENSE OF WRONGDOING.
1. Springing out of the wrong act. As when one, having dug a pit to ensnare another, falls into it himself.
2. Suddenly smiting the transgressor. As when a serpent bites him who pulls down a wall.
3. Swiftly following on the heels of crime. As when one who, hewing stones, injures-himself with the chips, or, removing a neighbor’s landmark, is punished for his offence.
4. Certainly overtaking the evildoer, As when one cutting wood strikes himself with the axe.
III. THE PERIL OF REFORM. The propriety of counting the cost before entering on the arduous career of a reformer. Illustrated by the two proverbs about breaking through fences and cutting down trees. Men are not to be deterred from attempting reforms because of difficulties and dangers; only they should not be surprised when these are experienced.
IV. THE SELECTION OF INSTRUMENTS. Many enterprises fail because the proper instruments have not been selected; or, if selected, have not been managed with wisdom. The man who intends to cut down a tree must first have an axe and then keep it sharp.
V. THE CHOICE OF TIMES. Many good undertakings fail because not begun at the right time. Many dangers might be avoided were precautions against them not adopted too late. To every work there is a time. Strike while the iron is hot. Beware of being too late.
Verses 16-20
The picture of a happy land.
I. A NOBLE KING.
1. Of royal blood. “Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles”like Horace’s “Macenas atavis edite regibus,” descended from a long line of crowned heads. If countries are to have kings, then decidedly the scion of kingly (more especially if also honorable and good) ancestors is better than the upstart who was yesterday a gentleman of the pavement, but is to-day the occupant of a throne (Ecc 4:14).
2. Of mature manhood, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.” The experiment of boy-kings has seldom proved successful. Witness the case of Joash (2Ch 24:1), who made a tolerable sovereign only so long as Jehoiada lived. When the king is a minor there is too much scope for ambition on the part of the regent and of the nobles, who would like to be regents or even kings.
3. Of princely intellect. The man who is to rule others should be every inch a king, not in bodily appearance only, but in mental capacity as well. No greater calamity can befall a country than to have its throne filled by a fool or an intellectual baby. In this sense, to be ruled by a “child” is surely the last indignity that can be offered to reasoning and reasonable men.
4. Of large experience. Unlike a child, or a boy, or a youth, whose knowledge of men and things must at the best be limited, the ideal sovereign should be one whose accumulated stores of wisdom, gathered in many ways and from many lands, may be used for promoting the welfare of his people.
II. A TEMPERATE ARISTOCRACY.
1. Dissipation, shameful in all, is specially so in princes. Noblesse oblige. The higher one’s rank, the more incumbent on one is virtue. Hence for princes to eat in the morning, or to be addicted to gluttony and other bodily gratifications, to be so intent upon them as not merely to sit up late indulging them, but to rise up early for the purpose of renewing them, is to degrade their dignity, and trail their honor in the mire, besides shaming virtue and outraging decency.
2. Moderation, dutiful in all, is specially promotive of health. Those who live to eat and drink seldom live so long as they might, but by indulgence, setting up disease in their bodies, often shorten their days and die before their time. Those who eat and drink to live, and therefore eat in due season and in due measure, which is what is meant by temperance, take the best means of maintaining themselves in health and strength.
III. A VIRTUOUS PEOPLE.
1. Industrious. “By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh” (verse 18). What is true of a material edifice is also true of the body politic. As the timbers or rafters of a private dwelling will decay unless watched over and from time to time repaired by its inmate, so the fabric of the state will go to ruin unless it be surveyed by vigilant eyes and upheld by untiring hands.
2. Joyous. Not only is there nothing sinful in feasting and wine-drinking when these are kept in virtuous moderation, but the absence of gladness from the face of any people is a bad omen. Gloom on the countenance and wretchedness in the heart mean that social disorder and perhaps revolution are at hand. Everything that contributes to the happiness and contentment of a people is a distinct contribution to the stability of a state.
3. Moneyed. A people without money or money’s worth is a people on the verge of starvation; and no state can stand long whose population consists of paupers. Money there must be, or its equivalent in material goods, and this not concentrated in a few hands, but distributed as widely as possible. The main problem of statesmen should be to secure a population, not only industrious and happy, but well paid, and therefore well fed, well clothed, and well housed.
4. Loyal. A people given to treasonable practices cannot be either prosperous or happy. Hence the Preacher dissuades all good subjects from cursing the king even in their thoughts. The impossibility of escaping detection under the all-pervading espionage of an Oriental despotism rendered it unsafe in the times of the Preacher; but, even in times when the liberty of the subject is respected, it is not always prudent to be hatching conspiracies against the crown, however secret these may be; and certainly it is not conducive to the welfare of a people that such should be common in the land.
5. Law-abiding. As little given to curse the rich as to plot against the king. Not communistic, socialistic, or revolutionary in the bad sense of these expressions; since a people may be all of these in a good sense without losing its character for virtue.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Est 10:1, Est 10:3
Folly self-betrayed.
To the writer of this book it seemed that the great antithesis of human life, of human society, was pointed out by the distinction between wisdom and folly. As by wisdom he meant not merely speculative knowledge or profound statecraft, but, much rather, reflective habits, deliberate judgment, and decisive action, in the practical affairs of life; so by folly he intended exactly the opposite of such character and mental habits. A certain contemptuous and weary abhorrence of the foolish breathes through his language. His remarks are full of sagacity and justice.
I. FOLLY MAY FOR A TIME BE CONCEALED. A grave countenance, a staid demeanor, a reticent habit, may convey the impression of wisdom which does not exist. Men are disposed to take a favorable view of those occupying high station, and even of those possessing great estates. The casual acquaintances of men who are slow and serious in speech, or are exalted in rank, often credit them with wisdom, when there has been no proof of its existence.
II. FOLLY WILL CERTAINLY, SOONER OR LATER, BE REVEALED BY CIRCUMSTANCES. A little folly is the ill savor that vitiates the perfume. The understanding of the fool faileth him while he walketh by the way. The test is sure to be applied which will prove whether the coin is genuine or counterfeit. The hollow reputation must collapse. A critical time comes when counsel has to be given, when action has to be taken, and at such a time the folly of the pompous and pretentious fool is made manifest to all. Sounding phraseology may impose upon men for a season; but there are occasions when something more than words is needed, and such occasions reveal the emptiness and vanity of the foolish. Pedantry is not learning, profession is not religion, pretence is not reality; neither can the show be, for any length of time, taken for the substance.
III. FOLLY, THUS EXPOSED, DESTROYS A MAN‘S REPUTATION AND INFLUENCE, The revulsion is sudden and complete, and may even go to unreasonable lengths. It is presumed that, because the highest expectations have been disappointed, not even the slightest respect or confidence is justifiable. A little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
APPLICATION. The chief lesson of this passage is the value of sincerity, thoroughness, and genuineness of character. It is not every man who has the knowledge, the natural insight, the large experience of life, which go to make up wisdom. But no man need pretend to be what he is not; no man need proclaim himself a sage or a mentor; no man need claim for himself the deferential regard and homage of others. He who will order his way by such light as he can gain by reflection, by the study of the Scriptures, and by prayer, will not go far astray. Sincerity and modesty may not gain a temporary reputation for profundity of wisdom; but they will not expose their possessor to the humiliation and shame of him who, professing himself to be wise, becomes manifest to all men as a fool.T.
Verse 4
A pacifying spirit. The circumstances which suggested this admonition were special; we seem to be introduced to the court of a powerful and arbitrary Oriental sovereign. The caprice and injustice of the monarch arouses the indignation of the courtier, who is ready to rise in resentment anti anger. But the counsel is given, “Leave not thy place.” Presentment fans the flame of wrath; submission assuages it. “Yielding allayeth great offences.” Now, the circumstances apply only to a few, but the principle which they suggest is of wide and general application. A submissive and pacificatory spirit promotes harmony.
I. MEN MUST EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER ANGER AND ARROGANCE FROM THEIR FELLOW–MEN. Those who occupy positions of authority expect deference from their inferiors. Birth, rank, station, are apt to foster an arbitrary habit in their possessors. And whilst there are many and beautiful exceptions to this rule, especially owing to the influence of Christ’s example and spirit, it is not to be questioned that arrogance is the special fault of the officially great.
II. ANGER AND ARROGANCE NATURALLY AROUSE RESENTMENT. We are so constituted that, apart from the controlling and restraining influence of reason and religious principles, we return blow for blow. Anger enkindles anger, as flint and steel enkindle fire. Hence words are spoken which may never be forgotten, and may ever be regretted; estrangements take place which may lead to bitter feuds; blows may follow, or duels, or war.
III. THE WISDOM AND THE DUTY OF SELF–CONTROL. The common proverb is, “It takes two to make a quarrel.” Because offence is given, offence need not be taken; because injury and insult are inflicted, it does not of necessity follow that they should be avenged. Several motives concur to restrain resentment.
1. Self-respect. The man who loses temper and self-command, upon subsequent reflection, feels himself so much less a man; he despises himself.
2. Prudence. This is the motive specially relied upon in this passage, h dealing with “the ruler,” whose spirit rises up against him, the courtier is reminded of the ruler’s power, and is admonished not to provoke him to the exercise of that power, for in that case all favor may lead to disgrace and denudation.
3. Religious principle. This is the motive which, in the case of the Christian, is most powerful. The example of the patient and meek Redeemer, who reviled not again, and who besought mercy for his murderers, is never absent from the mind of those who trust and love him. His love constrains, his precept controls, his example impels. And thus forbearance and forgiveness characterize Christ’s disciples, in those circumstances in which otherwise resentment and revenge might animate the heart.
IV. THE PACIFYING POWER OF PATIENT SUBMISSION. “Yielding pacifieth [allayeth] great offences.” It is not required that the injured party should approve the action of his injurer; or affirmed that no opportunity may occur of just and dignified rebuke. But silence, quietness of spirit, and control of natural impulse, will in many cases produce a good result. He who bears wrong patiently is the stronger and better for the discipline; and his demeanor may melt the wrongdoer to contrition, and will at all events lead him to reflection. Thus the threatened conflict may be avoided; a lesson may be administered to the hasty and arrogant, and the best interests of society may be promoted. Thus the Word of God is honored, and witness is given to the power which Christ possesses to subdue and govern the unruly nature of man.T.
Verses 5-7
Social paradoxes.
The evil which the writer of Ecclesiastes here condemns is one of which the history of every nation affords many examples. Princes’ favorites have too often been chosen from amongst the worthless herd who seek their own elevation and advantage by ministering to the vices of the young, profligate, and powerful. How many a reign has been marred by this mischief! How many a king has been misled, to his own and his country’s harm, by the folly of choosing companions and counselors not for wisdom, sincerity, and patriotism, but because those chosen are of congenial tastes and habits, or are flatterers and parasites!
I. THE ELEVATION OF FOOLISH FAVORITES TO POWER IS INJURIOUS TO THOSE SO PROMOTED, Men who might have been respectable and useful in a lowly station are corrupted and morally debased by their elevation to posts of undeserved dignity and emolument. Their heads are turned by the giddy height to which they are raised.
II. THE ELEVATION OF FOOLISH FAVORITES TO POWER IS INJURIOUS TO THE PRINCES WHOM THEY PROFESS TO SERVE. What kings and rulers need is to be told the truth. It is important that they should know the actual state and needs of the nation. And it is important that any weakness or wrong bias, natural or acquired, should be corrected. But the fools who are set in high places make it their one great rule of conduct never to utter unpalatable truth. They assume the faultlessness of their master; they paint the condition of his subjects in glowing colors, and give the ruler all the credit for national prosperity. Their insincerity and flattery are morally injurious to the prince, who by the companionship of the wise might have been morally benefited.
III. THE ELEVATION OF FOOLISH FAVORITES TO POWER IS INJURIOUS TO THE COMMUNITY. The example of injustice thus presented is discouraging to the upright and depressing to the reflecting. The throne becomes unpopular, and the people generally are demoralized. The evil is no doubt greater in despotic than in constitutional states, for these latter afford fewer opportunities for rapacity and oppression. Yet nothing more injuriously affects the community generally than the spectacle of a court which prefers folly to wisdom, fashion to experience, vice to virtue, frivolity to piety.T.
Verses 8, 9
The rebound of evil.
Under these picturesque and impressive figures of speech, the Preacher appears to set forth the important moral lesson, that they who work harm and wrong to their fellow-men shall not themselves escape with impunity.
I. THE SIGNS AND THE SIN OF MALICE. The case is one of intentional, deliberate malevolence, working itself out in acts of mischief and wrong. Such a spirit so expressing itself may be characterized
(1) as a perversion of natural sentiment;
(2) as a wrong to our social nature, and a violation of the conditions of our social life; and
(3) as in flagrant contradiction to the commands of God, and the precepts of our gracious and compassionate Savior.
II. THE RETRIBUTION OF MALICE. The proverbial language of the text is paralleled by somewhat similar apophthegms in various languages, as, for example, in the Oriental proverb, “Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.”
1. Such retribution is often wrought by the ordinary operation of natural laws. The story of the pirate-rover who was wrecked upon the crags of Aberbrothock, from which he himself had cut off the warning bell, is an instance familiar to our minds from childhood.
2. Retribution is sometimes effected by the action of the laws enforced in all civilized communities. The lex talionis, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” may be taken as an example of a principle the applications of which are discernible in all the various states of society existing among men.
3. Those who escape the penalties of nature and the indignation of their fellow-men cannot escape the righteous judgment of God; they shall not go unpunished.T.
Verse 10
Force and wisdom.
The homely adage in the first part of this verse prepares for the broad general statement by which it is followed.
I. IN MECHANICAL UNDERTAKINGS THE SUPERIORITY OF SKILL TO BRUTE FORCE IS MOST APPARENT. This is obvious in the superiority of the workmanship of the civilized and cultured to that of the barbarian.
II. WISDOM HAS A VAST ADVANTAGE IN THE ORDINARY AFFAIRS OF HUMAN LIFE. The old fairy stories usually represented the muscular giant as a simpleton easily outwitted by the youth or the dwarf; the lesson being that mere strength avails but little for those ends which men most seek and prize. It is wisdom which is profitable to directa truth which applies not merely to mechanics, but to the various arts which men cultivate. What vocation is there in which thought, investigation, the adaptation of means to ends, a calm deliberate judgment, are not serviceable? It is the wise who reap the harvest of life, who sway the realm of humanity.
III. WISDOM IS PRE–EMINENTLY OF SERVICE IN ALL TRUE RELIGIOUS LIFE AND ENTERPRISE. It is true that human wisdom is depreciated in some passages of Holy Writ. But careful attention will show that it is only the lower type of wisdom which inspiration disparages. They who have only “the wisdom of this world,” who are “wise in their own conceit,” are indeed condemned. But, on the other hand, they are approved who receive the wisdom of God in Christ, and who are wise unto salvation. It is the enlightening influence of God’s Holy Spirit that leads to an appreciation of the gospel itself, and that directs those whose endeavor and aim it is to bring their fellow-men into the enjoyment of those blessings which that gospel secures.T.
Verses 11-15
The obtrusiveness and the condemnation of folly.
Although some of the language employed in this passage is unquestionably obscure, the general tenor of it is clear enough. The contrast which is drawn between wisdom and folly is what we meet with, under other forms, in other portions of the book, and the exposure and censure of the thoughts and the ways of the fool are fitted to warn the young against forsaking the rough but safe paths of true wisdom.
I. FOLLY IS SHOWN IN THE UNNECESSARY MULTIPLICATION OF WORDS. Fools speak when there is no occasion, when they have nothing to say, or when they have already said all that was needful.
II. FOLLY REVEALS ITSELF, THOUGH WITHOUT PROVOCATION. It cannot be concealed; it is obtrusive and glaring. The fool is his own enemy: “his lips will swallow up himself.”
III. FOLLY IS DISPLAYED IN DOGMATIC UTTERANCES UPON MATTERS WHICH ARE BEYOND HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. There are many subjects upon which modesty and reticence are required by wisdom. Especially is this the case with regard to the future. But it is presumed in this passage that the fool will not restrain himself from pronouncing upon what is beyond human knowledge or human prescience.
IV. FOLLY IS WEARISOME TO THOSE WHO WITNESS THE WORKS AND WHO LISTEN TO THE WORDS BY WHICH IT REVEALS ITSELF.
V. FOLLY IS MANIFESTED IN INCOMPETENCY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, The fool “knoweth not how to go to the city,” i.e. how to transact public business, and to give advice regarding civic action.
VI. FOLLY IS SURE TO ISSUE IN MISCHIEF AND DISASTER. It is sometimes represented that fools can do no harm; that real mischief is wrought by malice, by criminal designs and actions. But a careful inquiry into the facts would show that very much of the evil that afflicts society is brought to pass by mere folly. The Hebrews and the Greeks were agreed in representing wisdom as a cardinal virtue. It is men’s duty to cultivate wisdom. If they neglect to do so, it matters not that they have no criminal intentions; the absence of wisdom must needs lead to conduct which will involve themselves and others in much suffering, and even in terrible calamities.T.
Verses 16, 17
Statesmanship.
It is sometimes assumed that moral qualities are unimportant in relation to political affairs. If a king be brave in his warlike expeditions, splendid in his court, and affable in his demeanor; if a statesman be sagacious in counsel and determined in action, it is too generally assumed that nothing further is wanting to secure national greatness and prosperity. The writer of Ecclesiastes looked far deeper, and saw the necessity of a self-denying and laborious character in order to true kingly and statesmanlike service.
I. INCOMPETENCE AND SELF–INDULGENCE IN THOSE WHO OCCUPY HIGH PLACES ARE A CURSE TO A NATION. Men who are flung into power by the wave of royal favoritism, or by popular caprice and applause, are apt to use their exalted station as a means to personal enjoyment and to the gratification of vanity. Statesmen who pass their time in luxury and social ostentation will certainly neglect the public interests. They account their power and rank as their possession, and not as a sacred trust. Their example tends to debase the national morals, and to lower the standard of public life. They surround themselves with flatterers, and they neglect their proper duty, until they awake to find their country plunged into calamity or threatened with enslavement.
II. SELF–DENIAL, EXPERIENCE, AND DILIGENCE ARE QUALITIES WHICH ENSURE TRUE STATESMANSHIP. In despotic governments it is obvious that the national prosperity depends very largely upon the patriotism and justice, the assiduity and unwearied devotion to duty, of those in high station. The conditions of national life under a constitutional government are different. Yet there is no political community in which unselfishness, temperance, and diligent application to the public service are not valuable qualities on the part of these who deliberate and decide upon great public questions, and of those who administer a nation’s affairs.
