The Book of Ecclesiastes 10:1–20

 ¹Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,

And cause it to give off a foul odor;

So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.

²A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,

But a fool’s heart at his left.

³Even when a fool walks along the way,

He lacks wisdom,

And he shows everyone that he is a fool.

⁴If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,

Do not leave your post;

For conciliation pacifies great offenses.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,

As an error proceeding from the ruler:

⁶Folly is set in great dignity,

While the rich sit in a lowly place.

⁷I have seen servants on horses,

While princes walk on the ground like servants.

⁸He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.

⁹He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,

And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.

¹⁰If the ax is dull,

And one does not sharpen the edge,

Then he must use more strength;

But wisdom brings success.

¹¹A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;

The babbler is no different.

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,

But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;

¹³The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,

And the end of his talk is raving madness.

¹⁴A fool also multiplies words.

No man knows what is to be;

Who can tell him what will be after him?

¹⁵The labor of fools wearies them,

For they do not even know how to go to the city!

¹⁶Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,

And your princes feast in the morning!

¹⁷Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,

And your princes feast at the proper time—

For strength and not for drunkenness!

¹⁸Because of laziness the building decays,

And through idleness of hands the house leaks.

¹⁹A feast is made for laughter,

And wine makes merry;

But money answers everything.

²⁰Do not curse the king, even in your thought;

Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;

For a bird of the air may carry your voice,

And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment,

And cause it to give off a foul odor;

So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.”

Just as dead flies spoil the perfumer’s ointment, (and cause it to give off a foul odor), so does a little folly ruin others’ opinions about a person respected for wisdom and honor when you engage in it. Don't play the fool, leave that to others. 

Vs. 2 “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,

But a fool’s heart at his left.”

The right hand is generally considered the most dexterous, and thus right way to do things, (i.e., we shake hands with our right hands), and so it is that the wise man’s heart is at his right hand, for his heart is set on doing things right in any given circumstance, whether this is being considered and thoughtful or something else. In contrast the fool’s heart is only at his left hand. And so, he gives no consideration to what is right and appropriate in any given circumstance; instead, he just goes by his first impulse and inevitably says or does something that is wrong or offensive.

Vs. 3 “Even when a fool walks along the way,

He lacks wisdom,

And he shows everyone that he is a fool.”

And so it is, even when the fool walks along the way he inevitably shows himself a fool, as one who completely lacks any wisdom or discernment, or even how to conduct himself.

Vs. 4 “If the spirit of the ruler rises against you,

Do not leave your post;

For conciliation pacifies great offenses.”

When a ruler rises against you, your first instinct may be to quit, for you may feel hurt or indignant that all your loyal service has just been cast aside. Nonetheless leaving your post in haste does not allow the truth to come out, and so just stay put and continue to serve them, for in time you will pacify their anger, and cause them to overlook great offenses, which just you may have been guilty of.

Vs. 5-7 ⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun,

As an error proceeding from the ruler:

⁶Folly is set in great dignity,

While the rich sit in a lowly place.

⁷I have seen servants on horses,

While princes walk on the ground like servants.

Sadly this grave error of leadership is common, where a leader shows partiality to their friends or family (or even people of dispositions or backgrounds that they like), and thus overlooks their complete lack of abilities or qualifications because of their bias towards them, and so they exalt them into positions or roles they have no business fulfilling. Thus it is that a fool can be set in the place of dignity, while the rich, i.e. those who are qualified, and have disciplined themselves to serve in that position or role, are made to sit a lowly place. King Solomon then was very grieved by this to see servants placed up on horses, (i.e. exalted onto royal steeds), while princes, (i.e., those who should be there), are made to walk on the ground like servants. Therefore don't exalt people into positions or roles they have no business fulfilling. 

Vs. 8 “He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent.”

There are inherent laws of justice that even if circumvented for season will come home to roast. Such then is the case with the schemer who seeks to harm others, their own devious plots will turn on them. Same with thief who breaks into homes, they too will experience harm from their unlawful acts.

Vs. 9 “He who quarries stones may be hurt by them,

And he who splits wood may be endangered by it.”

Just as there are inherent laws of justice, so there are inherent dangers in certain kinds of work. Quarrying stones is a dangerous operation at the best of times, from landslides, to explosions, to injuries from trying to cut, move, or shape them. Quarry work is dangerous. One then should have a plan of operation and know the risks before they engage in it. Splitting wood too can be dangerous if one does not know how to swing and handle an ax properly. Military operations then need to well planned, thought out, and coordinated, to reduce the risks and unnecessary casualties inherent with them. Doing dangerous things "off the cuff" or by the "seat of ones pants" then  is a sure way to get injured. 

Vs. 10 “If the ax is dull,

And one does not sharpen the edge,

Then he must use more strength;

But wisdom brings success.”

A dull ax is not only dangerous but it also requires much more effort to spit wood or cut down a tree when one is using it. Better than to stop and sharpen the ax then try to muscle through it. For that will save you time and effort in the end.

Vs. 11 “A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;

The babbler is no different.”

The comparison between the serpent and babbler biting if not “charmed” is funny. It reminds me of a certain president who could be either swayed by flattery, or enraged if challenged. The idea then when dealing with such people is to first load them with compliments. before trying to change their minds.  

Vs. 12-13 ¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,

But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;

¹³The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,

And the end of his talk is raving madness.

The wise man knows how to speaks things that ingratiate him to people, in contrast the fool’s words only become his own undoing. And so though the fool’s mouth may begin with simple foolishness, by the time he is done, his speech is nothing but raving madness. Stay than clear of him and his talk. 

Vs. 14 “A fool also multiplies words.

No man knows what is to be;

Who can tell him what will be after him?”

Again, the fool does not now when enough is enough. Instead, he will continue to press on with his line of “reasoning.” long after all “reason” from him has run out.

Vs. 15 “The labor of fools wearies them,

For they do not even know how to go to the city!”

Such is the way of the fool, that he invariably makes things harder than they have to be. Thus even when they expend great amounts of time and energies they accomplish very little. Even taking the most sensible route to the city, they mess up, and get lost along the way.

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,

And your princes feast in the morning!

¹⁷Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles,

And your princes feast at the proper time—

For strength and not for drunkenness!

Entrusting a child to rule over a land is folly (Isaiah 3:12). Even if they are of noble lineage, they should first be taught and tempered to serve their people, and this takes time, time for them to learn and time for them to mature. Again, if a lands princess feast in mourning they are nothing but a bunch of self-indulgent slobs who are unfit for royal service. In contrast to them are princess who feast at the proper time, who eat and drink for strength to lead their troops, and not for drunkenness.

Vs. 18 “Because of laziness the building decays,

And through idleness of hands the house leaks.”

Cause and effect are once again presented to us. If one is lazy then yes, the things that they own will rot and decay through their own neglect. This Proverb can also be applied to other things including ones own marriage and children, for neglecting their proper care now will bring you problems later. 

Vs. 19 “A feast is made for laughter,

And wine makes merry;

But money answers everything.”

Certainly, times of celebration bring joy; this every ambassador knows. But in the end what sways people is money. 

Vs. 20 “Do not curse the king, even in your thought;

Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;

For a bird of the air may carry your voice,

And a bird in flight may tell the matter.”

The wisdom of keeping one’s thoughts to oneself is what is being expounded here. For ungracious words spoken in “secret” about a ruler or boss always have a way of being found out. Especially words spoken against the king, or his rich subordinates, and these can land one in a lot of trouble. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.