Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 7:21
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
21. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken ] The train of thought leads on to another rule of conduct. The fact that all men sin is shewn by the words with which men talk of the faults and weaknesses of their neighbours. To such words, the idle gossip of rumour, the comments on words or acts, no wise man will give heed. For him, in St Paul’s language, it will be “a very small thing to be judged of man’s judgment” (1Co 4:3). An idle curiosity to know what other people say of us will for the most part bring with it the mortification of finding that they blame rather than praise. No man is a hero to his valet, and if he is anxious to know his servant’s estimate of him, he may discover, however wise and good he strives to be, that it may find utterance in a curse and not a blessing. So, in political life, men have been known ( e.g. Pompeius in the case of Sertorius) to burn the papers of their fallen foes. So in literary life some of the wise of heart have laid it down as a rule not to read reviews of their own writings. The same feeling finds an epigrammatic expression in the proud motto of a Scotch family:
“They say: What say they? Let them say!”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Curse … cursed – Rather, speak evil of … spoken evil of.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 7:21
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken: lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.
Listeners hear no good of themselves
I. We should pay some attention to what others think and say about us. What a force public opinion is! We cannot see it, nor touch it; and yet it is a great factor in shaping the character and actions alike of men and nations. Public opinion may be utterly wrong; and then we must oppose it at any cost, even though we stand alone. And some of us might do well to pay a little more attention than we do to the tone of thought and feeling around us. If a man see that his acts and life are giving pain to others, that he is a stumblingblock to his neighbours, even though it only be to those whom he would consider weaker brethren; and if he go on his way recklessly, regardless of what men say or think, verily he will not be able to free himself from guilt. By such thoughtlessness we are apt to harden, to irritate, to mislead our fellows.
II. We should not be too curious to know what other people think of us. Some men are selfish or obstinate. They do what is pleasant; they follow the path which in their own eyes seems right. Am I my brothers keeper? they exclaim, in answer to every remonstrance. We are all one family, closely united, and at every point we are hurting or helping one another. There are thousands, however, who err on the opposite side. They allow the opinion of the world, the fashion of the day, to shape their life and character. There are many whose life is darkened for a whole day because some one has said a severe word about them and the report of it has reached their ears. It is foolish to make so much of the worlds opinion. For think how much idle gossip is floating about everywhere. Sharp words are often spoken in a passion, or under a misconception, and the speaker regrets them bitterly afterwards. He is a wise man who is not anxious to hear too much.
III. We should always be anxious to know Gods opinion of us, and to have his approval. Some one may say, I do not mind what men say of me; but, oh, that I knew Gods opinion of me I It is easy to know it. The Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me. Do you love Christ? Then you are loved by God. He that believeth not the Son . . . the wrath of God abideth on him. Have you never trusted Christ as your Saviour? Then Gods wrath has its resting-place upon you. (W. Park, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken] This is good advice, and much for every man’s peace through life.
Thy servant curse thee] mekallelecha, make light of thee, speak evil of thee.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Take no heed; do not severely observe nor strictly search into them, nor listen to hear them, as many persons out of curiosity use to do.
Unto all words that are spoken, to wit, concerning thee, or against thee. Under this one kind of offences of the tongue, which are most frequent, he seems to understand all injuries which we suffer from others, and adviseth us that we do not too rigidly examine them, nor too deeply resent them, but rather neglect and forget them.
Lest thou hear thy servant curse thee; which will vex and grieve thee, and may provoke thee to vengeance and cruelty against him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. As therefore thou being farfrom perfectly “just” thyself, hast much to be forgiven byGod, do not take too strict account, as the self-righteous do(Ecc 7:16; Luk 18:9;Luk 18:11), and thereby shortentheir lives (Ecc 7:15; Ecc 7:16),of words spoken against thee by others, for example, thy servant:Thou art their “fellow servant” before God (Mt18:32-35).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken,…. Seeing so it is, that imperfection attends the best of men, no man is wise at all times, foolish words and unguarded expressions will sometimes drop from him, which it is better to take no notice of; they should not be strictly attended to, and closely examined, since they will not bear it. A man should not listen to everything that is said of himself or others; he should not curiously inquire what men say of him; and what he himself hears he should take no notice of; it is often best to let it pass, and not call it over again; to feign the hearing of a thing, or make as if you did not hear it; for oftentimes, by rehearsing a matter, or taking up words spoken, a deal of trouble and mischief follows; a man should not “give [his] heart” f to it, as it is in the Hebrew text; he should not give his mind to what is said of him, but be careless and indifferent about it; much less should he lay it up in his mind, and meditate revenge for it. The Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, restrain it to words spoken by wicked men, whose tongues are their own, and will say what they please; among these may be ranked, more especially, detractors, whisperers, backbiters, and talebearers, who should not be listened unto and encouraged; though there is no necessity of thus limiting the sense, which is more general, and may include what is said by any man, even good men, since they have their infirmities; it seems chiefly to have respect to defamatory words, by what follows;
lest thou hear thy servant curse thee; speak slightly, scoffingly, and reproachfully of thee, as Shimei of David; which must be very disagreeable and vexatious to hear from one so mean and abject, and who is dependent on him, earns his bread of him, and gets his livelihood in his service; and to whom, perhaps, he has been kind, and so is guilty of base ingratitude, which aggravates the more; or, if not, if what he says is just, to hear it must give great uneasiness.