APPLICATION. In modern states, where the representative principle so largely obtains, great power is placed in the hands of the citizens and subjects. With them accordingly rests much of the responsibility for the righteous government and the true prosperity of the nation. It behooves Christian men to beware of being misled by party spirit, and so of overlooking the grave moral faults of those who solicit their confidence. It is in the power of the people to raise to positions of eminence and authority men whose aim is not personal aggrandizement and enjoyment, but the public good. If this power be wisely and firmly exercised, vice and crime will be repressed, order and liberty will be maintained, and the nation will maintain a high position and exercise a noble influence among the nations of the earth. Then the spectator will be inspired to utter the exclamation, “Happy art thou, O land!”T.
Verse 18
The curse of sloth.
Religious teachers are sometimes unwilling to touch upon common faults, such as are noticeable by every observer as prevailing too generally in the everyday life of their fellow-men. The Scriptures give no countenance to such negligence, but, on the contrary, deal faithfully with those errors and evil habits which are alien from the Christian character, and which are injurious to: human society. Slothfulness was peculiarly hateful to the writer of this book, who inculcated diligence as a religious duty, and exhibited in homely but effective ways the results of its prevalence.
I. TEMPTATIONS TO SLOTH ARE MANY. Work must be done, some will admit; but it may be left to others, or it may be put off to a more convenient season. Work need not be done, others will declare; much may be left undone which some people think of importance, but which is not really so. Upon the plea of ill health, or mental inability, or preoccupation, multitudes, in this world where there is so much to be done, sink into slothful, indolent habits and a useless life,
II. THE FOLLY OF SLOTH IS EASILY MADE EVIDENT.
1. The slothful man is his own enemy. Had he exerted himself and exercised his powers, he would have grown an abler and a better man. Who does not know persons with undeniable gifts who have “wrapped their talent in a napkin,” and who have morally deteriorated, until they have become worthless members of society?
2. The slothful man wrongs society. Every man is born into this world to do a work for the general good. To live in idleness and comfort upon the produce of others’ toil is to inflict a positive injury. Others have to labor in order that the idle may be fed. Work is left undone for which the indolent possess, it may be, some peculiar gift. For the life of the slothful the world is none the better.
III. THE SIN OF SLOTH IS CONDEMNED BY THE WORD OF GOD. The Book of Proverbs contains some very striking reflections and statements upon this point. And for the Christian it is enough to consider the example of the Lord Jesus, who with all his consecrated energy devoted himself to his Father’s will and work. How alien from the Master’s spirit is the habit of the indolent! We cannot lose sight of the fact that, in the last judgment, the “wicked and slothful servant” must hear words of condemnation.
IV. PRESERVATIVES FROM SLOTH MAY BE FOUND IN THE PROVISIONS OF GOD‘S GRACE.
1. Prayer prompts to watchfulness and toil.
2. Attention to the counsels and admonitions of God’s Word cannot fail to be serviceable in delivering us from temptations to slothfulness.
3. Meditation upon the example of our Savior and Lord will stimulate to diligence and zeal. They who by the indwelling of his Spirit are one with him will share his devotion to the Father’s will, his consecration to the welfare of mankind.T.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Est 10:1
The dead fly in the ointment.
“So doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor” (Revised Version). It is a fact well worth a wise man’s thought, that the presence of even a very little evil is found to be enough to counterbalance or undo much that is good. We find this in circumstance, in action, in character. Our everyday life supplies many illustrations.
I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF A MAN. Not without reason does the moralist speak of the “one crumpled leaf” spoiling the worth of the “bed of roses.” Ahab still makes himself miserable because he cannot have Naboth’s vineyard in addition to all his property. It is not only true that “some murmur when their sky is clear” if one “small speck of dark appear” in their heavens; it is true that very many do. If we are depending on our surroundings for our satisfaction, we shall give one more illustration of “the dead fly in the ointment.”
II. HUMAN ADVOCACY. A man may present an important case to his audience; he may have made diligent and ample preparation; he may deliver his address with much logical force, with much felicity of style, with much animation of spirit; and yet he may fail to convince, and he may lose his cause through one mistake. He may make use of one offensive expression, or he may produce one palpably weak argument, on which his opponents fasten; then all the good gained by his persuasiveness is lost by the harm done by his simple indiscretion. Much wisdom is outweighed by a little folly.
III. HUMAN CHARACTER, AND THE INFLUENCE IT EXERTS. We are always acting upon our kindred and our neighbors by our character, and by the conduct of which it is the source. And, as a rule, the good and wise man is thus helping to make others good and wise; bat there may be the “dead fly in the ointment” here. Truthfulness, righteousness, purity, kindness,these qualities are calculated to tell powerfully upon those who daily witness them; but if there be in the midst of these an admixture of severity, or of exaggeration, or of parsimoniousness, or of sarcasm, much if not most of the good influence may be lost; the virtues and the graces are forgotten, while the one blemish is remembered. The same thing, in much the same way, applies to
IV. HUMAN REPUTATION. A man may be building up a most honorable reputation through many years of toilful and virtuous life; he may succeed in winning the regard of his fellow-citizens, and then by one serious indiscretionpecuniary, social, domestic, political, ecclesiasticalhe may have to step down from his high position. It may not be a crime or a sin, but a serious mistake, an act in which he was very ill advised, a proceeding in which his judgment was sadly at faultbut it is enough; it upsets the fabric which had been laboriously constructed, and bat little honor will be accorded to him.
1. In our judgment of others we should distinguish between the superficial and the essential, between the exceptional and the common.
2. We should refuse to allow the one insignificant evil to disturb the harmony of our spirit, to spoil the brightness and excellency of our life.
3. We are bound to be devoutly careful lest we permit our influence over others to be materially weakened by a blemish in our character or an indiscretion in our conduct.C.
Verse 8 (former part)
Sin suicidal.
“He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul” (Pro 8:36); he that seeks to do injury to others brings trouble upon himself; with the measure and after the manner with which he deals will he himself be dealt with. Evil intents, as also good ones, recoil upon their authorin the one case in penalty, and in the other in blessing. As we observe, we see that
I. EVIL BEGETS EVIL AFTER ITS OWN KIND.
1. Violence begets violence. “They that take the sword perish with the sword;” not, of course, with absolute and unfailing regularity, but generally; so commonly that the professional warrior and, still more, the uncontrollably passionate man may expect to come to a violent end. But, apart from fatal consequences, it is a constantly recurring fact that men give back blow for blow, litigation for litigation, hard measure for hard measure.
2. Cunning begets cunning. The crafty man is the likeliest of all to be caught with guile. Men have a peculiar pleasure and take especial pride in outwitting the neighbor who is trying to take advantage of them. So that he who is always laying traps for his fellows is in greatest danger of being himself entrapped.
3. Contempt begets aversion. There are those who from the pedestal of (often imaginary) superiority look down upon their companions with supercilious disregard; their attitude is one of haughtiness, their language and conduct that of condescension. These proud ones suffer as they deserve; they pay an appropriate penalty; their neighbors resent their assumption; they pass them by with aversion; they speak of them with condemnation; they leave them to loneliness and friendlessness.
4. Slander begets reproach. Men that are unscrupulously complaining of others, hastily or ill-naturedly ascribing to them mistakes or misdeeds, are the men whose own shortcoming is quickly detected and unsparingly condemned (see Mat 7:1, Mat 7:2). Thus sin (or folly) smites itself; it thinks to injure others, but it finds in the end that the stone which it threw up into the air comes down upon its own head. On the other hand, we see
II. GOOD BEGETS GOOD AFTER ITS KIND.
1. The man of peace is permitted to dwell in peace.
2. Frankness, sincerity, are met with reciprocated open-mindedness and honesty.
3. Honor rendered to worth and to our common manhood creates respect, and calls forth the best that is in men.
4. Generosity in judgment receives in return a kind and brotherly estimate of its own actions and character. While he that digs a pit for others fails into it himself, he that raises a ladder for others elevation himself rises upon its rungs.C.
Verse 8 (latter part)
The broken hedge.
There are many fences which we have constructed, or which the Lord of our life has erected, and we discover that if we break them we shall find ourselves attacked and bitten by the serpent which is within or upon the other side.
I. THE HEDGE OF SOCIAL REQUIREMENTS, There are certain understood enactments of society which must be regarded by us. They may have no claim to be moral laws; they may not have any place in the statutes of the land; still they are obligatory upon us. If we are so self-willed or self-sufficient, if we are so ignorant or so careless, as to violate these, we must pay the appropriate penalty of general disregard. Even though we be free from all vice and all crime, we shall be numbered among transgressors of the unwritten law of society, and our position will be lowered, our influence will be lessened, our reputation will be reduced, our usefulness will be impaired.
II. THE HEDGE OF HUMAN LAW. Human law requires of us that we shall pay the debts we owe, that we shall make our contribution to the protection of the society of which we are members, that we shall respect the rights of our neighbors. Breaking this hedge, we pay the penalty which the law inflicts; this “serpent” may be only a small fine, or it may be loss of liberty or even life.
III. THE HEDGE OF DIVINE LIMITATION. God has set a limit to our faculties, and thus to our enjoyment, our activity, our achievement; and if we heedlessly or ambitiously pass this limit, we are bitten and we suffer. If we break the hedge of:
1. Physical appropriation, or exercise, we suffer in bodily sickness, in nervous prostration, in premature decline.
2. Mental activity. If we think, study, strive, labor on at our desk, beyond the limit of our powers, we pay the penalty in irritability, in softening of the brain, in insanity.
3. Spiritual faculty. If we attempt to enter regions that are beyond our God-given powers, we end either in a skepticism which robs us of our highest heritage, or in a mysticism which fascinates and misleads us.
IV. THE HEDGE OF CONSCIENCE. Conscience commands us, with imperative voice, to keep well within the line of purity, of sobriety, of truthfulness, of reverence. If we go beyond that line, we suffer. We suffer:
1. The condemnation of God.
2. The disapproval of the wise and good.
3. The reproach of our own soul.
4. The loss of self-respect and the consequent enfeeblement of our character; and of all losses this is, perhaps, the worst, for it is one of a series of downward steps at the foot of which is death.
1. Be right at heart with God; you will then have within you a force of spiritual rectitude which wilt keep you in the path of wisdom and virtue.
2. Be vigilant; ever watching character and conduct, so that you are not betrayed unawares into error and transgression.
3. Be docile; always ready to receive the counsel and heed the warning of true and faithful friends.
4. Seek daily the guidance and guardianship of God.C.
Verses 9 (latter part), 10
Good workmanship-ourselves and our tools.
This much-debated passage may suggest to us some lessons which may not have been in the mind of the Preacher, but which are appropriate to our time and our circumstances. The question of how much work a man can do is one that depends on two thingson his own strength and skill, and on the quality of the tools he is using. A weak and untried man with poor tools will not do half as much as a strong experienced man with good ones in his hand.
I. THE FIELD OF WORK. This is very broad; it includes not only:
1. All manual labor, to which the passage more immediately applies; but:
2. All business transactions, all household activities, all matters of government in which men are often “the tools” with which work is done. And it includes that to which our attention may be especially directed:
3. All Christian work. This is a great field of its own, with a vast amount of work demanding to be done. Here is work
(1) of vast magnitude;
(2) of great delicacy;
(3) of extreme difficulty,
for it means nothing less than that change of condition which results from a change of heart and life. In view of this particular field we regard
II. THE CONDITIONS OF GOOD WORKMANSHIP. And these are:
1. Good tools. Of these tools are:
(1) Divine truth; and to be really good for the great purpose we have at heart we need to hold and to utter this truth in
(a) its integrity, not presenting or exaggerating one or two aspects only, but offering it in its fullness and symmetry;
(b) its purity, uncorrupted by the imaginations and accretions of our own mind;
(c) its adaptation to the special spiritual needs of those to whom we minister.
(2) An elastic organization; not such as will not admit of suiting the necessities of men as they arise, but one that is flexible, and that will lend itself to the ever-varying conditions, spiritual and temporal, in which men are found, and in which they have to be helped and healed.
2. Good workmen. Those that have:
(1) Wisdom “profitable to direct,” that have tools, skill, discretion, a sound judgment, a comprehensive view.
(2) Strength; those who can use bad tools if good ones are not at hand, who can work on with sustained energy, who can “bear the burden and heat of the day,” who can stand criticism and censoriousness, who will not be daunted by apparent failure or by occasional desertion, who can wait “with long patience” for the day of harvest.
1. Seek to be supplied with the most perfect tools in Christian work; for not only will good tools do much more work than poor ones, but bad tools will result in mischief to the workman. “He that cleaveth is endangered.” Half-truths, or truth unbalanced by its complement, or a badly constructed organization, may do real and serious harm to those who preach the one or work through the other.
2. Put your whole strengthphysical, mental, spiritualinto the work of the Lord. With the very best tools we can wield, we shall wish we had done more than we shall have accomplished, when our last blow has been struck for the Master and for mankind.C.
Verses 17, 18
Ruin-its forms and its sources.
A material “ruin” may be a very picturesque and even pleasant sight, when that which has answered its end loses its form and does well to disappear. But otherwise a ruin is a pitiable spectacle.
I. THREE FORMS OF RUIN.
1. Health. When a man should be in his prime, with all his physical and mental forces at their best; when he should be able to work effectively and continuously, and should be the stay of his home and a strength to his Church and to his friends; and when, instead of this, he is worn, feeble, incapable, obviously declining, and clearly drawing towards the end,we have a melancholy ruin.
2. Circumstance. The once wealthy merchant, or the once powerful family, or the once strong and influential state, is brought down to poverty, helplessness, and general disregard; this also is a pitiful sight. But the worst of all is that which relates to:
3. Character. When a man once upright, pure, godly, respecting himself and living in the enjoyment of general esteem, is brought down to moral ruin and becomes a human wreck, then we see the saddest sight beneath the sun. What was once the fairest and noblest thing in the worlda sound, strong, beautiful human characterhas lost all its excellency and become foul and ugly. How does this happen? Here are
II. TWO SOURCES OF RUIN.
1. Self-indulgence. To “eat for strength and not for revelry” (drunkenness) is the right and the becoming thing; “to eat (feast) in the, morning,” when the precious hours should be given to duty,this is a shameful and a fatal thing. Self-indulgence, which constantly tends to become greater and grosser, leads down fast to feebleness, to poverty, to demoralization, to shame, to death.
2. Idleness, or carelessness.
(1) The man who does not think it worth his while to study the laws of health, and to take pains to keep them, need not wonder if he becomes weak and sickly, if his life is threatened.
(2) The man who pursues his pleasure when he should be doing his work will certainly find his business “decaying,” his credit falling, his prospects of success “dropping through.” So also the housewife, the student, the minister, the secretary, the statesman.
(3) The man who treats his own spirit as something of secondary importance, who does not read that he may be enlightened, who does not worship that he may be edified, who does not pray that he may be guarded and sustained, who does not seek the companionship of the good and fellowship with Christ, who leaves his spiritual nature at the mercy of all the adverse forces that are circling round him and acting on him, may expect that his soul will be impaired, that his character will decay, that the most precious “house” which man can build will fall, and great and sad will be the fall of it (Mat 7:27).C.
HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK
Est 10:1
Dead flies.
Among the Jews oil rendered fragrant by being mixed with precious drugs was used for many different purposes. With it priests and kings were anointed when they entered upon their offices; guests at the tables of the rich were treated to it as a luxury. It was used medicinally for outward application to the bodies of the sick, and with it corpses and the clothes in which they were wrapped were besprinkled before burial. Very great care was needed in the preparation of the material used for such special purposes. Elaborately confected as the ointment was, it was easily spoiled and rendered worthless. It was, accordingly, necessary not only to take great pains in making it, but also in preserving it from contamination when made. If the vase or bottle in which it was put were accidentally or carelessly left open, its contents might soon be destroyed. A dead fly would soon corrupt the ointment, and turn it into a pestilent odor. So, says the Preacher, a noble and attractive character may be corrupted and destroyed by a little follyan insignificant-looking fault or weakness may outweigh great gifts and attainments. It is not a case of the unthinking multitude taking advantage of a foible, or inconsistency, or little slip, to depreciate the character of one raised far above them in wisdom and honor, in order to bring it down to their level; of envy leading to an unjust and ungrateful sentence being pronounced upon an almost faultless character. But the warning is that deterioration may really set in, the precious ointment be actually changed into a disgusting odor, the wisdom and honor be outweighed by the little folly (“outweigh,” Revised Version). The same teaching is given in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians St. Paul warns his readers that their toleration of a heinous sin in one of their members was poisoning the whole spiritual life of the Church (Ecc 5:1-20.). The fervor of their religious emotions, the hatred of sin and love of holiness which had led them to separate themselves from heathen society, the aspirations and endeavors after purity and righteousness which naturally follow upon an intelligent and earnest acceptance of Christian truth, were all being undermined by their omission of the duty that lay upon them, that of isolating the gross offender, and of expelling him from their community if he gave no signs of penitence and amendment. They might themselves be orthodox in belief and unblamable in conduct, but this sin would soon, if unchecked, lower the whole tone of the community, and nullify all the good that had been attained to. “Know ye not,” he said, “that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” It was impossible to allow the fault to remain and to keep the evil influence it exerted within bounds; it would spread like infection, and be persistent until it had corrupted the whole community. And what is true of a society is true of an individual. The fault which shows itself in a character is not like a stain or flaw in a marble statue, which is confined to one spot, and is no worse after the lapse of years, but like a sore in a living body, which weakens and may destroy the whole organism. One cause why the evil influence spreads is that we are not on our guard against it, and it may grow to almost ungovernable strength before we are really convinced that there is any danger. We can recognize at once great errors and heinous vices, and the alarm and disgust they excite, prepare us to resist them; but little follies and weaknesses often fill us with an amused contempt for them, which blinds us to their great power for evil. The dead body of the fly in the vase of ointment is so insignificant a source of corruption, that it surprises us to discover that the fermentation it has produced has tainted the whole mass. Weight for weight, there is an enormous disproportion between the precious fluid and the wretched little object which has corrupted it; yet there is no ignoring of the fact that the mischief has been done. In like manner does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor; an uncorrected fault spreads its influence throughout a whole character and life. How often has the lesson been brought home to us, both in our reading of histories and biographies and in our own experience, of the widespread mischief done by a small foible or weakness!
“The little rift within the lute
That by-and-by will make the music mute.”
So numerous are the sources from which danger arises, that a long list might be made of the little sins by which the characters of many good men and women are often marredindolence, selfishness, love of ease, procrastination, indecision, rudeness, irritability, over-sensitiveness to praise or blame, vanity, boastfulness, talkativeness, love of gossip, undue laxity, undue severity, want of sell-control over appetites and passions, obstinacy, parsimony. Such are some of the follies which outweigh wisdom and honorwhich stamp the character of a man as unworthy of that respect which his gifts and graces would otherwise have secured for him. Numerous though these follies are, they may be reduced to two great classesfaults of weakness and faults of strength.
I. FAULTS OF WEAKNESS. This class is that of those which are largely negative, and consist principally in omission to give a definite and worthy direction to the nature; e.g. want of self-control, love of ease, indolence, procrastination, indecision, selfishness, heartlessness. That these are faults which create widespread mischief, and excite a general contempt for the characters of those in whom they appear, will scarcely be denied by any, and illustrations of them are only too abundant. Want of self-control over appetites and passions led David into the foulest crimes, which, though sincerely and passionately repented of, were most terribly avenged, and have for ever left a stain upon his name. Love of ease is the only fault which is implied in the description of the rich man in the parable (Luk 16:19), a desire to be comfortable and avoid all that was disagreeable, but it led him to such callous indifference to the miseries of his fellows as disqualified him for happiness in the world to come. A similar fault stained the character of that young ruler who came running to Christ and asked, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” From his youth up he had obeyed the commandments, and his ingenuous, sweet character and disposition attracted the love of the Savior. But his love of the world made him unwilling to practice the self-denial needed to make him perfect. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions (Mar 10:17-22). His cowardice that led him to make “the great refusal” was the dead fly that corrupted the precious ointment. A very striking illustration of the deterioration of a character through the sin of weakness and indecision is to be found in the life of Eli. He was a man possessed of many beautiful qualities of mind and spiritgentle, unselfish, devoid of envy or jealousy, devout and humble; but was “a wavering, feeble, powerless man, with excellent intentions but an utter want of will.” His parental indulgence led him to exercise no restraint over his children, and the consequence was that when they grew up their conduct was grossly scandalous and depraved. His authority and power as a ruler were not used to check the evils Which in his heart he loathed, and so his folly outweighed all the wisdom and honor he possessed. His good qualities have not preserved his memory from contempt. For contempt is the feeling instinctively excited in those who witness moral weakness and indecision. This is the sting of the rebuke addressed to the Church of Laodicea, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15, Rev 3:16). In Dante’s description of the lower world special infamy is attached to this class of offendersthat of those who have never really lived, who have never awakened to take any part either in good or evil, to care for anything but themselves. They are unfit for heaven, and hell scorns to receive them. “This miserable mode the dreary souls of those sustain who lived without blame and without praise. They were mixed with that caitiff choir of angels, who were not rebellious nor were faithful to God, but were for themselves. Heaven chased them forth to keep his beauty from impair; and the deep hell receives them not, for the wicked would have some glory over them. They are unknown to fame. Mercy and judgment disdain them. Let us not speak of them, but look and pass.”
II. FAULTS OF STRENGTH. This class includes those faults which are of a positive character, and consist largely in an abuse of qualities which might have been virtues, For these are not open vices by which characters otherwise good are depraved, but insignificant, unsuspected sources of danger. The very strength of character by which men and women are distinguished may lead, by over-emphasis, into very offensive deterioration. Thus firmness may degenerate into obstinacy, frugality into parsimony, liberality into extravagance, lightheartedness into frivolity, candor into rudeness, and so on. And these are faults which disgust and repel, and cause us to overlook even very great merits in a character; and not only so, but, if unchecked, gradually nullify those merits. We may find in the character of Christ all the virtues which go to make up holiness so admirably balanced that no one is over-prominent, and, Therefore, no one pushed to that excess which so often mars human excellence. Over against the sterner and more masculine qualities of mind and spirit we find those that are gracious and tender, and both within such limits as render his a faultless and perfect example of goodness. His tender compassion for the sinful did not lead him to condone their faults or to lower the standard of holiness for their sake. His righteous indignation against sin did not show itself in impatience, censoriousness, or irritability, as he met it from day to day. “His tender tone was the keen edge of his reproofs, and his unquestionable love infused solemnity into every warning.” Two practical lessons may be drawn from our text. The first is that all human excellence is exposed to risk. It is not sufficient to have attained to a certain measure of righteousness; there needs also to be care against declining from it. The ointment carefully distilled must be guarded against corruption. And the second is that the danger often springs from insignificant and unsuspected quarters. The dead fly, carried by some stray breeze into the unguarded vial, is the center of a fermentation which in a very short time will destroy the value of all its contents.J.W.
Est 10:2 -15
From the second verse of this chapter to the fifteenth we have a series of proverbs loosely strung together, but all bearing upon
The wholesome influence of wisdom and the baneful effects of folly
in the varying circumstances of daily life. It would be waste of ingenuity to try to show any logical connection between the proverbs that are thus crowded together in a small space. And we must content ourselves with a few elucidatory remarks upon them in the order in which they come.
I. A DOUBLE PROVERB ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WISDOM AND FOLLY. (Est 10:2, Est 10:3.) “The wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s at his left;” better, “inclines towards his right, towards his left.” The heart of the wise man leads him in the proper direction, that of the fool leads him astray. It would be absurd to speak of their hearts as differently situated. The is that of direction; and that which is at the right hand means the duty and work which belong to us, that at the left what concerns us less. The wise man recognizes the path of duty, the fool wanders aimlessly away from it. Others give a slightly different turn to the thought. “The one with his heart, i.e. his mind, ready, at his right side, as he walks along the track that images human life, ready to sustain and guide him; the other, the fool with his wits at the left side, not available when needed to lean upon” (Bradley). The fool proclaims his folly to all (Est 10:3); every step he takes reveals his deficiency, but, so far from being ashamed of himself, he displays his absurdity as though it were something to be proud of
II. WISDOM A PROTECTION IN TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES. (Verses 4-7.) The first picture (verse 4) is that of the court of a despotic king, where an orificial has either deservedly or undeservedly incurred the anger of the sovereign (“spirit” equivalent to “anger,” as in Jdg 8:3; Pro 29:11). The natural feeling of indignation or resentment would prompt such a one to throw up the office entrusted to him, and by so doing probably draw down on himself a still greater storm of anger. The wise courtier will yield to the blast and not answer wrath with wrath, and either pacify the anger he has deservedly incurred, or, if he be innocent, by his patience under injury, avoid giving real cause for offence. We must remember that it is of an Eastern court our author is speaking, in which the Divine right of kings, and the duty of passive obedience on the part of subjects, are doctrines which it would be thought impious to deny. Similar advice is given in Pro 15:1. It is not to be supposed, however, that the Preacher regarded all existing governments as commanding respect, and taught only servile maxims. In Pro 15:5-7 he speaks of grievous inequalities in the state; faults of rulers, the frequent exaltation of the base and the depression of the worthy. His words are studiously cautious, but yet they describe the evil in sufficiently clear terms. It may often be prudent to bow to the wrath of rulers, but rulers are not always in the right. One class of evils he had seen arising from “something like an error” (so cautious is he of speaking evil of dignities), which proceedeth from the rulerthe selection of unworthy men for high positions in the state. “Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. By the rich he means the noblesthose endowed with ample inheritances received from a line of ancestors who have had the leisure, and opportunities and means for training themselves for serving the state, and from whom a wise king would naturally choose counselors and magistrates. But in Oriental courts, where “the eunuch and the barber held the reins of power,” men of no reputation or character had a chance of promotion. And even in Western courts and more modern times the same kind of evils has been only too common, as the history of the reigns of Edward II. and, James I. of England, and of Louis XI. and Henry III. of France, abundantly proves. The reason for making favorites of low-born and unprincipled adventurers is not far to seek; they have ever been ready tools for accomplishing the designs of unscrupulous princes, for doing services from which men who valued their station and reputation in society would shrink. “Regibus multi,” says Grotius, “suspecti qui excellunt sire sapientia sire nobilitate aut opibus.” Even the Preacher’s self-control is insufficient to suppress the indignation and contempt which any generous mind must feel at such a state of matters, and he concentrates his scorn in the stinging sentence, “I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth” (verse 7). Among the Persians only those of noble birth were permitted to ride on horseback. Thus one of the circumstances of the special honor bestowed on Mordecai was his riding on horseback through the streets of the city (Est 5:8, Est 5:9). But this distinction the Preacher had seen set aside; his eyes had been offended by the spectacle of princes walking on foot like common people, and slaves mounted on horses and clothed with authority (Pro 19:10).
III. WISDOM SHOWN IN PROVIDING AGAINST POSSIBLE DANGERS. (Verses 8, 9.) We need spend no time in the fruitless endeavor to connect verses 8,-11 with those that have gone before. The writer seems to consider wisdom in another of its aspects. He has just spoken of it as prompting one who is under its influence to be patient and resigned in the presence of eradicable evils; he now speaks of it as giving foresight and caution in the accomplishment of difficult and perhaps even dangerous tasks. He mentions four undertakings in which there may be danger to life or limb. He that digs a pit may accidentally fall into it; he that removes a crumbling wall may be bitten by a serpent that has sheltered itself in one of its crannies; the quarryman may be crushed. by one of the stones he has dislodged; and the woodcutter may maim himself with his own axe. Whether underneath this imagery he refers to the risks attending all attempts to disturb the existing order of things and to overthrow the powers that be, one cannot say. “The sum of these four classes is certainly not merely that he who undertakes a dangerous matter exposes himself to danger; the author means to say in this series of proverbs which treat of the distinction between wisdom and folly, that the wise man is everywhere conscious of his danger, and guards against it Wisdom has just this value in providing against the manifold dangers and difficulties which every undertaking brings with it” (Delitzsch).
IV. THE WISDOM OF ADAPTING MEANS TO ENDS. (Verse 10.) Such, we think, is the general meaning of the words, which are perhaps more difficult to interpret than any others in the whole Book of Ecclesiastes. “If the iron be blunt,” if it will not readily tend itself to the work of felling a tree, more strength must be put forth, the stroke must be heavier to penetrate the wood. If there be little sagacity and preparation before entering on an enterprise, greater force will be needed to carry it out. The foresight which leads to sharpening the axe will make the labor in which it is used muck easier. “But wisdom is profitable to direct” (verse 10b); it suggests means serviceable for the end in view. It will save a useless expenditure of time and strength.
V. THE FOLLY OF TAKING PRECAUTIONS AFTER THE EVIL HAS BEEN DONE. (Verse 11,) “If the serpent bite before it be charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer” (Revised Version). The picture is that of a serpent biting before the charmer has had time to make use of his skill in charming; and the point of the aphorism is that no skill or wisdom is of any avail if made use of too late. “It is too late to lock the stable door when the steed is stolen” (Wright).
VI. WISDOM AND FOLLY IN HUMAN SPEECH. The winning character of the wise man’s words, the mischievous and tedious prating of fools (verses 12-15). The tongue has just been spoken of (verse 11) as the instrument used by the charmer for taming serpents, and there follows in these verses a reference to wisdom and folly displayed in the words of the wise man and of the fool. “The words of the wise man are gracious” (cf. Luk 4:22), they win favor for him; both the subject-matter and the manner of his speech gain for him the good will of those that hear him. The words of the fool are self-destructive; they ruin any chance he had of influencing those who were prepared to be persuaded by him, whom he meets for the first time, and who were therefore not biased against him by previous knowledge of his fatuity. He goes from bad to worse (verse 13). “The words point with a profound insight into human nature to the progress from bad to worse in one who has the gift of speech without discretion. He begins with what is simply folly, unwise but harmless, but vires acquirit eundo, he is borne along on the swelling floods of his own declamatory fluency, and ends in what is ‘mischievous madness'”(Plumptre). Especially is this the case when his talk is on subjects as to which even the wisest are forced to confess their ignorance (verse 14) He speaks voluminously, as though he knew all things past and to come, as though all the mysteries of life and death were an open book to him. And he wearies out every one who hears him or has to do with him- His crass ignorance in all matters of common life forbids any trust being placed in his speculations and vaticinafions as to things that are more recondite. The well-known beaten road that leads to the city (verse 15) he does not know. What kind of a guide would he be in less-frequented paths? In these various ways, therefore, the contrast is drawn between wisdom which leads men in the right way, which directs, their course through the difficulties and dangers that often beset them, and enables them to make the best use of their resources, and that folly which, if it is the ruling element in a character, no art or skill can conceal, which so often renders those in whom it appears both mischievous and offensive to all who have anything to do with them.J.W.
Verses 16-20
Duties of rulers and subjects.
Some of the evils of life arise from errors and follies which may be corrected by diligence and prudence, and among them are the caprices of unworthy princes, the vices of courtiers, and the disloyalty of subjects. Both kings and those over whom they rule have duties towards each other, the violation of which bring many mischiefs; both need to have before their minds the ideal of righteousness belonging to their respective stations.
I. THE EVILS OF MISGOVERNMENT. The land is miserable whose king is a child in years or in heedlessness, whose princes begin the days with revels instead of attending to the management of affairs of state and the administration of justice. The incapacity of the prince leads to the appointment of unworthy ministers, and prevents a proper check being put upon their profligacy and neglect. The result is soon seen in the disorders of the state. “Through the slothfulness of rulers,” he goes on to hint, “the fabric of thy state decays; the neglected roof lets the water through. And meantime there is high revelry within the palace walls; and gold and silver supply all their needs” (verses 18, 19). Illustrations of such an unhappy state of matters recur only too readily to the student of history. We may see it exemplified in the condition, shall we say, of some native state within our Indian frontier? or some Eastern empire tottering to its fall nearer home? or a European monarchy at the close of the last century, with luxury and state in the palace, and a hungry people outside its door, and the shadow of the guillotine, and head-crowned pikes and September massacres in the background?” (Bradley).
II. THE BLESSINGS OF A. WELL–ORDERED GOVERNMENT. That land is happy, governed by a king of undisputed title (verse 17), who sets an example of integrity, and not by some upstart adventurer. He derives his title from his noble descent, but he may establish his power on a firmer foundation if the excellences of his ancestors are reproduced in him; he will secure a large measure of prosperity for his people if he choose for his officers men of simple tastes, who think more of discharging their duties than of self-indulgence.
III. THE DUTY OF LOYALTY ON THE PART OF SUBJECTS. (Verse 20.) Even if the sovereign is personally unworthy of respect, the office he holds should be honored; he is still the servant of God, even if he is grossly neglectful of his duties. There is a worse evil than misgovernment, and that is anarchy. “Curse not the king”he may not deserve it; there may be reasons of state to explain what seems to be capricious or unjust in his conduct; yield him reverence for conscience sake, because it is right to do so. And even if he be in the wrong, it is prudent to abstain from words of blame, since he has the power to punish those that speak against him, and may hear in unexpected ways what has been said about him in secrecy. Such counsels are of a kindred character with those which the apostles have given (Rom 13:1-7; 1Pe 2:13-17). At first it might seem as if they commended the cultivation of a slavish spirit on the part of subjects towards their rulers, and it is well known that many have deduced from them the preposterous doctrine of “passive obedience.” But it must be kept in mind that while these portions of Scripture prescribe the duties of subjects, they prescribe also the duties of kings; and that it is no slavish doctrine to hold that those who rule in equity have an absolute right to the devotion and loyalty of their subjects. When they depart from equity their claim to implicit obedience is proportionately diminished. The prudential maxim of verse 20 warns men to count the cost before they assail the power of even a bad kingto beware of provoking his wrath by heedless conductbut does not command passive obedience to him. Misgovernment may reach such a pitch as to make it a duty for subjects to brave the wrath of kings, and to attempt to put a check upon their folly. We have not here a mean-spirited and time-serving piece of advice, suitable only for those who languish under the tyranny of Eastern despots, bat a warning against rashness which is not inapplicable to the most public-spirited citizen of the freest state. The examples of Isaiah under Ahaz, of Jeremiah under Zedekiah, and of St, Paul under Nero, show that it is possible to have a love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity, and yet not be wanting in respect to a bad king.J.W.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Ecc 10:1. Dead flies cause, &c. The smell arising from the perfume of the perfumer is infected by dead flies; so is the value of wisdom and reputation by a little folly. See Desvoeux, and Bishop Lowth’s third Prelection.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
B. In Presence of the Insolence, Bold Assumption and Violence of Fortunate and Influential Fools, the Wise Man can only Preserve his Peace of Soul by Patience, Silence and Tranquility
Ecc 9:17 to Ecc 10:20
1. Of the advantage of a wise tranquility over the presumptuous insolence of fools
(Ecc 9:17 to Ecc 10:4)
17The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth 18 among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. 1Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 2A wise mans heart is at his right hand; but a fools heart is at his left. 3Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. 4If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.
2. Of the advantage of quiet, modest wisdom over the externally brilliant but inconstantfortune of fools
(Ecc 10:5-10)
5There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth 6from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 8He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
3. Of the advantage of the silence and persevering industry of the wise man over the loquacityand indolence of fools
(Ecc 10:11-20)
11Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. 12The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to 16 the city. Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the 17 morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy 18 princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! By much sloth-fulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 19A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry : but money answereth all things. 20Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
*[Ecc 10:8. . A ditch, or pit, Vulg., fovea, LXX. . The Syriac Version, has the same word. It is, however, no more Aramaic than Hebrew, being rare in both languages, though the verb, signifying to dig, is found in the latter. Its form is unusual in having dagesh after shurek, as is noted in the margin.T. L.]
*[ Ecc 10:8 . A ditch, or pit, Vulg., fovea, 70 . The Syriac Version has the same word. It is, however, no more Aramaic than Hebrew, being rare in both languages, though the verb, signifying to dig, is found in the latter. Its form is unusual in having dagesh after shurek, as is noted in the margin.T.L.]
[Ecc 10:9. ; for , a denominative from , a knife, and, therefore, having no relation to the verb as found, with quite a different meaning, Job 22:2; Job 33:3; Job 15:3; Isa 22:15, etc. Lit., shall be cut, or, may be cut thereby. It is another example of variant orthography, showing that the first manuscripts of this work were written from the ear. See remarks on and similar words, page 116.T. L.]
[Ecc 10:10. ; the sense of swinging, which Zckler, Hitzig, and Elster give to this word, is not confirmed by Eze 21:26, to which they refer. Gesenius gives the sense to sharpen, polish, but derives it from the primary idea of light moving, as in the rapid motions of a whet-stone, which is very probable. The accents connect it faces, edges, though the Vulgate and LXX have disregarded it.T. L.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Of the three sections of this division, as we lay them down in essential conformity with Vaihinger, the first compares the entire nature of the wise man with that of the fool, whilst the second draws a parallel between the two regarding the conditions of their happiness; but the third points out the more profound[8] causes of their opposite destinies in two special qualities of both (the loquacity and indolence of fools, and the opposite of these faults in the wise man). This train of thought is less clear on account of the peculiar form of the sentences,nearly all being proverbs of two lines, concise in extent, and significant and aphoristic in character;but it must not therefore be disregarded, nor displaced by the acceptance of an incongruity of plan or connection, as if it were a conglomerate of many groups of maxims or of separate proverbs with no internal connection. By an atomistic and disintegrating process, this section has been divided by Hengstenberg into five divisions, by Hahn into eight, and by Elster even into nine; (1) Ecc 9:17 to Ecc 10:1; (2) Ecc 10:2-3; (3) Ecc 10:4; (4) Ecc 10:5-7; (5) Ecc 10:8-10; (6) Ecc 10:11-14; (7) Ecc 10:15; (8) Ecc 10:16-19; (9) Ecc 10:20; we shall present the special refutation of this system in our illustrations of the words and sense of the individual verses.