f “ne des tuum cor”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Also give not thy heart to all the words which one speaketh, lest thou shouldest hear thy servant curse thee. For thy heart knoweth in many cases that thou also hast cursed others.” The talk of the people, who are the indef. subj. of (lxx, Targ., Syr. supply ), is not about “thee who givest heed to the counsels just given” (Hitz., Zckl.), for the restrictive is wanting; and why should a servant be zealous to utter imprecations on the conduct of his master, which rests on the best maxims? It is the babbling of the people in general that is meant. To this one ought not to turn his heart ( … , as at Ecc 1:13, Ecc 1:17; Ecc 8:9, Ecc 8:16), i.e., gives wilful attention, ne ( = , which does not occur in the Book of Koheleth) audias servum tuum tibi maledicere ; the particip. expression of the pred. obj. follows the analogy of Gen 21:9, Ewald, 284 b, and is not a Graecism; for since in this place hearing is meant, not immediately, but mediated through others, the expression would not in good Greek be with the lxx … , but . The warning has its motive in this, that by such roundabout hearing one generally hears most unpleasant things; and on hearsay no reliance can be placed. Such gossiping one should ignore, should not listen to it at all; and if, nevertheless, something so bad is reported as that our own servant has spoken words of imprecation against us, yet we ought to pass that by unheeded, well knowing that we ourselves have often spoken harsh words against others. The expression , “thou art conscious to thyself that,” is like , 1Ki 2:44, not the obj. accus. dependent on (Hitz.), “many cases where also thou …,” but the adv. accus. of time to ; the words are inverted (Ewald, 336 b), the style of Koheleth being fond of thus giving prominence to the chief conception (Ecc 7:20, Ecc 5:18; Ecc 3:13). The first gam, although it belongs to “thine, thy,” as at Ecc 7:22 it is also connected with “thou,”
(Note: , on account of the half pause, accented on the penult. according to the Masora.)
stands at the beginning of the sentence, after such syntactical examples as Hos 6:11; Zec 9:11; and even with a two-membered sentence, Job 2:10.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
c. Wisdom protects against false accusations and self-righteousness. Ecc. 7:21-22
TEXT 7:2122
21
Also, do not take seriously all words which are spoken, lest you hear your servant cursing you.
22
For you also have realized that you likewise have many times cursed others.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 7:2122
210.
Wisdom will keep one from falling into what danger?
211.
Identify the reason given why one should not busy himself with taking seriously all that he hears.
212.
Why would a servant know about his masters faults and deficiencies?
PARAPHRASE 7:2122
Do not give your heart to ascribe too much value to what men say concerning you. If you do, you will soon hear your own servant cursing you. If you stop and consider your own past behavior, you will have to admit that you have many times reviled others.
COMMENT 7:2122
There is yet another benefit wisdom will bring to the one who turns to it for strength. In this instance, it is a two-fold blessing. First of all, it will keep one from prying into every bit of gossip or information circulating in the area; secondly, it will safeguard against a self-righteous attitude.
It is indeed the mark of a foolish man to pursue every tidbit of information that may be spoken concerning himself or others. So much of what is said is best unheard, and if heard soon forgotten. Wisdom will lead one to correct behavior and thus eliminate many sorrowful experiences because information gained was weighed and dismissed on the basis of lack of merit. How many heartaches in life would have been avoided if the whole matter would simply have been dropped. Solomon does not have reference here to information which will benefit the hearer. If in the sharing of truth, there will be benefit, then the one who possesses such knowledge has a moral obligation to speak. However, the idea here is that it is gossip or unprotected words which wend their way into the communicative fabric of every culture and society.
The servant is mentioned for two reasons. Since he is a servant, he will most likely know the weaknesses of his master, or at least be near when his master loses control of his tongue. On the other hand, the master would be nearby and would overhear the conversation of the servant.
The idea of cursing in this context suggests more of a reviling than what one normally considers either to curse or to swear. Base men curse and swear, but all men, whether of high or low estate, have difficulty controlling their tongues. The master is reminded that he has often reviled others. He must admit that he, too, has spoken words in a moment of weakness or heated discussion which he would like to recall. He confesses that he would like such words to be forgotten.
FACT QUESTIONS 7:2122
381.
What two-fold blessing does wisdom offer?
382.
When should information be withheld?
383.
When is one obligated to share information?
384.
Give two reasons why the servant is mentioned here.
385.