2. First strophe. Ecc 9:17 to Ecc 10:4. Of the patient and tranquil nature of the wise man in contrast with the arrogant insolence and irascibility of the fool.The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Observe the connection with the section immediately preceding, Ecc 9:13-16, which shows the superiority of wisdom by a single example. But this verse opens a new section in so far as it begins to treat specifically of tranquility as a characteristic and cardinal virtue of the wise man. He who hears in quiet, proves himself thereby a lover of quiet and tranquility, and therefore a wise man. A quiet attention to wise words is a condition necessary to their practical obedience, and consequently to becoming wise and acting wisely. The counterpart of this is shown by the boisterous and passionate cry of the ruler among fools, i.e., not absolutely of the foolish ruler (Vaihinger, etc., referring to Psa 54:6; Job 24:13, ff.), but of a ruler who, as he rules over fools, is foolish himself; comp. Ecc 10:16. Elster correctly observes : Two pictures are here compared, the wise man among his scholars, who receive his teachings with collected attention, and thoughtful quiet, and a ruler wanting in wisdom to control, and who, in undignified and boisterous ostentation, issues injudicious commands to those who execute them quite as injudiciously. Comp. the mild and tranquil nature of the servant of God, with the criers in the streets: Isa 42:2; Mat 12:19.
Ecc 9:18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; i.e., it is stronger, more effective, and indomitable than the greatest physical strength and warlike preparation, poetical, and equivalent to comp. Psa 55:19; Dan 7:21; and therefore, as elsewhere we have , not merely weapons of war (Vulgate: arma bellica; Elster, et al.), but implements of war, warlike instruments, and apparatus, war material in general (LXX ).But one sinner destroyeth much good. One sinner, i.e., a single one of those coarse miscreants or fools, who can command physical strength, but are destitute of wisdom. There certainly can be no intention to make a special allusion to the heathen world-monarch, i.e., the Persian king (Hengstenberg), nor in the expression, much good is there any reference to the prosperity of the Persian realm. This expression can rather be only intended to show what is homogeneous with wisdom and belonging to it, consequently the salutary creations and measures of wisdom, its blessings in the various spheres of the civil, and, especially, of the moral life of men.Nine manuscripts read instead of and one sin destroyeth much good; but the connection imperatively demands the retention of the Masoretic reading.
Ecc 10:1. Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour. Literal, flies of death, etc. The singular , with the plural , is to be taken distributively: each individual dead fly can make the ointment stink, as soon as it falls into it. For this construction comp. Hos 4:8; Pro 16:2; Son 2:9; Gesenius, Lehrgebude, pp. 665, 713. means literally turns into liquid, causes to bubble up, i.e., sets into fermentation, and in that way produces the decomposition and rottenness of the ointment. , dealer in spices. This addition gives us to understand that the valuable ointment of commerce is meant, and by no means a worthless article.So doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. [Zcklers comment is based upon his translation : Weightier than wisdom, than honor, is a little folly, [1] which is essentially different from our English Version.T. L.]. is here used in its original signification heavy, weighty, namely, in the eyes of the dazzled multitude, that is, accustomed to esteem folly, and indeed a very small amoun.t of folly, of more value than all real wisdom and honor. Wisdom and honor correspond in this second clause to the costly ointment of the first and the little folly [] corresponds to the fly, the little dead animal, that nevertheless corrupts the whole pot of ointment; comp. 1Co 5:6.
Ecc 10:2. After Ecc 10:1 has explained and developed the second clause of Ecc 9:18, the author turns back to the illustration of the great advantages of wisdom over folly, that is, to the first clause of Ecc 9:18. A wise mans heart is at his right hand. That is, it is in the right place, whilst the fools is really at the left, i.e., has sinister and perverse purposes. Heart is here equivalent to judgment, as in the subsequent verse, and in Pro 2:2; Pro 14:33; Pro 15:28.
Ecc 10:3. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him. That is, when he goes out he lets people perceive his want of judgment in various waysfor which reason he would do much better to remain at home with his stupidity.And he saith to every one that he is a fool. Namely, because he considers himself alone wise, and as a fool he can do no otherwise; for as soon as he should consider himself a fool, he would have made the beginning of his return to the path of wisdom. Knobel, Ewald, and Vaihinger render; it is foolish. But stands elsewhere only for persons; for the adjective sense it would be necessary to assume the reading .
Ecc 10:4 is not a specific maxim incidentally dropped, (Elster) but an admonition holding the closest connection with what precedes, and which forms the practical conclusion of the whole discussion (beginning with Ecc 9:17) concerning the relation between wise gentleness and foolish passionateness. For the ruler among fools (Ecc 9:17) here clearly appears again as ruler; the great offences point back to the sinner of Ecc 9:18; and thus also is there made a close connection with Ecc 10:2-3 of this chapter. Hence Luther is correct in his rendering : Therefore, when the insolence of a mighty one, etc. If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee. For the expression in which does not mean spirit (Sept., Vulg., Hengstenberg), but anger, comp. 2Sa 11:12; Psa 78:21; Eze 38:18.Leave not thy place; i.e., do not be disconcerted, do not become dissatisfied, as this would develop itself in a changed position of thy body in a manner that would entail danger on thee. In this obvious illustration it is not necessary, with Hitzig, to explain by thy condition of soul, thy usual state of mind,an interpretation for which the appeal to the soulmaintain thy placein the Arabian story of the Golden Necklace, scarcely affords a sufficient reason.For yielding pacifieth great offences, i.e., prevents them, smothers them in the birth, and does not let them come to light. We find similar sentences in Pro 10:12; Pro 15:1; Pro 25:15.
3. Second strophe. Ecc 10:5-10. Of the apparent but inconstant fortune of fools, and of the superiority of the modest, but effective and sterling influence of wisdom.For Ecc 10:5, first clause, comp. Ecc 6:1.As an error which proceedeth from the ruler. By the comparative in , the evil in the first clause is marked as one that is not simply an error of a ruler, but which only appears as such, manifests itself as such, so as to draw after it much worse evils, (Ewald is correct in translating, apparently in error). We can also understand this as veritatis, and either leave it untranslated (as Elster, according to Luther and many older authors) or give it through our turn : there is an evil in respect to an error (Hitzig); it is then indicated that the particular action in question corresponds to the general idea of an evil (); compare 2Sa 9:8.The explanations of Knobel, Vaihinger, and Hahn are censurable in making equivalent to the expressions according to, or in consequence of which; as are also those of Hengstenberg, who, following the example of Hieronymus and a Jewish adept in Scripture learning whom he questioned, understands the term ruler () to be God, and thence thinks of an act of divine power that seems like a fault, but is none,an interpretation which is untenable on account of the manifest identity of with in Ecc 10:4.
Ecc 10:6-7 give two examples of errors of rulers.Folly is set in great dignity; namely, by the caprice of a ruler who elevates an unworthy person to the highest honors of his realm. lit., is given, is set, comp. Est 6:8; Deu 17:15. The abstract stands for the concrete which the Septuagint, Vulgate, etc., seem to have read directly, but which is not therefore to be put in the place of the Masoretic text, because the latter gives a much stronger thought; it is not simply a fool, it is personified folly.And the rich sit in low place, i.e., by virtue of those very despotic acts of a despotic ruler,, the rich (i.e., the noble and distinguished, whose wealth is patrimonial and just,) homines ingenuos nobiles (comp. Ecc 10:20, as also the synonym Ecc 10:17) are robbed of their possessions and driven from their high places. Hitzig says: Sudden and immense changes of fortune proceeding from the person of the ruler are peculiar to the East, the world of despotism, where barbers become ministers, and confiscations of large fortunes and oppression of possessors are the order of the day.
Ecc 10:7. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. A contrast to sitting on horseback, which, among the Hebrews was considered a distinction for the upper classes. Comp. 2Ch 25:28; Est 6:8-9; Jer 17:25; and to this add Justinian 41:3: Hoc denigue discrimen inter servos liberosque est, quod servi pedibus, liberi non nisi eguis incedunt. Here also, as in the preceding verse, the persons compared are to be considered as contrasted not merely in their external condition but also in their character; the princes are really princely, and princely-minded persons, but the servants are men with base servile feeling, which qualifies and makes it right for them to serve.
Ecc 10:8-10 show that in spite of this sudden elevation, so easily gained by unworthy and foolish persons, their lot is by no means to be envied; because their fortune is rife with dangers, because the intrigues by means of which they excluded their predecessors from their possessions, can easily overthrow them, and because the difficult tasks that devolve on them in their high offices can easily bring upon them injury and disgrace. Wherefore genuine wisdom, of internal worth and business-like capacity, is far preferable to such externally brilliant but unreliable and inconstant fortune of fools. The close connection between these verses and Ecc 10:5-7 is correctly perceived by Hitzig, Hengstenberg and Hahn, whilst Elster and Vaihinger isolate their contents too much in wishing to find nothing farther in them than a warning against rebellion, or resistance to divine command.He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. This is different from Psa 7:15; Pro 26:27; Sir 27:26; it is not a pit for others, but simply a pit, the result of severe exertion of a dangerous character, with the implements for digging. Falling into the pit is not presented as a necessary, but only as a very possible case.And whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him; namely, in accordance with the well-known and frequently confirmed fact, that serpents and other reptiles nest in old walls; comp. Isa 34:15; Amo 5:19. The breaking of this hedge appears clearly as an action by which one seeks to injure his neighbor.
Ecc 10:9. Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. Hitzig, taking the futures and too much in the mere potential sense, says: can injure himself. See Ecc 10:8, second clause. For , to break loose, to tear out, that is stones from the earth (not to roll away, as Knobel says), comp. 1 Kings 5:31. is not equivalent to endangereth himself (Sept., Ewald, Knobel and Vaihinger), but is to be derived from a knife (from to cut;[2] comp. Pro 23:2) and is to be translated in accordance with the vulnerabitur of the Vulgate by, he will injure or wound himself, (Hitzig, Elster, Hengstenberg); see Luther also.
Ecc 10:10. If the iron be blunt. (Zckler translates: If one has blunted the iron). Since as piel of to be blunt, can scarcely mean anything else than to make blunt, we must either consider the indefinite one, as the subject, or the wood-chopper of the previous verse. Ewald(Authors of the O. T.), Hengstenberg and most ancient authors (also the Vulgate and Luther) say, that is to be taken intransitively, and as equivalent to hebescit, retusum fuit, but this is opposed by the following before , which clearly shows a change of subject, forbidding the thought that iron can be the subject of this clause. The view formerly entertained by Ewald, one leaves the iron blunt (Poetical Books, 1 Ed.), he afterwards discarded as incorrect.And he do not whet the edge. Zckler translates: And it is without edge. Hitzig is correct in saying that is formed as childless, 1Ch 2:30; 1Ch 2:32, and is equivalent to saying, without an edge, or edgeless. The subsequent is not to be connected with these words, but with the following ones, especially as, according to the only passage in which it occurs (Eze 21:26,) it does not signify to polish, to sharpen, but to shake, to swing. (Hitzig and Elster are correct, though in opposition to most modern writers, who translate: And he has not whet the edge). Then must he put to more strength; i.e., in splitting the wood he must swing[3] the ax with all his strength.But wisdom is profitable to direct. Zckler translates : But it is a profit wisely to handle wisdom. Read (with Hitzig and Elster) instead of thus making the infinitive construct, which, with its object (as predicate to ) forms the subject (i.e., it is a profit, an advantage, or, it is the best; comp. the opposite in Ecc 10:11 th. For the phrase occurring only here (lit., to make wisdom straight, i.e., to direct it successfully, to handle it skillfully) comp. a similar turn in Rth 3:10. It is usual to retain the infinitive absolute as a genitive dependent on And wisdom is the profit of prosperity (Knobel); or, wisdom has the advantage of amendment (Hengstenberg); or, and wisdom is the profit of exertion (?) Ewald); or, wisdom gives the advantage of success (Vaihinger). But all these renderings give a thought less clear and conformable to the text than ours. Luther is not exact: Therefore wisdom follows diligence, (in harmony with the Vulgate, et post, industriam sequetur sapientia). The rendering of Hahn is nearest to ours: And the favor of wisdom is an advantage, wherein the sense of favor for does not seem quite appropriate. The entire sense of the verse is essentially correct in the following rendering of Hitzig : Whosoever would proceed securely, and not expose himself to the dangers that are inseparable, even from the application of proper means to ends, toils in vain if he undertakes the task in the wrong way (like those fools in Ecc 10:6-9); the direct, sensible way to the end is the bestnamely, that very humble, modest, but effective way of wisdom, which the author had recommended already in Ecc 9:17-18; Ecc 10:2-3, and now in Ecc 10:12 ff., farther recommends.
4. Third Strophe. Ecc 10:11-20.Of the advantage of the silent, sober, and industrious demeanor of the wise man, over the indolent and loquacious nature of the fool.Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment.
This sentence in close connection with verse 10 advises to a zealous and dexterous application of the remedies at the command of the wise man; but, at the same time, shows the necessity of such application by an example chosen perhaps with reference to verse 8; thus forming the transition to the warning against empty loquacity and its evil consequences contained in Ecc 10:12-14. Koheleth does not here allude to the charming of spiritual serpents, i.e., of vicious men, by importunate requests (Hengstenberg) but undoubtedly means the actual art of charming serpents; the possibility of which, or rather the actual existence of which he clearly presupposes in possession of wise and skillful persons, just as the author of the 58th Psalm (Ecc 10:4-5), indeed, as Christ himself affirms in Mar 16:18; Luk 10:19. (Comp. also Exo 7:11, and the learned observations of Knobel on the art of charming serpents among the ancients). literally, without enchantment, i.e., without that softly murmured magic formula, which, it was pretended, formed the principal agent in expelling poisonous reptiles, if spoken at the proper period, and thus guarded against the danger of being bitten. literally, the master of the tongue, i.e., who has the poisonous tongue of the reptile in his power, and knows how to extract the poison, or to prevent its biting; or it may also mean the one with a gifted tongue, who by means of his tongue can produce extraordinary results (Hitzig, Hahn). The latter interpretation is preferable as much on account of the analogy of Pro 1:17, and similar expressions, as on account of the context, which clearly shows that the author has in his eye one of ready tongue not making timely use of his gift, a hero with his tongue, but without energy and promptness in action.
Ecc 10:12. The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious. Such a one therefore should not be silent, as the slack serpent-charmer in Ecc 10:11, but should speak often and much, because he does nothing but good, and acquires favor everywhere with his gracious words (Luther). here means id quod gratiam seu favorem parit, or graciousness; comp. Pro 31:30; and for the sentence in general Pro 15:2; Pro 15:26.But the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. Comp. Pro 15:2; Pro 10:8; Pro 10:21; Pro 13:16, etc. Any other reference of the suffix in the verb than to the logical subject is inadmissible. For the plural form comp. Isa 59:3; Psa 59:7.
Ecc 10:13. The beginning of the words of his mouth are foolishness; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. That is, there is nothing discreet either in the beginning or the end of his foolish twaddle (Hitzig); he remains a fool in everything that he says; comp. Pro 27:22. The end of his talk is the end which his mouth makes of speaking, the last and most extravagant of his foolish speeches. Of this it is here affirmed that it is mischievous madness, namely, even for himself injurious and mischievous madness; comp. Pro 18:7; Psa 64:8, etc.
Ecc 10:14. A fool is also full of words. To the error of his silly speech, he adds that of endless loquacity.[4] And he is most apt to prattle gladly and much about things of which, from their nature, he can know the least, namely, about future events. And to this fact there is again reference in what is said in the second and third clauses.A man cannot tell what shall be. must not be changed into , according to the Septuagint, Symmachus, Vulgate, and Syriac, Vaihinger, etc.; for the subsequent clause does not form a tautology with the present one, even when retaining the Masoretic reading, because there is here denied in the first place only the knowledge concerning the future in itself, and then the actual existence of a foreteller of future events (as a reason for the ignorance of the future).And what shall be after him who can tell him? As in of Ecc 6:12, (but different from that in of Ecc 9:3), the suffix in refers to the subject , not to as though there were a distinction here drawn between the near and the remote consequences of the talk of the fool (Hitzig). A restriction of the here mentioned res futur to the evil consequences of the thoughtless twaddle of the fool, is quite as inadmissible as defining it to consist of his lofty plans and bold projects (Hengstenberg). There is simply a general mention of coming events, precisely as in the similar passage in Ecc 6:12.
Ecc 10:15. The labor of the foolish wearieth every one. Literal, the labor of fools: the plural is used distributively just as in verse 1; comp. Hos 4:8. The author here passes from the empty and annoying loquacity of the fool to his indolence, his downright inertness, and feeble slothfulness, as to qualities forming a close connection with, and mainly the foundation of, this loquacity.Because he knoweth not how to go to the city. Hitzig less correctly says: him who knoweth not, and Ewald the one who, etc. But this second clause is rather intended to give the reason of the premature fatigue of the fool, as also of the feebleness and unprofitableness of his exertions. Not to know how to go to the city, is doubtless a proverbial expression allied to that in Ecc 6:8 : to walk before the living, denoting ignorance in respect to behaviour and general incompetency. The way to the city is here mentioned as that which is the best known, most traveled, and easiest to find (Vaihinger, Hengstenberg), not because it leads to those great lords described in Ecc 10:16-19, whom it avails to bribe [Ewald], but simply in so far as the city is the seat of the rulers, of the officers, whence oppression proceeds, and whence also may come relief for the inhabitants of the land (Hitzig, Elster) Hahn is peculiar, but hardly in accordance with the true sense of the word The travail which foolish rulers (?) prepare for their subjects makes these latter tired and faint, brings them to despair, so that they do not know regarding their going to the city, whether, or when, or how it must take place, in order not to violate a law.
Ecc 10:16-19 have so loose a connection with Ecc 10:15, that Hitzig seems to be right when he perceives in them the words of the prattling fool previously described (Ecc 10:12-15), instead of the actual speech of the author. The lament about the idle lavishing of time, and luxurious debauchery of a king and his counsellors in these verses, would be then given as an example of the extreme injudiciousness of a foolish man in his talk, and the following warning against such want of foresight (Ecc 10:20) would then be very fittingly annexed. The whole tendency of the section would then seem directed only against thoughtless and idle loquacity, together with its evil consequences; whilst the indolence and luxury of extravagant nobles (Ecc 10:16; Ecc 10:18-19) form no object of the attack of the author, although he may consider the complaints of the foolish talker as well grounded, and may himself have lived under an authority attended with these vices.[5] For him who will not accept this view, for which the relation between Ecc 10:5-6 of the fourth chapter may be quoted as analogous, there is no other course than, with the great majority of commentators, to see in these verses a farther extension of the theme of indolence, business incapacity and slothfulness of fools, the treatment of which was begun in Ecc 10:15. Ecc 10:16 would then pass from indolent fools in general to indolent, supine and inefficient rulers and nobles in particular. But there would then exist a very imperfect, if, indeed, any, connection with the final warning in Ecc 10:20; indeed the open manner in which complaints are made, in what immediately precedes, regarding the bad conduct of rulers, would seem to be in direct contradiction to this warning about uttering these complaints loudly.Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!That is, an inexperienced, thoughtless fool, incapable of governing; comp. 1Ki 3:7 : Isa 3:4; Isa 3:12,which passages also describe it as a great misfortune to be governed by a child []. Therefore is not to be rendered by servant, slave, which latter would rather be expressed by [contrary to Dderlein, Herzfeld, et al.).And thy princes eat in the morning.A sign of especially excessive intemperance and gluttony; see Isa 5:11 ff.; Act 2:15, and compare also the classical parallels in Cicero, Phil. 2:40; Catullus, Carm. 47:5, 6; Juvenal, Sat. 2:49, 50.
Ecc 10:17. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles.( compare Son 7:2; Isa 32:8); a noble not merely by birth, but also in disposition, vere nobilis, generosus.And thy princes eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkenness.Therefore make that proper use of wine treated of in Psa 104:15; 1Ti 5:23; not that perverted use against which we are warned[6] in Pro 31:4. is not in strength (Hahn), or in virtue (Ewald), but for strength, for obtaining strength. The prep. relates to the object on whose account the action occurs, just as in Ecc 2:24 (comp. Ecc 3:12).
Ecc 10:18. By much slothfulness the building decayeth.That is, the edifice of state, that is here compared to a house that is tottering and threatening to fall (comp. Isa 3:6; Amo 9:11). The intent here is to point out the bad effects of the rioting idleness of the great ones who are called to govern a state. literally: the two idle [hands]; comp. Ewald, 180 a, 187 c. The expression is stronger than the simple form or (Pro 19:15; Pro 31:27); double idleness, i.e., great idleness.And through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.That is, the rain penetrating through the leaky roof. The words are used as elsewhere idleness of the hands, Isa 47:3; comp. Pro 10:4.
Ecc 10:19. A feast is made for laughter.A return to the description of riotous and ruinous conduct as given in verse 16. for laughter, as elsewhere with laughter; comp. for this use of 2Ch 20:21; Psa 102:5.- literally, they make bread; i.e., they give banquets, have riotous feasts. is therefore used here in a sense different from that in Eze 4:15, where it signifies to prepare bread, to bake bread; comp. in Ecc 3:12; Ecc 6:12.And wine maketh merry.The suffix is wanting just as in the was left out. Comp. moreover, Psa 104:15, where an innocent and reasonable enjoyment of wine is meant[7] whilst here the allusion is to a perverted and debauching use of it, as in Ecc 7:2 ff.But money answereth all things.That is, to these luxurious rioters, who, counting on their wealth, declare in drunken arrogance that money rules the world, for money one can have every thing that the heart desires, wine, delicacies, etc., etc. For this Epicurean rule of life see Horace, Epis. I., 6, 3638. literally, to answer, to listen to (Ecc 5:10), but is here equivalent to to afford, to grant; comp. Hos 2:23. Hitzig unnecessarily considers as Hiphil (makes to hear).
Ecc 10:20. Concerning the probable connection with the preceding, consult Ecc 10:16-19 above.Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought. elsewhere knowledge, here thought, Sept. . The signification, study chamber, given by Hengstenberg, lacks philological authority. For the sentence comp. 2Ki 6:12. Hengstenberg is correct in saying; We have here a pure rule of prudence (not a formal precept of duty), a tenet that may be simply summed up in the expression of the Lord : .And curse not the rich in thy bed chamber.The rich here represents the noble, the prince, or the counsellor of the king (comp. Ecc 5:16).For a bird of the air shall carry the voice.That is, in an inconceivable manner, which no one would consider possible, will that he betrayed which thou hast said. See the proverb: The walls have ears; also Hab 2:11; Luk 19:14.And that which hath wings shall tell the matter. equivalent to Pro 1:17. The Kri would unnecessarily here strike out the article before .
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
(With Homiletical Hints)
Although the conclusion of the chapterthe warning against injudicious speeches assailing the respect due to kings in Ecc 10:20may have been written with conscious reference to the relation of Israel to its Persian rulers, the section, taken as a whole, is simply an unambiguous illustration of the relation between wise men and fools. The allegorical conception of Hengstenberg, by virtue of which he sees in Ecc 10:1-3 the idea that the people of God, groaning under the tyranny of the world, will be sustained by reference to the fact that the hostile world, i.e., the Persian world, is given over to folly, and that thus its destruction cannot be far off,this conception, we say, finds no sufficient support in the text; it is, rather, very decidedly opposed by the exceeding general character of the morally descriptive as well as of the admonitory parts. The contents and the tendency of the section form an eloquent, figurative, vivid and popular illustration of the superiority of wisdom over folly. The theme here treated is that favorite one of the Proverbsthe parallels between wisdom and folly [Pro 1:20 ff; Pro 9:1 ff; Pro 10:1 ff; Pro 14:1 ff; Pro 24:1 ff.]; and simply with the difference that here are more emphatically and accurately described the insolence and haughtiness of fools, as well as their loquacity and indolent levity, in contrast to the corresponding virtues of the wise. See exegetical illustrations above, No. 1. A Homily on the entire Chapter: Of a few dominant qualities and principal characteristics of wisdom and folly.Or, of genuine wisdom as the only remedy against the vices of pride, levity and arrogance, together with their evil consequences.Comp. Starke: Three moral precepts: 1. Esteem genuine wisdom (Ecc 10:1-15). 2. Avoid indolence and debauchery (Ecc 10:16-19). 3. Curse not the king (ver.20).
homiletical hints on separate passages
Ecc 9:17; Ecc 10:4. Melanchthon (Ecc 9:17): The words of the wise are heard by the silentthat is, by those who are not carried away by raging lusts, but who seek for things true and salutary. (Ecc 10:10). Good counsels, sound teaching, well ordered methods, are constantly marred and rendered unavailing by trifling meddlers, who are more readily heard, both in courts and by the people, than the more modest and poor, who give right instruction and salutary advice. Lange (Ecc 9:18). He who has learned any thing thoroughly can effect much good thereby, but also much evil, if he wickedly uses what he has learned against the great purposes of God. Cartwright:Such patient submission calms the most violent tempests of the soul; it makes tranquil the most swollen waves of passion; it turns the lion into a lamb. Let us strive then to be imbued with this virtue by which we may please God as well as men, even those who are the farthest removed from piety and humanity. Starke (Ecc 10:3):It is difficult to expel folly and instil wisdom; but it becomes still more difficult when man in his folly considers himself wise (Rom 1:22).(Ecc 10:4). To suffer and patiently commend ones innocence to God is the best remedy against misused power and the wrong that we have endured, Jer 11:20.
Geier (Ecc 10:5) :Lofty positions and great power have not the privilege of infallibility. Therefore, the higher one stands, the more careful let him be, entreating God that he may not fall into error and vice.Hansen (Ecc 10:6-7) :The want of foresight in rulers ever exerts evil influences in the world. The unworthy are thereby preferred to the worthy, and everything takes a wrong course.(Ecc 10:10):It depends more on wisdom and foresight than on physical strength, to carry on the occupations of men with success.Hengstenberg (Ecc 10:9): He who proceeds with violence in the moral sphere, and thus performs actions that, in respect to this quality, are similar to the breaking of stone or the splitting of wood, will suffer inevitable injury.(Ecc 10:10). He who in wisdom possesses the corrective whereby he can sharpen the blunt iron of his understanding, must rise, however deep he may be sunken. He who does not possess it must go to ruin, however high he may have risen.
Ecc 10:11-15. Brenz:There is nothing in man which contributes more to bring him into sin than his tongue. Truth is satisfied with the fewest and simplest words, and the wiser the man, or the more attached to truth, the more sparing is he in his speech. (Ecc 10:15). This teaches that no labor, no diligence, will produce fruit, if one knows not the legitimate use of labor. As the unskilled steward has much toil, with little or no result, if he knows not how to put to use the goods acquired in the proper manner, or does not carry them to market in the city.Cramer:The unprofitable babblers prattle about things of no import; but the wise weigh their words with a golden balance, Sir 21:27.Starke:
Ecc 10:15. That men must painfully toil is a thing of universal necessity since the fall; but to toil in profitless and sinful things is double folly and sin, Isa 57:10.Zeyss [Ecc 10:15] :Remember the city of the living God (Heb 12:22) and learn the right way thither, which is indeed narrow and not easy to find (Luk 13:24).Geier (Ecc 10:16):In judging a wise man we are not to regard his years, but the power of his mind, and what they manifest, 1Sa 16:17; 1Ti 4:12.[Ecc 10:17]. A pious and virtuous magistracy we should gratefully recognize as an inestimable gift of God, and heartily pray to him for their preservation.Zeyss (Ecc 10:18-19):Beware, above all things, that the house of thy soul be not ruined by neglect, whilst thou art yielding to the flesh and its sinful desires.Tub. Bib.:Observe this rule of wisdom: speak no evil of thy ruler, nor of any one else, Jam 4:11.[Matthew Henry] (Ecc 10:14):A fool also is fond of words, a passionate fool especially, that runs on endlessly, and never knows when to take up; it is all the same, over and over; he will have the last word, though it be but the same with that which was the first. What is wanting in the strength of his words he endeavors in vain to make up in their number. The words that follow may be taken either (1) as checking him for his vain-glorious boasting in the multitude of his words (in respect to the future), namely, what he will do, and what he will have, not considering what every body knows, that a man cannot tell what shall be in his own time while he lives (Pro 27:1), much less can one tell what shall be after him, when he is dead and gone. Or (2) as mocking him for his tautologies; he is full of words, for if he do but speak the most trite and common thing, such as a man cannot tell what shall be, then, because he loves to hear himself talk, he will say it over again, what shall be after him, who can tell him? like Battus in Ovid:
Sub illis
Montibus (inquit) erant, et erant sub montibus illis. Whence vain repetitions are called Battologies (Mat 4:7).[Ecc 10:15. The foolish tire themselves in endless pursuits, because they know not how to go to the city, because they have not capacity to apprehend the plainest thing, such as the entrance to a great city. But it is the excellency on the way to the heavenly city, that it is a highway in which the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err (Isa 35:8); yet sinful folly makes men miss that way.T. L.]
Footnotes:
[1][The objections to the rendering of Zckler, Hitzig, Stuart, and others, are 1st: the unusual meaning heavier which it gives to , a sense existing primarily in the root, and appearing in the Syriac and the Arabic, but having no other example in the Hebrew; 2d, the filling up, or supposed ellipsis (in the eyes of the ignorant and foolish), which is required if we give it the more common Hebrew significance of precious, honorable; 3d, and chiefly, the singular incongruity that; by either of these authors, is introduced into the comparison: as the dead fly taints the precious ointment, so a little folly outweighs wisdom, etc., or, is more precious in the vulgar opinion. It is evidently a comparison in either rendering, though the particle of comparison is omitted, as in many other cases, especially of the concise sententious kind [see the long list in the Grammar of Jona Ben Gannach]. The objection to the common English rendering (which is also that of Geier, Tremellius, and the great critic Glassius) is that it requires a repetition of in the second member; but for such ellipsis, especially in proverbial expressions, and when the context evidently favors it, there is good and clear authority. Comp. Pro 13:2; From the fruit of his mouth a man shall eat good, but the soul of the wickedfolly; that is, shall eat folly [with ellipsis of ]. Comp. Pro 26:9; Jer 17:11. A still stronger case is found, Job 24:19, where there is, in fact, a double ellipsis, and yet the comparison and the meaning are both quite clear: Heat carries off the snow waters, Sheolhave sinned; that is, so sheol (carries off those that) have sinned . There is an ellipsis both of the governing verb, and of the relative pronoun. The dead fly taints the fragrant ointment, so a little folly [taints] one honorable for wisdom, etc. Nothing could be more apt, or true. This rendering preserves also the analogy between a good name and precious odors, a metaphor common in all languages, and so strikingly introduced Ecc 7:1, and Son 1:3 : Dead flies spoil the fragrant ointment, a little folly the good name. This is in accordance, too, with a common usage in Hebrew, by which the sense of is transferred from the literal ill savor to odiousness of character. The preposition with the sense of propter, on account of, is also well established: , precious, that is, held in esteem for wisdom and honor. The two verbs and are to be taken together, or the one as qualifying the other: make corrupt, make ferment, or froth, that is, corrupt by fermentation with frothy taint. See Metrical Version.T. L.]
[2][The meaning given to is probably the correct one (see text note), as derived from the noun a knife (Arabic ); but = , means to see, and is only rendered to cut from its supposed affinity to the Latin seco, and to accommodate it to this word. The sense of to become poor, as in Isa 41:20 (pual), and in the Arabic, might perhaps answer here, but it would mar the parallelism.T.L.]
[3][See Text Note and Metrical Version.T.L.]
[4] [ . It is not mere loquacity that is here intended. The best explanation is that of Aben Ezra, who refers it to vain predictions, [see note on Ecc 5:5, Eng. Ecc 5:7, p. 91], or rather, boasting assertions in respect to the future: I will eat and drink, says the fool, but he knows not what shall be in his life or in his death; as is said in another place [Ecc 5:7, Ecc 6:12], there are many words that increase vanity, yet who knoweth what is good for man etc. So also Rashi: In his simpleness, the fool is full of words, deciding confidently and saying, to-morrow I will do so and so, when he knoweth not what shall be on the morrow,or when he would undertake a journey for gain, and knoweth not that he may fall by the sword. Comp. Luk 12:20, Jam 4:13. This is also the interpretation of Martin Geier, at least in relation to the 14th verse. It is strongly confirmed by the immediately following context. In such a rendering in , has an adversative force: Though the fool multiply words, yet man knows net, etc. For who shall tell him what shall be after him? This does not mean the remote future, nor even the future generally, as would be expressed by , but the near, the immediate, which is the sense given by the preposition in the compound , from afterthat which comes from, out of or directly after the present,or, on the morrow, according to the language of these Jewish interpreters, and that of St. James. Comp. Fuersts derivation of (to-morrow), which he regards, not as an independent root, but as a contraction of , as he makes it, or or (see Marg. Note to Ecc 10:7, p. 91). This shows, too, the direct connection with the verse that follows, and furnishes a key to that obscure expression on which there is so much comment to so little purpose. Our English Version: The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city, is hardly intelligible in any sense that can be put upon it. The same may be said of Hitzigs and Zcklers attempts to explain it. The expression, is a collective one, the toil of fools, equivalent to a foolish toil, to be taken as a nominative independent, or what De Sacy styles, in his Arabic Grammar, Vinchoatif, or detached subject. Its separation from the verb following is shown by the change of gender,the feminine prefix in being used to show that the immediate grammatical subject is the neuter, or indefinite, fact: Vain toil of fools! it only wearieth him; the singular objective pronoun in referring, not to taken distributively, but to the vain predicter in Ecc 10:14, and who is kept in view throughout. It wearieth him,is too much for himsurpasses his knowledge. Then gives the reason: One who knoweth not , the going to the cityso plain a fact as thator that he shall go to the city; even this comes not within his knowledge of the future. How to go, says our E. V., and that is the idea conveyed by most others; but there is a great difficulty in making any sense out of it, and the grammatical construction does not require it. In the small number of cases in Hebrew where we find followed by the infinitive (whether with or without ) it is to be determined by the context whether it means a knowing how to do a thing, or a knowledge of the doing, as a fact or event. Thus in Ecc 4:13, it cannot mean, knows not how to be admonished, which makes a very poor sense, but, no longer knows (that is, heeds or recognizes) admonition, or the being admonished. In Exo 36:1, 2Ch 2:13; 1Ki 3:7; Isa 7:16; Amo 3:10; the context favors the sense of knowing how. In Isaiah 47 it is decidedly the other way: does not mean know how to be bereaved, but, know bereavement. Still more clear, and precisely parallel to this case, is Ecclesiastes 4:17 (Eng. Bib. Ecc 5:1) where can only mean the fact: They know not that they are doing evil in their sacrifices. So Ewald renders it. Hitzig and Stuart find there too the sense of knowing how: They know not how to do evil, or, according to the turn they give it, how to be sad; a meaning which we do not hesitate to pronounce absurd in itself, and also altogether unsupported by 2Sa 12:18, to which they refer. According to the view we have taken, the whole passage (Ecc 10:14-15) may be thus rendered:
Predicting words he multiplies, yet man can never know
The thing that shall be; yea, what cometh after who shall tell?
Vain toil of fools! it wearieth him,this man who knoweth not
What may befall his going to the city.
It is no paraphrase, but only so expressed as to give the spirit of the Hebrew as shown by the general connection, and by the evident reference of the in Ecc 10:15, to the in Ecc 10:14. The difference between , and , is very slight, but the makes it correspond more nearly to our English genitive phrase, to know of a thing,that is, as an event or fact. The relative here, has an inferential sense, just as , sometimes, in Greek and the Latin qui when equivalent to quia: who knoweth not=to seeing he knoweth not, or (quod) because he knoweth not. Such a mention of going to the city, as one of the most common and familiar illustrations of human ignorance of the future, suggests immediately Jam 4:13 : Go to ye who say to-day, or tomorrow, we will go to a certain city, etc., ye who know not ( used exactly as is here) what shall be on the morrow, etc. It may have been this very passage, thus understood, that suggested the illustration to the Apostle; since his language is almost identical with the very words of Rashis interpretation. The great difficulties under which Hitzig and Zckler labor, and their far-fetched reasons, warrant the offering of the above explanation, as one that deserves attention, to say the least, in clearing up this obscure passage.
We may arrive at the same general idea, even if we render knows not how to go, etc.; and such is substantially the conclusion of Aben Ezra in another comment on the 15th verse: The fool is like one who would pry into things too high or too wonderful for him, when he knows not the things that are visible and familiar, or like a man who purposes to go to a city when he knoweth not the way, and so he gets weary, and fails in his design. It is the same general lesson, the folly of confident assertions or confident plans respecting the future. Taken in either of these ways, it avoids the exceedingly forced explanations which Zckler here, and Hitzig in his commentary, give of the passage.