What prompts the cursing (reviling) which comes forth from the master of the house?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
21. Also Should be therefore.
Take no heed unto all words Seeing that great men are not always wise, do not be very inquisitive to know what is said even about yourself. Some ignorance of this may be some bliss. “No man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre,” and servants see the reverse side of their masters and may possibly tell it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 7:21-22. Curse theecursed others Speaking evil of theehast spoken evil of others. Symmachus in both these places renders the word by . Many good men’s consciences will never accuse them of having cursed others; but where is he who never spoke an evil word of his neighbour? These two verses contain the fifth and last advice. The tranquillity of our mind is not to be disturbed by every idle report or discourse wherein we are wronged. We must not even mind such reports, lest we should find our servants among those who revile us; which, though very common, is even more provoking than to be slandered by strangers. A very proper motive is added to enforce that advice. We may know from our own experience upon what slight foundations scandal is generally grounded; and that it is the way of the world, even for the best men to be sometimes evil spoken of; since it has been too often our case, in our unregenerate state, not to be so sparing as we ought of other men’s characters: Ecc 7:22.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: (22) For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others. (23) All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. (24) That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? (25) I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: (26) And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. (27) Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: (28) Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. (29) Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Solomon in his own life, had learnt much of the experience here recorded; and he was well calculated to be a Preacher upon such subjects. But when the Reader hath finished all his observations to this effect on Solomon’s history, I would call upon him to remark with me, the concluding observation of the wise men. He sets his seal to the divine record of man’s fall, and God’s holiness in creation; and as such, gives the finishing sentence in confirmation of the gospel. Reader! it is truly blessed to observe, as we go along, how all the several parts of the Bible harmonize in this one grand doctrine, and which in fact, is the sum and substance of all: Though the law was given by Moses, yet grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Joh 1:17 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 7:21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
Ver. 21. Also take no heed. ] But be “as a deaf man that heareth not, and as a dumb man, in whose mouth there is no reproof.” Psa 38:13 If thou answer anything, say as he in Tacitus did to one that railed at him, Tu linguae, ego vero aurium dominus, Thou mayest say what thou wilt, but I will hear as I wish; or as once a certain steward did to his passionate lord, when he called him knave, &c.: – ‘Your honour may speak as you please, but I believe not a word that you say, for I know myself an honest man.’ The language of reproachers must be read like Hebrew, backwards. Princes used to correct the indecencies of ambassadors by denying them audience. Certain it is, that he enjoys a brave composedness that sets himself above the flight of the injurious claw. Isaac’s apology to his brother Ishmael, viz., patience and silence is the best answer to words of scorn and petulance, said learned Hooker. I care not for man’s day, saith Paul. 1Co 4:3 Non cum vanum calumniatorem, I regard not a vain slanderer, saith Augustine. Wicelius and Cochleus gave out that we Lutherans betrayed the Rhodes to the Turk, saith Melanchthon. These impudent lies need no confutation, dicant ipsi talia quoad velint, let them tell such loud and lewd lies as many as they will. When a net is spread for a bird, saith Augustine, the manner is to throw stones at the hedge. These stones hurt not the bird, but she, hearing and fearing this vain sound, falls into the net. In like manner, saith he, men that fear and regard the vain sound of all ill words, what do they but fall into the devil’s net, who thereby carries them captive into much evil, many troubles and inconvenience?
Lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
curse = revile.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
take no heed: Heb. give not thine heart, 2Sa 19:19
unto: 2Sa 16:10, Isa 29:21, 1Co 13:5-7
Reciprocal: 1Sa 24:9 – General Ecc 10:20 – thought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ecc 7:21-22. Take no heed unto all words that are spoken Namely, concerning thee, or against thee. Do not severely observe, or strictly search into them, or listen to hear them, as many persons out of curiosity, are wont to do. Under this one kind of offences which are most frequent, namely, those of the tongue, he seems to comprehend all injuries which we suffer from others, and advises that we should not too rigidly examine them, nor too deeply resent them, but rather neglect and forget them. Lest thou hear thy servant curse thee Which would vex and grieve thee, and might, perhaps, provoke thee to treat him with severity, if not with vengeance and cruelty. For oftentimes also thine own heart Thy mind or conscience, knoweth Bears thee witness; that thou thyself likewise Either upon some great provocation, and sudden passion, or possibly upon a mere mistake, or false report, hast cursed others Hast censured them unjustly, and spoken ill of them, if not wished ill to them. If therefore thy servant, or any other, act thus toward thee, thou art only paid in thy own coin. Observe, reader, when any affront or injury is done us, it is seasonable to examine our consciences whether we have not done the same, or as bad, to others: and if, upon reflection, we find we have, we must take that occasion to renew our repentance for it, must justify God, and make use of it to qualify our own resentments. If we be truly displeased and grieved at ourselves for censuring and backbiting others, we shall be less angry at others for censuring and backbiting us. We must show all meekness toward all men, because we ourselves were formerly foolish, Tit 3:2.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:21 Also take no {q} heed to all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
(q) Credit them not, neither care for them.