The expression Ecc 4:8, may, perhaps, be cited as a parallel case to . An answer might be found in the different form of the infinitive , which is used more like a substantive denoting the event, or fact, as the object of knowledge. This reference, however, is at once disposed of by a consideration of the accents, which, in Ecc 6:8, separate the two words, and require the rendering: What to the poor man who knows,or what to the intelligent poor man, to walk,or that he should walk before the living. In other words: What profit is his intelligence in his walking before the living? Thus it becomes, according to the usual law of parallelism, an amplification of the thought just above it: What profit to the wise? It is another example of the spiritual and critical acuteness that dictated the Masoretic accentuation (see 2d Marginal Note, p. 94). Zckler thinks the accents here of no authority; but that great critic Ewald holds himself governed by them. The assertion, moreover, that never has the adjective sense intelligens, is refuted by simply looking into a concordance, and noting the places where it is joined with the participle having a like adjective force. With this view agrees also Aben Ezra, the prince of Jewish critics. It is fortified, too, by the difficulty which all commentators have felt in making any clear sense out of the language: Who knows how to walk before the living? The references given by Hitzig, Gen 17:1, and 2Ki 4:13, are not parallel; since the preposition, on which the meaning of the phrase so much depends, is entirely different.T. L.]
[5][This most absurd and far-fetched view of Hitzig only shows how a false critical theory of division may turn one of the most impressive passages of the book into a fools gabble. It all comes from looking for logical connections where they do not exist, and from overlooking the poetical subjective character of the work as a series of meditations, each one prompting the other, but by associations discerned by the feeling rather than the ethical reason. It is the free discursive view of human folly, and of the inefficiency of mans best wisdom, that brings out the exclamation: O ill-governed land with its weak king and drunken nobles, where folly so abounds; and then this calls up the picture of the higher and purer ideal. He may have thought of the weak son to whom his kingdom was soon to be committed; it may have been a humbling thought of himself and of his own misgovernment, although there is in the way of this that Solomons youth was the best part of his life; or it may have been prompted by his general historical experience. View it any way, it is far more expressive in this exclamatory and discursive aspect, than though it were bound together by the closest syllogistic ties. And this appears in what follows. In perfect poetical harmony does this free, contemplative style of thought turn again from the political to the common lifefrom the revelry and misgovernment of kings and nobles to the slothfulness, luxury, and mercenary spirit that are found in the lower plane. Yet revile not the ruler,that is the next thought that arises. Obedience and reverence are still due to authority, since evils abound in all ranks. Things are described as they are, and to find here an authority for wine drinking is about as rational as to seek an excuse for sloth and shiftlessness.T. L.]
[6][As drunkenness is condemned here, or, rather, excess of any kind, revelling, or high banqueting, which is the predominant meaning of [comp. convivium], whilst not a word is said about any moderate drinking, this remark must be regarded as rather gratuitous. What makes it more than gratuitous is the fact that in Pro 31:4, instead of a mere warning against perverted use, there is enjoined upon kings and princes total abstinence from all wine and strong drink, as something only fit to be given to persons in extremis, in great pain or debility [the perishing, the or bitter in soul], and therefore unfit for those in health, and especially for all who have responsible duties to perform.T. L.]
[7][In Psa 104:15 a certain effect of wine is mentioned; nothing is said about either its innocent or its immoral use. All such remarks are gratuitous.T. L.]
[8][These ethical and logical divisions are not easy to trace. The different methods adopted by different commentators, warrant a strong suspicion of their reality. There is, doubtless, a connection in the thought, but it is poetical rather than logical, suggestive rather than formally didactic. In the Metrical Version there is an attempt to group into separate cantos the thoughts that seemed to have the nearest relation to each other; but these might, perhaps, be differently arranged, and with equal effect. The mind of the author may be regarded under different aspects. And so, too, of the reader, it may be said, that the division for him may depend very much on his own spiritual state; for it is the very nature of all such musing, emotional writing, to suggest more to one mind than to another. It may even give a wider and higher train of thought to the reader than the writer himself possessed; and that too legitimately, or without any violence to the text; for there is a spirit in words witnessing with our spirits, and, under favorable spiritual circumstances, there may be seen a light in our author’s language which he did not see, or but dimly saw, himself. And this we may suppose to have been the very design of the higher or divine author, in giving such a dramatic or representative work a place in His holy written revelation. The whole book is a meditation, or a series of meditations. The thoughts do not, indeed, follow each other arbitrarily; but, like our best thinking, are connected more by emotional than by logical bands. Place ourselves in the same subjective stateread it as poetry, not as a formal didactic ethical treatiseand we shall readily see what there is in each part, in each verse, in a single word sometimes, that makes the writer think of what follows, though all logical, or even rhetorical criticism might fail to find it. (See remarks p.176). Take, for example, these verses of the 9 and 10 chapters, as apparently the most disconnected of any in the whole poem. The ever-recurring, or underlying thought is wisdon in its two apparently contradictory aspects of preciousness and vanitywisdom, of such inestimable value in itself as compared with folly, and yet, through folly, rendered so unavailing. The episodalmention of the poor wise man leads on the general train of thought, but it immediately (ver.7) how one sinner (one fool) may destroy its effect upon a community. This prompts the parallel thought, how, in the individual, too, a little folly taints all his better acquisitions,the mode of expressing this being, doubtless, a favorite proverbial form commending itself less for its nicety than for its exquisite appositeness. This again makes him think how readily the fool exposes his folly: as the most striking example of which there occurs to the mind the rashness with which such bring upon themselves the displeasure of the ruler. Then comes readily up the folly of rulers themselves,then examples of it in subverting the proper relations of life. A pause, perhaps, occurs: some links pass silently through the mind, but the chain of thought still shows itself. It is transferred from the higher to the more ordinary avocations of life. It is still the unavailingness of human wisdom. With all our care, and all our skill, there is danger everywhere, liability to mistakes and mishaps in every business, and in evey act. Another pause; it is the same thought but it takes a different formthe unavailingness of eloquence, or the gift of speech (that splendid evil, , Jam 3:6, or ornament of unrighteousness). Here, too, there is to be traced the influence of the proverbial association: the serpent bites without enchantment; so is the gift of speech to its possessor when misemployed in vain babbling or in slander. In such a tracking of ideas and emotions, the transitions may seem slight and even fanciful; but they are more natural, more sober, more impressive, we may say, in their moral and didactic effect, than those formal, logical divisions which commentators so confidently propose, and in which they so greatly differ. Other readers may be differently affected, so that they discover in it other associations of thought [for there are various ways, lying below the soul’s direct consciousness, in which our spiritual movements link themselves together] but such diversity of view, it may be said, arises from the very nature of this kind of subjective writing, and is evidence of excellency in it rather than of a defect. It comes from its very suggestiveness, and shows the rich fertility inherent in its germs of thought.T.L.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Preacher is still prosecuting his sermon through this Chapter;
but folding up many important sayings within short sentences.
Ecc 10:1
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
This verse may serve to show us how frequently some of the most precious things are veiled under an unpromising cover. If we take this expression in its literal sense, no doubt it is very true. Folly will give a tinge to much reputation of wisdom, as dead flies will give an unsavory cast to the ointment of the apothecary. But if this were all to be learnt from this scripture, it required not the wisdom of Solomon, much less the teaching of the Holy Ghost, to give such information. But if by the dead flies here spoken of, the blessed Spirit intended to teach the Church, that our corrupt things (nay, our best things, which from sinners by nature dead in trespasses and sin, can be no otherwise than dead,) be mingled with the righteousness of Jesus, whose name for fragrancy is as ointment poured forth; will it not cause all that is blessed in Jesus to lose in our spiritual senses, its sweetness from our ill savor? Reader! why is it that what is precious in Jesus, is not at all times alike precious to us, but from our mingling up with it what is our own?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fences and Serpents
Ecc 10:8
Any attempt to transgress the laws of life which God has enjoined is sure to bring out the hissing snake with its poison.
I. All life is given us rigidly walled up. The walls are blessings, like the parapet on a mountain road, that keeps the traveller from toppling over the face of the cliff.
II. Every attempt to break down these limitations brings poison into the life. Some serpents’ bites inflame, some paralyse; and either an inflamed or a palsied conscience is the result of all wrongdoing.
III. All the poison may be got out of your veins if you like. When Moses lifted up the serpent the people had but to look upon it to be cured.
A. Maclaren, The Freeman, 13 April, 1888.
References. X. 8. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p 345. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ecclesiastes, p. 372.
Ecc 10:12
No world, or thing here below, ever fell into misery without having first fallen into folly.
Carlyle.
The incendiary and his kindling combustibles had been already sketched by Solomon with the rapid yet faithful outline of a master in the art: The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and the end of his talk mischievous madness. If in the spirit of prophecy the wise ruler had been present to our own times and their procedures; if while he sojourned in the valley of vision he had actually heard the very harangues of our reigning demagogues to the convened populace; could he have more faithfully characterized either the speakers or the speeches? Whether in spoken or in printed addresses, whether in periodical journals or in yet cheaper implements of irritation, the ends are the same, the process is the same, and the same is their general line of conduct. On all occasions, but most of all and with a more bustling malignity whenever any public distress inclines the lower classes to turbulence and renders them more apt to be alienated from the government of their country in all places and at every opportunity pleading to the poor and ignorant, nowhere and at no time are they found actually pleading for them.
Coleridge.
I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both; and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first.
R. L. Stevenson.
Ecc 10:14
A large number of people seem to be conscious of existence only when they are making a noise.
SCHOPENHAUER.
Reference. X. 15. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ecclesiastes, p. 381.
Ecc 10:20
At Siena I was tabled in the house of one Alberto Scipioni, an old Roman courtier, in dangerous times…. At my departure for Home I had won confidence enough to beg his advice how I might carry myself securely there, without offence of others, or of mine own conscience. ‘Signor Arrigo mio,’ says he, ‘ pensieri stretti ed il viso sciolto (thoughts close, countenance open) will go safely over the whole world.’
Sir Henry Wotton to Milton.
In The Life of a Scottish Probationer (p. 114) there is an extract from a sermon preached by Thomas Davidson to the troops at Aldershot, which opens thus: ‘Over the entrance of a very old house in an ancient Scottish town, I read, not long ago, the following inscription:
Since word is thrall and thought is free,
Keep well thy tongue, I counsel thee;
that is to say, “Speech is liable to criticism, and may bring you into trouble; be wise and careful, therefore, in the exercise of it”. The inscription, however, gathers additional significance from the fact that the house in question stands within a hundred yards of a royal residence, and must have been built at a time when a more stringent law of treason rendered it very dangerous to make very free, even in the most private of conversations, with anything appertaining to constituted authority.’
Reference. XI. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxviii. No. 2264.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
United Proverbs
Ecc 10
In this graphic chapter we have a number of extraordinary sayings, which some commentators have fruitlessly attempted to shape into unity. Bishop Ellicott says: “Commentators cannot be said to have been very successful in their attempts to trace a connection between the proverbs of this chapter. Perhaps nothing better can be said than that the common theme of these proverbs is the advantage of wisdom. It is forcing the connection to imagine that the enterprise from which the writer seeks to dissuade in Ecc 10:8 is that of rebellion against the ruler whose error is condemned in Ecc 10:5 .” I propose, therefore, to treat the sentences simply as sentences, without trying to weld them into a unity that seems to me to be unnatural.
“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour” ( Ecc 10:1 ).
By dead flies we are to understand “flies of death,” called in Psa 7:13 “instruments of death,” and in Psa 18:5 “snares of death.” The meaning is that the flies were death-giving, or poisonous. It is enough, however, to take the expression as it stands in the English version, and in that case the dead flies are set in apposition to the man who is a fool, and his influence upon one who is in reputation for wisdom and honour: the sense would seem to be that a little folly undoes the effect of much wisdom. A Puritan commentator has well said: “A great many flies may fall into a tar-box, and no hurt done. A small spot is soon seen in a swan: not so in a swine. Fine lawn is sooner and deeper stained than coarse canvas.” It is impossible, according to the finding of Coheleth, for a man to be all wisdom and all honour. The strongest man has his weak points. In the closest armour there is a crevice or a rent. No man is stronger than his weakest point; and strange though it appear, the man’s weakness will often show itself more than his strength; the little evil will seem to be larger than the great good, as one dead fly will cause a whole vessel of ointment to smell vilely. The fly is small, and the vessel is large; yet the evil is more telling in its effect than the good. The ship in which you propose to cross the Atlantic is four hundred feet long, and her timbers are simply magnificent in quality and strength: her captain has crossed the sea scores of times; but it is only right that you should know that fifteen feet below her waterline there is one rotten plank. Now go! Will you? Look at the difference in the proportion between the good and the bad in the ship. How can you hesitate? It is not as if there were four hundred feet of bad timber and one sound plank in the vessel; you are told distinctly that the vessel is good and sound throughout, with the exception of one solitary plank. Now go on board and face the Atlantic if you dare! So it is with a man: he is learned, he is gifted, he is quite noted for his political and commercial capacity; he has a clear eye, a large mind, and a power of dealing with complicated questions which has probably never been excelled; he is prompt, punctual, direct; there is no mistaking any word or tone that he utters: I have only to add, however, that he is gifted with the power of telling lies. Now go and do business with him; trust your concerns to him; put all your affairs into his keeping: listen to him, and be pleased with his eloquence if you can! Why do you hesitate? The ointment is plentiful, and the dead fly is but one, why not go over to the man and assure him of implicit confidence and of zeal in every cause which he espouses?
“A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart is at his left” ( Ecc 10:2 ).
Says one, “He doeth his business discreetly and dexterously; he is handy and happy at it.” We are not, of course, to regard this description as physiological, but as moral. The meaning is the wise man’s heart is right, the fool’s heart is wrong. The fool cannot find his heart: it is not here, but there; not there, but beyond; not beyond, but somewhere else. The wise man knows his strength, has his heart within call of his conscience, keeps himself well under control, and when he is wanted for any worthy object of attack or defence there he is, and may be relied upon with absolute confidence. With the fool it is not so; he is diffused; his strength is attenuated, it lies about him scattered and useless; he is going some day to get himself together, but he does not know exactly where to begin; he means to do you a good turn, but unfortunately you are dead and buried long before he is half ready to begin. We see this kind of helplessness everywhere in church, in business, in household life. There are men perfectly innocent as to moral motive who are mooning all their days, never seeing things in their right magnitude, distance, and colour, but living a life of continuous misapprehension and mistake; they take hold of everything by the wrong end; they deliver messages upside down; they bolt and bar every door conscientiously, and leave the staircase window wide open; their motives are excellent, their innocence makes the whitest lamb ashamed of its depravity; yet they walk backwards, talk backwards, and go out of the world backwards. I know of no cure for them. “That which is lacking cannot be numbered.” Yet they go along with society like a shadow. The child’s riddle inquires, “What is that which goes with a carriage everywhere, and yet is of no use to it?” and the child’s answer is, “Noise!” So these people go along with the daily progress of civilisation. We cannot tell why they live. Truly they cumber the ground. Yet God seems to spare them for some inscrutable reason of mercy. Speaking of the fool Junius says, “His heart is at his left hand,” that is, he puts away reason and wisdom from himself, as for the most part those things which men dislike are put away with the left hand.
“Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool” ( Ecc 10:3 ).
We may read this verse in one of two ways Every one who is a fool has his name written on his forehead and on his back; to everybody he says, Look at me, I am a fool. This is mournfully true. The fool cannot be concealed; we see what he is in his slouching walk, in his vacant stare, in his uncertain speech; there is a loose smile upon his face that shows how life to him is but a grin; his finger-joints are loose, and the muscles of his neck have lost their tension. Or we may read the verse otherwise, and rightly, I think The fool saith to every man he meets, You are a fool. It is often said that the lunatic thinks that all other people are out of their minds. This would seem to be the true reading of this verse. As the fool goes down the street he thinks he sees nothing but fools. In visiting an asylum I have been struck with this. I can never forget an occasion on which a poor woman, looking at a number of visitors, plainly intimated that she regarded them all with wonder and pity; she seemed to say to us “Poor things! how dare you be left alone? It is sad to see so many persons bereaved of reason. Sad, sad sight!” So God lets us down easily. He gives to the soul some compensation, and he so rules the fancy that we often hug our atom of glass, as if it were a diamond of the first water.
Coheleth now calls our attention to two remarkable pictures:
“Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth” ( Ecc 10:6-7 ).
Now both these things would seem to be in direct violation of the law of cause and effect. This is the second time Coheleth has come across instances which show that there is confusion somewhere. These things should make men think of moral causes. There can be nothing so improbable as that folly should be set in great dignity. Given that possibility as a mere theory, to be judged altogether apart from facts, and there could be no difficulty as to determining against it But look on the throne, and see folly crowned; look on the bench, and see folly in the judgment seat; look at the high places of the earth, and see how folly is honoured. Facts are against our fine theories of human nature. How do we account for this elevation of folly? It cannot be accounted for as a mere matter of detail; here again we are indebted to the Bible for its penetration; the Bible insists upon going to roots, causes, and origins, and everywhere it proceeds upon the awful but solemn and true assumption that the foundations of things are out of course. Coheleth says he has seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. The importation of horses was a new thing in the reign of Solomon. The horse occupies a different place in Biblical history to that which it does in classical narratives; hence the surprise of Coheleth when he saw a servant upon horseback, and princes simply walking on the earth. We, ourselves, are accustomed to see servants on horseback. One would think it impossible that any good man can be poor, or that any intelligent man should have a difficulty in making a livelihood. Yet things are all upside down, as it were. Unquestionably it is most odd how money is distributed and how preferment is allotted. Over the wall there, in that sweet garden, where a poet might lodge, or a musician might dream new harmonies, there is a coarse and bloated man who lives only for himself, to whom God never speaks in dream or vision, and to whom a new idea would be a most unwelcome guest; to him the thrush comes without any welcome, and flies away without any regret. It has been quaintly said, “When a fool is set in dignity it is as when a handful of hay is set up to give light, which with smoke and smell offendeth all that are near: when the worthy sit in low place it is as when a goodly candle is put under a bushel.” Cato said he had rather men should question why he had no statue or monument erected in honour of him than why he had. “A rich stone is of no less worth when locked up in a wicker casket, than when it is set in a royal diadem.” We are told that in Persia at this day the difference between the gentleman and the slave is that the slave never rides, the gentleman never goes on foot; gentlemen buy, sell, confer, fight, do all on horseback. We must never forget, however, that a man is not necessarily a prince because he rides upon a horse, neither is a man servile because his poverty obliges him always to walk. More and more we must get rid of all the sophisms which attend our judgment of mere circumstances. Christianity teaches us where to find the man: Christ says, “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth;” what a man is in character, motive, spirit, charitableness, that he is in reality, whether he live in the king’s palace or in the peasant’s hut.
“He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him” ( Ecc 10:8 ).
Instead of the word “hedge” read “a stone-wall.” In the crevices of stone walls serpents have often their habitation. This matter of digging pits is frequently referred to in the Bible “He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made” ( Psa 7:15 ). “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him” ( Pro 26:27 ). “Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit” ( Pro 28:10 ). Pits were dug for the entrapping of wild animals in the Eastern lands, and were covered over, so that no suspicion of their existence might occur. It has been pointed out, indeed, that the pits might be so concealed that the very makers of them might be caught unawares. So with many of our own deep schemes, made for the injury or ruin of men. As to the serpent biting those who break through the stone wall or the hedge, experience and history have left no doubt. We might look for illustrations, for example, in the matter of health. It has been too often supposed that health is a condition which came and went by some arbitrary law, or that man could do what he liked with himself with impunity. All this has been destroyed by better knowledge. Let any man attempt to break through the hedge which is set around the preservation of health, and say whether a serpent will not bite him. One commentator puts the matter thus, as giving in his view the right sense of the passage: “He that seeks to overthrow the fundamental laws, and establish government of a commonwealth, and to break down the fences and mounds of sovereignty and subjection, shall no less (but much more) imperil himself, than he that pulls up an old hedge wherein serpents, snakes, and adders do usually lurk and lie in wait to do mischief.” Even the serpent is thus used as an instrument of Providence. A marvellous use is made of all things in nature, whereby God testifies to his own presence and government in life. We often wonder why such and such creatures should be permitted to live: they are loathsome to our sight, they are ruinous to our property, they terrify us by night and by day, and our immediate instinct is to rid the world of such pests. Why did God ever create such lives? Yet every one of them is of use in his government, though we cannot in our present circumstances explain this by obvious examples. Read the Old Testament through, and it will become wonderful to see what use God has made of beasts and insects in the punishment of evil. Perhaps we do wisely in regarding them all as symbolical of the higher instruments, by which God will punish evildoing. A man may understand a hornet, when he cannot understand a moral appeal. Many a coward fears the lash who cannot enter into the mystery of legal interpretation. All nature is parabolical; what we want is the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the understanding heart. All God’s institutions are well watched; the executioner is immediately behind every one of them, and violence is followed by penalty. That is so in health, in speech, in credit, in social standing, in all the ways and relations of our complicated life.
All the confusions which we have read of in this book of the Preacher spring from a moral cause, and must be met by a moral remedy. No man will ever get his right social place until the conscience of the world is purified. Even the small honours and promotions which we have it in our power to give to one another will be misdirected and perverted, unless we be under the influence of right convictions and motives. And how do men reach the right condition of mind and heart? It is here that the gospel comes with its great answers.
Note
“The most striking feature in the Biblical notices of the horse is the exclusive application of it to warlike operations; in no instance is that useful animal employed for the purposes of ordinary locomotion or agriculture, if we except Isa 28:28 , where we learn that horses (A. V. ‘horsemen’) were employed in threshing, not however in that case put in the gears, but simply driven about wildly over the strewed grain. This remark will be found to be borne out by the historical passages hereafter quoted; but it is equally striking in the poetical parts of Scripture. The animated description of the horse in Job 39:19-25 applies solely to the war-horse; the mane streaming in the breeze (A. V. ‘thunder’) which ‘clothes his neck;’ his lofty bounds ‘as a grasshopper;’ his hoofs ‘digging in the valley’ with excitement; his terrible snorting are brought before us, and his ardour for the strife
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVIII
THE MEANS USED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
CONDEMNED AND THE FINAL CONCLUSIONS
Ecc 8:16-12:14
There are three reasons given in Ecc 8:16 to Ecc 9:6 as to why the means used were condemned, to wit: 1. They were wearisome; wore out the life finding the solution (Ecc 8:16 ).
2. Finite wisdom could not fathom it (Ecc 8:17 to Ecc 9:1 ) compare 1Co 1:19 f.
3. Death comes alike to all (Ecc 9:2-6 ) Here comes a bundle of conclusions expressed in Ecc 9:7-10 , thus: (1) Go on and eat and drink; (2) Dress well and keep yourself in trim; (3) Live in domestic felicity with one woman; (4) Do with your might whatever comes to your hand, for no one can work after death.
The fourth reason assigned for failure is that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Everything in life is uncertain and there are snares set for man’s destruction everywhere (Ecc 9:11-12 ).
We find further observations in Ecc 9:13 to Ecc 10:4 illustrating this principle and the conclusion therefrom. This is the case of the poor wise man who delivered a city and was forgotten, yet his wisdom was better than strength. It was a case of wise words in the quiet which are better than the cry of a man who rules among fools. It was true then and it is true now, that “wisdom is better than weapons of war.” “But one sinner destroyeth much good.” Like dead flies in the ointment, he spoils whatever he touches, as his folly outweighs wisdom and honor. In meeting all these things it is well to keep in mind that “gentleness allayeth great offenses.” But there are certain drawbacks to this passive resistance, get forth in Ecc 10:5-15 , as follows:
(1) The promotion of fools. The ruler sets folly in great dignity and puts the more influential in low places. He puts servants on horses and causes princes to walk like servants (Ecc 10:5-7 ).
(2) A man’s labor turns against him. He that digs a pit may fall into it, or whoso breaks through a wall may be bitten by a serpent, or whoso hews out stones may be hurt by them. A dull tool requires more strength, but the wise can direct to more profit. It is too late to send for the charmer after you are bitten by the serpent (Ecc 10:8-11 ).
(3) The foolishness of fools overbalances the wisdom of the wise. The fool begins in foolishness and ends in madness; he multiplies words to no purpose and throws everything into confusion (Ecc 10:12-15 ).
The last reason assigned for condemning the means is that the king may be a child, given to revelry, drunkenness, and slothfulness, and when this is so it is, “Woe unto the land I” What follows is set forth in three proverbs thus: By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; And through idleness of the hands the house leaketh. A feast is made for laughter, And wine maketh glad the life; And money answereth all things. Revile not the king, no, not in thy thought; And revile not the rich in thy bed chamber; For a bird of the heavens shall carry the voice, And that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
If the means of solution be discarded, the first thing to do, then, is to “Cast thy bread upon the waters” (Ecc 11:1 ) which refers to the ancient method of sowing on the overflow of the Nile, which came annually, a-“d covering the seed by driving oxen over them, the only way it could be done. The spiritual significance of this is the investment of a life in doing good.
The second thing to do is to “Give a portion to all” (Ecc 11:2 ), i.e., Do good as you purpose in your heart while opportunity is afforded you. But there is a warning given in Ecc 11:3-5 : Don’t watch the wind and the clouds, for the man who watches the clouds is fearful and will not succeed. Do not hesitate because you do not understand the principles and methods of God’s providences.
The next thing enjoined is to work at all seasons (Ecc 11:6-8 ). Remember there will be dark days, but be diligent in view of the passing of your opportunity. Then comes a solemn warning to the young in Ecc 11:9 to Ecc 12:8 . Let them in their joys, remember the judgment; that God will bring everything into judgment; that old age will come when they will have no pleasure in it if their lives are spent in folly; that the grave and the judgment are the final destiny of man. Here we have in Ecc 12:3-8 , the great figure of the human body, with the following expressions: “The keepers of the house,” which are the hands that have grown weak and palsied; “the strong men,” which are the legs, giving way under old age; “the grinders,” which are the teeth, and most of them gone, having lost them on account of extreme age; “those that look out of the windows,” which are the eyes, having grown dim with age; “the doors,” the mouth which is not closed because of the absence of the teeth; “the grinding,” which is the sound of the chewing, now low because the teeth are gone; “rising up at the voice of a bird,” which is early rising in the morning, at first cock-crowing, because unable to sleep; “the daughters of music,” which are the tongue and the ears, the tongue no longer able to make music and the ears no longer able to hear and appreciate it; “they shall be afraid of that which is high,” which means that he is afraid to go up on anything high, as to ascend a ladder; “terrors shall be in the way,” which means that he is always finding bugbears in the way, such as wagons, carriages, streetcars afraid of things that he did not notice in early life; “the almond-tree shall blossom,” means that he is now covered with silvery locks, very much like the almond-tree just before putting out, covered with its silvery blossoms; “the grasshopper shall be a burden,” which means one of two things, viz: (1) a little weight, as the weight of a grasshopper upon him, becomes a burden; (2) much more probable, that he now, in his stiffness, resembles the grasshopper dragging himself along; “desire shall fail,” i.e., the appetite is almost gone and he does not relish things that he once did; “man goeth to his everlasting, home,” which means his final destiny, he is very near the end now; “mourners go about the streets,” which refers to the hired mourners, according to the custom in the East, or friends and relatives; “before the silver cord is loosed,” i.e., the spinal cord which resembles silver in color; “the golden bowl,” which means the brain pan; “the pitcher is broken at the fountain,” which refers to the heart, very much like a pitcher in shape; “the wheel broken at the cistern,” which refers to the aorta, just above the heart, where it acts like a wheel and pumps the blood up from the heart; “the dust returneth to the earth as it was and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it,” referring to death, at which the body returns to dust of which it was made and the spirit goes to God.
In Ecc 12:9-10 we have an account of what the Preacher did further: “And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.”
Then follows a proverb and a warning in Ecc 12:11-12 : “The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”
What, then, the real good thing to do and why? The answer is found in Ecc 12:13-14 : “This is the end of the matter; all hath been heard: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
The impress of this book upon the world’s literature has been marvelous. It has made a most wonderful impress upon the world’s greatest authors. In Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Tennyson’s In Memoriam are many references to this book. In fact, this book exploded the philosophies of the Epicureans and Stoics long before these philosophies were developed by the ancient Greeks.
QUESTIONS
1. What are three reasons in Ecc 8:16 to Ecc 9:6 as to why the means used were condemned ?
2. What conclusions are expressed in Ecc 9:7-10 ?
3. What is the fourth reason assigned in Ecc 9:11-12 ?
4. What are the observations in Ecc 9:13 to Ecc 10:4 illustrating this principle and what are the conclusion therefrom?
5. What are the drawbacks of passive resistance, set forth in Ecc 10:5-15 ?
6. What is the last reason assigned and what are the proverbs based thereon?
7. If the means of solution be discarded, what is the first thing to do and what does it mean?
8. What is the second thing to do and its meaning?
9. What warning given in Ecc 11:3-5 ?
10. What is the next thing enjoined?
11. What is warning to the young in Ecc 11:9 to Ecc 12:8 ?
12. On Ecc 12:3-8 , the great figure of the human body, answers (1) What “the keepers of the house”? (2) What “the strong men”? (3) What “the grinders”? (4) What “those that look out of the windows”? (5) What “the doors”? (6) What “the grinding”? (7) What the meaning of “rising up at the voice of a bird”? (8) What “the daughters of music”? (9) What is the meaning of “they shall be afraid of that which is high”? (10) What is the meaning of “terrors shall be in the way”? (11) What is the meaning of “the almond-tree shall blossom”? (12) What is the meaning of “the grasshopper shall be a burden”? (13) What is the meaning of “desire shall fail”? (14) What is the meaning of “man goeth to his everlasting home”? (15) What is the meaning of “mourners go about the streets”? (16) What is the meaning of “before the silver cord is loosed”? (17) What is the meaning of “the golden bowl”? (18) What is the meaning of “the pitcher is broken at the fountain”? (19) What is the meaning of “the wheel broken at the cistern”? (20) What is the meaning of “the dust returneth to the earth as it was and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it”?
13. What did the Preacher further do?
14. What proverb and what warning is in Ecc 12:11-12 ?
15. What, then, is the real good thing to do and why?
16. What can you say of the impress of this book upon the world’s literature?
17. What are the philosophies exploded in this book?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Ecc 10:1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour.
Ver. 1. Dead flies cause the ointment, &c. ] The Preacher had said that “one sinner destroys much good”; Ecc 9:18 here he affirms the same of “one sin”; be it but a small sin, a peccadillo, no bigger than a few “dead flies” fallen into a pot of sweet odours, it is of that stinking nature, that it stains a good man’s esteem, and blows his reputation. A great many flies may fall into a tarbox, and no hurt done. A small spot is soon seen in a swan, not so in a swine. Fine lawn is sooner and deeper stained than coarse canvas. A city upon a hill cannot be hid; the least eclipse or aberration in the heavenly bodies is quickly noted and noticed. If Jacob, a plain man, a deal deceitfully, the banks of blasphemy will be broken down in a profane Esau thereby. If his unruly sons falsify with the Shechemites, he shall have cause to complain, “Ye have made me to stink among the inhabitants of the land.” Gen 34:30 If Moses marry an Ethiopian woman, it shall be laid in his dish by his dearest friends. Num 12:1 If Samson go down to Timnah, the Philistines will soon have it by the end, “told” it will be “in Gath, published in the streets of Askelon.” If David do otherwise than well at home, the name of God will soon stink abroad, 2Sa 12:14 if Josiah go up unadvisedly against Pharaohnecho, and fall by his own folly, this “shall be his derision in the land of Egypt.” Hos 7:16 The enemies of God will soon compose comedies out of the Church’s tragedies, and make themselves merry in her misery. She is said to be “fair as the moon,” Son 6:10 which, though it be a beautiful creature and full of light, yet is she not without her black spots and blemishes; (Galileo used his telescope to discover mountains on her). These the Church malignant is ever eyeing and aggravating, passing by or depraving the better practices of God’s people. As vultures they hunt after carcases, b as swine they musk in the muck hill, as beetles they would live and die in horse dung. It must be our care as much as may be to maintain our reputation, to cut off all occasion of obloquy, to be “blameless and harmless,” Php 2:15 fair to the eye and sweet to the taste as that tree in paradise; without blemish from head to foot, as Absalom was; Non aliunde noscibiles quam de emendatione vitiorum pristinorum, c as Tertullian saith of the Christians of his time, known from all others by their innocence and patience. That was a good choice, for this purpose, that he himself made, Malo miserandum quam erubescendum, d I had rather be pitied than justly reproached. Strive we should to be as Paul was, a “good savour,” 2Co 2:14 and not to go out, as they say the devil doth, in a stench.
a A . – Sept.
b Vultures ad male olentia feruntur. – Basil.
c Tertul. Ad Scapul.
d Tertul. De Fuga Pers.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
This chapter, as well as those that follow, differs from those before in dropping almost entirely the language of personal experience, save the close of chap. 12 which fittingly recurs to it as a conclusion of the book. In the rest we have aphoristic remarks confirming the argument of the book: caution against the indulgence of folly even in the smallest thing; and commendations of wisdom in practical affairs, and for every class, subjects or rulers, in public as in private life, in word as well as deed.
“Dead flies cause the ointment (or conserve) of the apothecary to stink [and] putrefy: [so] a little folly him that is valued for wisdom and honour. The heart of a wise one is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left. Yea, also, when the fool walketh by the way, his heart faileth, and he saith to (or of) every one he is a fool” (vers. 1-3).
Men who stand out from their fellows for reputed wisdom are peculiarly exposed to the censoriousness of others far inferior in weight or worth, who cultivate the cheap ability of spying out a flaw to their disparagement. It is therefore of moment to cut off occasion from such as. seek occasion. For as literally the heart is at the left hand by nature, wisdom gives it figuratively a quite different place for prompt effective action as it is called for. The fool is slow to apprehend the bearing of a principle, and his measures are awkward and vain. More than that, even in the ordinary walk of the day, he never discerns the right thing at the right time, but blurts out his folly at every opening of his mouth to each companion or passer-by.
“If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yieldingness pacifieth great offences. There is an evil I have seen under the sun, as an error that proceedeth from the ruler: folly is set in great heights, and the rich sit in low place. I have seen slaves upon horses, and princes walking as slaves upon the earth” (vers. 4-7).
This is an application of wisdom, and an exemplification of folly. The ruler’s towering spirit naturally provokes; but wisdom strengthens propriety to keep the subject place, and, if an answer be called for, to give a soft one. Mere right never rectifies wrong, but the grace that gives up self and serves. And what the great king saw is not an uncommon sight in all ages, and trying enough even to the wise and meek, the error proceeding from the ruler, that exalts the unworthy and that abases the worthy. But wisdom can bow and wait without contention, which would not remedy the evil but add another.
“He that diggeth a pit falleth into it, and whoso breaketh through a fence, a serpent biteth him. Whoso moveth stones is hurt therewith; he that cleaveth wood is endangered (or wounded) thereby. If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he apply more strength; but wisdom is profitable for success. If the serpent bite without enchantment, then the master of the tongue (or charmer) hath no profit. The words of a wise man’s mouth [are] gracious, but the lips of a fool swallow him up. The beginning of his mouth’s words is foolishness, and the end of his mouth mischievous madness. But a fool multiplieth words. Man knoweth not what shall be; and what shall be after, who telleth him? The toil of the foolish wearieth him (i.e. each one), for he knoweth not how to go to the city” (vers. 8-15).
The folly of the ruler is apt to awaken reactionary folly among the ruled. Wisdom is not given to change: and here the preacher presents the result which so often ensues on either side. The dug pit, the broken hedge, the removing of stones, and the cleaving of wood, especially with indifferent tools, are all dangerous enterprises, not for others only, but for those that essay them more particularly; none more so than breaking down a landmark whence issues a biting serpent. As wisdom is of profit to direct, so is it to enchant and escape the deadly. As a fool’s lips are peculiarly destructive to himself, wise words are grace and minister it to others; instead of being like the words of a fool’s mouth, folly at the beginning, and mischievous madness at the end. Nor is there a more frequent sign of a fool than multiplying talk, and resolving to have the last word. For man knows not what shall be even in his own time, still less what is to be after him. The toil of fools is but labour for nought save weariness; they cannot, for very heedlessness, tell the road into the city, though it would be hard to find anything that needs less intelligence.
Then we have an animated address of woe contrasted with blessing: woe, where a land has for its king a youth in character as well as years, and princes who live for self- indulgence instead of devotedness to their duty; blessing, where the king is bred in noble associations, and his companions cherish aims in accordance with their place. The view is generalised a little; and the danger of petulant speech pressed in closing.
“Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! By slothfulness the roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh. A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh glad the life; and money answereth all things. Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter” (vers. 16-20).
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ecc 10:1-4
1Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor. 2A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left. 3Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool. 4If the ruler’s temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.
Ecc 10:1 This verse and Ecc 9:18 are related by contrast. One something can ruin everything! We might say:
1. one bad apple spoils the bushel
2. one bad egg spoils the omelet
Foolishness, like leaven, can permeate and affect the whole!
stink This translates two Hebrew parallel phrases:
1. cause to stink, BDB 92, KB 107, Hiphil IMPERFECT, cf. Pro 13:5; Exo 5:21; Exo 16:24; 1Sa 27:12
2. cause to bubble (i.e., ferment), BDB 615, KB 665, Hiphil IMPERFECT, cf. Psa 59:7; Psa 94:4; Pro 15:2; Pro 15:28
weightier This term (BDB 429) is from the same root as precious, prized. It is a play on the Hebrew (i.e., Aramaic) concept of that which is heavier (i.e., metals) is more valuable.
wisdom and honor These are parallel:
1. wisdom, BDB 315, so common in Ecclesiastes
2. honor, BDB 458 II, also a word play on heavy (BDB 458, e.g., Ecc 6:2; Psa 62:7; Psa 84:11; Pro 3:16; Pro 3:35; Pro 22:4; Pro 25:2). This term is often translated glory, e.g., Psa 3:3; Psa 4:2; Psa 19:1; Psa 24:7-10 (twice)
Ecc 10:2 the right This term (BDB 411) originally referred to the right hand, which is normally the stronger (i.e., right handed people are more common). This hand is also the one raised in an oath (religious and civil) or the one that held the shield in battle.
Since directions were noted by facing east, it refers to the south.
the left This term (BDB 969) in Arabic means unlucky (cf. JPSOA). It denotes the north.
These two terms are often used in the metaphorical sense of deviating from the standard of God (i.e., righteousness, see Special Topic: Righteousness ). God’s truth or Torah was seen as a well-worn, clearly marked path (e.g., Psa 119:105). Deviation from the path (in any direction) meant sin and rebellion (e.g., Deu 9:12; Deu 9:16; Deu 31:29). It became a cultural idiom (cf. 2Sa 2:21).
Ecc 10:3 One’s actions reveal one’s character (cf. Pro 12:23; Pro 13:16; Pro 18:2). We would say, give a person enough rope and he will hang himself.
It is interesting that the phrase his sense is lacking is literally, the fool has no heart (i.e., he cannot think clearly, he lacks judgment, cf. Pro 6:32; Pro 7:7; Pro 9:4; Pro 9:16; Pro 10:13; Pro 10:21; Pro 11:12; Pro 24:30).
Ecc 10:4 This is advice for those who serve the king (or other leaders). It links up with Ecc 8:1-4 and Ecc 10:16-17; Ecc 10:20.
NASB, NJBcomposure
NKJVconciliation
NRSVcalmness
TEVkeep calm
This term (BDB 951) means healing, cure, or health (cf. Pro 12:18; Pro 13:17; Pro 16:24). Here it refers metaphorically to a sound mind, a calm spirit (cf. Pro 14:30), which denotes a person not guilty of the charges or anger of the ruler.
Dead flies. Hebrew flies of death: i.e. flies that bring or produce death. Supply the Figure of speech Ellipsis, “[as] dead”.
cause = [are that which will] cause, &c.
to send forth a stinking savour = to stink [and] fer-ment. Figure of speech Hendiadys. App-6.
folly = stupidity. Hebrew. sakal. Same root as in Ecc 10:6. See note on Pro 1:7.
him. Note the Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6): “So doth stupidity [cause] him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour [to send forth an offensive savour]”.
wisdom. Hebrew. chakmah. See note on Ecc 1:2.
Chapter 10:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking odor: so does a little folly to him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor ( Ecc 10:1 ).
There are certain men that just should not be doing foolish things. We are reading quite a bit lately about the Bohemian Club and we are told of all the important people in the United States, men who are part of this Bohemian Club. Men who should know better, but evidently don’t. And, of course, we are told that our President and Vice President and former President Richard Nixon, David Rockefeller, that elitist of the United States, members of this Bohemian Club, and they have a little retreat north of San Francisco where they go once a year for a retreat. Where they entertain themselves by putting on foolish costumes and dancing around, and going through different types of rites and so forth in this Bohemian Club. But even as dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary carried a stink, so does a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. In other words, men who are in reputation for wisdom and honor, it’s just folly and their life is out of place.
A wise man’s heart is at his right hand ( Ecc 10:2 );
I only bring that up because you’re going to be reading more and more about the Bohemian Club. The liberal press has decided to expose its activities because they are sort of ridiculous and, of course, they are out to get some of our leaders and to sort of demolish them as idols in our eyes. And so you’re going to be reading more and more about the Bohemian Club. And so when you read about it or hear about it, you’ll say, “I heard about that someplace. Where did I hear about that? Oh, yeah.” But it’s something that they are zeroing in on even as they’ve zeroed in on Nancy Reagan’s fancy clothes and all. They’re zeroing in on the Bohemian Club as one of the things. But you see, the problem is by belonging to it they have given them… and going along with the folly of this springtime retreat up there, they celebrate the coming of spring by putting on their little flowered tutus and dancing around and all. They’re exposing themselves to this. You’re really a man who is of reputation and everything else. It’s just out of place. It’s just like flies in the ointment of the apothecary. It’s just a stinking thing. And so it’s tragic that wise men can do such foolish things. Trying to somehow… it’s amazing to me what dumb things wise men can do and leaders can do and all.
When we were little kids, we would make up our clubs with our secret oaths and our initiations and our passwords, and you know, the whole thing. We were… had our own little mafias and secret organizations and you know, “Blood, man,” and just, we were brothers and this whole thing. Well, that’s great when you’re a little boy and living in a world of unreal fantasies. But when you grow up and you still get into these secret clubs and you have your secret passwords and your secret handshakes and your special little robes and clothes and hats and, you just haven’t grown up and that’s your problem.
Paul said, “When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spoke as a child, and acted as a child. But when I was old, I put away the childish things” ( 1Co 13:11 ). When you get old, it’s time to put those things away. But some people just don’t grow up. And thus, they are exposing themselves to ridicule and to the press which will expose them. “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand.”
but a fool’s heart at his left ( Ecc 10:2 ).
Now I don’t know that there’s any scientific. I don’t know what he’s saying. Help! I think I’m getting a heartbeat.
Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool ( Ecc 10:3 ).
I mean, you’re, when you’re a fool you just, it’s obvious. You express it.
If the spirit of the ruler rises up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding will pacify great offenses ( Ecc 10:4 ).
Oh, how much better it is to yield a point than to hang on. And if we would only learn just to yield a point. It can pacify great offenses. It can stop big arguments. It can actually save your life at times. There’s some really nuts out there in the world. And a lot of people have been killed by insisting on their right of ways. “It’s my right of way.” And you can insist on your right of way but get wiped out. So, “Yielding can pacify great offenses.” Give in to the point. What difference does it make? Whether there were five or six fish in that basket. You know, you can get in the biggest arguments over some stupid thing like that. Get angry. Get where you don’t speak for a day or two because, “There’s five.” “No, there’s six.” “No, five.” Maybe there were five. Yield it. Why argue? It’s dumb to just argue over things like that. Yielding can pacify great offenses. Good advice.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceeds from the ruler: Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place. I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the eaRuth ( Ecc 10:5-7 ).
There seems to be oftentimes inconsistency.
He that digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him ( Ecc 10:8 ).
They used a hedge about to keep the serpents out. You break the hedge; the serpent will bite you. You dig a pit; you’ll fall into it. These are just sort of proverbs.
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt, and he do not sharpen the edge, then must he put in more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct ( Ecc 10:9-10 ).
So figure it out, man. If you’re trying to chop wood with a dull iron, dull hatchet or dull ax, it’s going to take more strength. Sharpen it, takes less strength. Makes sense.
Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better ( Ecc 10:11 ).
He’ll bite, too.
The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? ( Ecc 10:12-14 )
We don’t know the future. People talk so confidently of the future and all. You don’t know what’s going to be out there, you don’t know what the future holds.
The labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! ( Ecc 10:15-16 )
That means they were drunk all night so they eat in the morning.
Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! By much slothfulness the building decayeth ( Ecc 10:17-18 );
Now you that are managers of buildings and so forth, you might choose that to put above the time clocks for the maintenance men.
and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answers all things ( Ecc 10:18-19 ).
Now my wife believes that this is a scriptural truth. But I was trying to tell you, this is Solomon and he’s talking about worldly wisdom. And it’s amazing how that the world thinks that money is a cure-all. Money will answer everything.
Curse not the king, no not even in your thoughts; and curse not the rich in your bedroom: for a little bird of the air will carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter ( Ecc 10:20 ).
It’s amazing how you say something about someone to a person in confidence thinking that that won’t go any further, but it’s amazing how many times it will get right back to the person. And then you have the phone call and say, “Did you say… ?” And, “What did you mean when you said… ” Oh, so better not to tell little birds. That’s where they got the phrase, “A little bird told me.” Came from this. “
Ecc 10:1
MISCELLANEOUS PROVERBS
Ecc 10:1
“Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.”
This proverb is actually an illustration of the last verses of Ecclesiastes 9. A little folly by a single sinner can destroy much good. Also there is discernible in it another application. A little folly can destroy the beauty and effectiveness of a noble character, in the same manner that a few dead flies in a small jar of expensive perfume can totally ruin it.
The unfortunate division of the chapter at this point suggests that the author is turning to a new subject. However, the following eleven verses are a series of sayings and illustrations which further demonstrate the principles set forth in the close of chapter nine.
Ecc 10:1 Dead flies are literally flies of death. The statement at the close of the preceding chapter, one sinner destroys much good, is metaphorically illustrated by the flies which fall into the perfumers oil. It is close to the statement of Paul that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough (1Co 5:6). A precious, expensive jar of mixed perfume can be ruined by the foreign influence of dead flies. So the most noble monarch or righteous person could be destroyed by one sinful act. The concept of flies of death is purposely intended to be much stronger than the fact that a fly falls into the oil. The flies are poisonous, destructive creatures which can potentially corrupt and destroy. One who is great in wisdom and honor may fall prey to evil and thus meet with destruction.
Even in life, how often does the one secret, unconfessed sin poison the mind until it renders the whole of man useless? Surely, a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.
The costly perfume is putrified and made to stink. Thus the value of the perfume as well as its practical use is nullified. The lesson of the flies of death serve to remind one that there is no such thing as insignificant sins.
How, then, does worldly wisdom work? The preacher shows that its first manifestation is discretion based upon selfishness. This section is a series of brief sayings which are of the nature of proverbs, laying down axioms and enjoining habits. One sinner destroyeth much good. Dead flies spoil the ointment. Do not manifest your folly.
Do not fight against the ruler; yield to him. It is admitted that rulers are often foolish. Do not make the weapons of your own destruction. If your weapon is blunt, use strength, but be careful. Do not charm the serpent that has bitten you. Do not talk. Do not do too much. Be temperate. Be diligent. Be accommodating. Be cautious. This is a very condensed analysis of this section. The preacher had no idea of stating things so bluntly as this, but these are the thoughts underlying the more stately language of the discourse. They are plausible indeed, and there is an element of truth and value in them; but, taken as a whole, they are such things as men with no vision of the spiritual will accept. They constitute the essence of worldly wisdom. The inspiration of the whole of them is selfishness. All that is valuable in them might be otherwise inspired, but here they are the outcome of convictions already expressed, that in view of the vanity and emptiness of life man’s only wise course is to enter into the present moment in all its fulness and abandon all attempt after deeper satisfaction.
Ecclesiastes 10:10-12:1
I. In chap. xi. Koheleth urges upon us the necessity of diligence. He has come to the conclusion that it is not worth while to have a nicely calculated scheme of life, because at every turn our calculations may be upset by the interference of an arbitrary Providence. But, on the other hand, as he now points out, we must do something, or we shall have no enjoyment at all. We shall never reap if we do not sow. We must be ready even to throw away our labour, to “cast our bread upon the waters.”
II. In the third and following verses, he warns us against being misled by a doctrine on which he has previously much insisted; the doctrine, viz., that we never know what God is going to do with us. We must do what we have to do in spite of our short-sightedness. It is worth while to be diligent on the chance that our diligence may be rewarded. Young man, says Koheleth, enjoy yourself in your youth. Make the most of that golden season. “Walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes.” Only you must remember not to overdo it. God always punishes excess. In old age you will reap what you have previously sown. Remember, therefore, thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Bethink you, before it is too late, of those natural laws which cannot be broken with impunity.
III. Notice the contrast between this worldly philosophy of Koheleth’s and the Jewish religion at its best. The precept which he here enunciates is distinctly contrary to one which we find in the Pentateuch (Num 15:39). There we read, “Seek not after your own heart and your own eyes; but remember to do all the commandments of the Lord and be holy unto your God.” According to Judaism, God, righteousness, holiness, character, stand first; and to them our personal inclinations must be altogether subordinated. According to Koheleth, pleasure stands first. God is introduced only as an after-thought or a check. Communion with God was felt by the really pious Jew to be the supreme happiness of life; but according to Koheleth, God is to be obeyed merely because He will punish disobedience. True morality is devotion of the soul to goodness; true religion is the devotion of the soul to God-devotion that is not increased by the hope of profit nor diminished by the certainty of loss. If we would be true to the manhood with which we have been endowed, we too must cultivate this spirit of self-abandoning devotion to goodness and to God.
A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 266.
References: Ecc 10:16.-S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 123. 10-C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 234; T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 227.
CHAPTER 10
This chapter contains a series of proverbs, expressing the wisdom and prudence of the natural man. Here are a number of observations and all show that there is a practical value in wisdom and that it has certain advantages. These maxims are of a different kind than the proverbs in the preceding book. There we are face to face with the wisdom which is from above, here it is the wisdom of man. The name of the Lord is not mentioned once, Similar philosophic utterances can be traced in the literature of other ancient nations. They need no detailed annotations.
Dead flies: Heb. Flies of death
the ointment: Exo 30:34, Exo 30:35
a little: 2Ch 19:2, Neh 6:13, Neh 13:26, Mat 5:13-16, Gal 2:12-14
Reciprocal: Exo 5:21 – our savour Exo 37:29 – the apothecary 2Sa 16:23 – both 2Ch 16:14 – the apothecaries’ art Neh 3:8 – of the apothecaries Neh 6:11 – would go Ecc 7:1 – precious Mat 26:7 – very Gal 2:2 – which Gal 2:13 – the other
Ecc 10:1. Dead flies, &c. Solomon seems in these words to be prosecuting what he had said in the last clause of the preceding chapter; showing how much good one foolish action may destroy, what evil may result from it, and how a man, otherwise famed for wisdom, may thereby lose his reputation. So most interpreters understand the verse. The wiser or better, says Bishop Patrick, any man is, so much the more cautious ought he to be in all his words and actions, if he mean to preserve that credit, esteem, and authority in the world, which give him great advantages for doing good. For, as dead flies, though very small creatures, falling into a pot of ointment, and abiding and being putrified in it, corrupt that precious composition, and turn the perfume into a stink; so doth a small error or miscarriage blemish him who was highly valued for his discretion and virtue. And this comes to pass, partly, because all the actions, and consequently the follies of such men are most diligently observed, whereas the actions and follies of persons known to be ignorant and weak are generally disregarded; and, partly, because of that envious and malicious disposition which is in the minds of too many, and makes them quick- sighted to discover, and glad to hear, and forward to declare, the faults of such as, by their greater eminence, outshone and obscured them.
Ecc 10:1. Dead flies cause the ointment, of exquisite perfumes, to send forth a stinking savour; a satirical proverb, applicable to characters in all the public walks of life. A general, by an error in war, or a minister by a vice in the sanctuary, has his fault made a crest in his coat of arms. Let us hear that voice: I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not with my tongue. The want of calm reflection, of vigour in virtue, and of habitual circumspection, is the ruin of reputation and character.
Ecc 10:2. A wise mans heart is at his right hand. He orders his affairs with discretion; while the fool, the inconsiderate man, blunders at every step. Let us be admonished to regard the cause and the consequence of all our actions, and study propriety of conduct.
Ecc 10:4. If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place. Bow to the tempest, and show thy loyalty by submission; then no mischief will follow. The following sayings are farther illustrations of the preachers maxims. It is dangerous to contend with men in power. A man removing an old building may be crushed under the ruins; or breaking through a hedge, he may tread on a slumbering adder, and be bitten; for a serpent when trod upon, will bite without hissing, or the least sibilancy to warn him of danger.
Ecc 10:12. The lips of a fool will swallow up himself. Such were the words of the Amalekite that ran with Sauls crown to David. How often has a less instructed witness lost a good cause, by variations of evidence. The fool is full of words, he involves the simplest facts in a cloud of dust and smoke. He knows not the way to the city, the high road which no man can miss, nor how to set about the common concerns of life.
Ecc 10:16. Woe to thee, oh land, when thy king is a child; or whatever be his age, when his life is distinguished by puerility of intellect. In all such cases, the nation has no hope. But happy, when he is wise and temperate. Ancient and military sovereigns were the keystone of happiness to their country.
Ecc 10:17. When thy princes eat in due season; that is, in the morning, and in the evening; for these, in the warmer climates, are the two principal meals. In the heat of the day, they enjoyed the shade, and drank a cooling beverage.
Ecc 10:20. Curse not the kingin thy thought a bird of the air shall carry the voice. He is the father of his people: if he err, let his ministers advise him, as the aged senators advised Rehoboam. Let them cover his errors, and support him in all the high duties of his station. If vigilance be not at the helm of the state, the ship, under the finest breezes, may take the ground. Let prayer and supplication be made for all men, but especially for kings, and for all that are in authority under them. Let the fool keep before his eyes the myriads of men that have fallen, in opposing the government of their country, and shun the snare that the faction would lay for his feet.
REFLECTIONS.
If any thing can make a man wise in the regulation and conduct of life, surely it must be counsels and maxims so discreet and salutary. But alas, what can be done, as Lord Bacon says, for the youth that is bird-witted, or hath not the faculty of attention; the youth that will not pause for reflection on his own conduct? Alas, bray a fool in a mortar, and it will not make him wise.
The wisdom inculcated here is political wisdom, and prudence in the conduct of life; a wisdom which contributes much to peace of mind, and to raise a character in society to public esteem. If any thing therefore be wise or valuable, this line of public conduct and consistency has its price.
The preacher proceeds: This wisdom is heightened in its worth by a contrast with the thoughts, the words and actions of a fool; the man who will not pause to reflect on his ways. Such a character wearies out all his friends, is isolated and shunned by men of virtue and worth.
Above every worldly consideration, and next to the salvation of a mans soul, he is required to be loyal to his sovereign, in all the duties of a subject, and the piety of a christian. He who acts a contrary part will bring himself, and probably all his family, to shame and ruin. Men of piety, of wisdom and moral worth, are generally found rallied on this side of the question.
FOURTH SECTION
The Quest Achieved. The Chief Good Is To Be Found, Not In Wisdom, Nor In Pleasure, Nor In Devotion To Affairs And Its Rewards;
But In A Wise Use And A Wise Enjoyment Of The Present Life, Combined With A Steadfast Faith In The Life To Come
Ecc 8:16 – Ecc 12:7
AT last we approach the end of our Quest. The Preacher has found the Chief Good, and will show us where to find it. But are we even yet prepared to welcome it and to lay hold of it? Apparently he thinks we are not. For, though he has already warned us that it is not to be found in Wealth or Industry, in Pleasure or Wisdom, he repeats his warning in this last Section of his Book, as if he still suspected us of hankering after our old errors. Not till he has again assured us that we shall miss our mark if we seek the supreme Good in any of the directions in which it is commonly sought, does he direct us to the sole path in which we shall not seek in vain. Once more, therefore, we must gird up the loins of our mind to follow him along his several lines of thought, encouraged by the assurance that the end of our journey is not far off.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary