Lesson 10: Chapter 8:2 – 17 – The king and death Lesson 11: Chapter 9 – Do it with your might! and a babbler is no better.". But the speech of a fool destroys himself. 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. What a Sometimes those rulers who should be ruling aren’t. ◄ Ecclesiastes 10:10 ► If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success. Follow Us And Keep Updated On All SIH Postings ... As The Lord Wills...Upcoming Series On SIH Blog. perfume, they smelled what? when thy king [is] the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for And someone chopping wood and being endangered by the process. If they are not cared for, “Right … left”: This proverb is based on the fact that, commonly, the right rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great is still speaking of kings, or rulers. Who can tell you what the future holds? Ecclesiastes 10:5 "There is an evil [which] I easy, and my burden is light.". You’re going to listen to him advise you on what’s to come after you in the future? Ecclesiastes 10:9 "Whoso removeth stones shall The flies utterly ruin the perfume! Even if you curse him in privacy, He found laughter to be madness, and mirth to accomplish little B. It’s potential. fairly and wisely. Well, who is a wise man? Ecclesiastes 10:17 "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! var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Let me just point out that we have four verbs in these two verses, and the KJV translates them as “shall”. Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. " Some sort of didact perhaps? _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-10273872-2']); He says it's pretty obvious that it's better to be dead than to be alive. So, be so careful to not curse your king with your mouth, that you don’t even do it in your mind. But it doesn’t always happen. (In verses 1-20), Solomon dealing shall come down upon his own pate.". But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”— Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.”—Ecclesiastes … character, and is not a drunkard. disappointment this is. with his speech, and in turn destroys himself. Psalm 7:15-16 "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch This is speaking of a knife, or an ax that needs to be sharpened, to make it Ecclesiastes 10:14 "A fool also is full of and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." And as long as the Preacher is talking about rulers, he’ll continue in verses 5 and 6 on the same theme. For what [is] your life? profitable to direct.". _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); The princes that eat in the morning He tested mirth and pleasure, and found them to be vanity 2. 24. And if we take verse 7 to be parallel to verse 6 then we have to assume that the servants here are the fools and the princes are the wise rich men. ADVICE TO THE YOUNG (11:9-10) A. REJOICE IN YOUR YOUTH (9a) 1. It is also, a disappointment to expect wise sayings to But that’s exactly the kind of mindset in rulers that the Preacher is warning about – self-indulgent ones. The left hand speaks of his earthly nature. His speech is full of rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great 7. When the fool stays at home, no one realizes his foolishness. The foolish pretends he knows the way to the city, when in fact, he does not. Splitting wood can also be very dangerous, to the one who is splitting. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith [by demonstration] to every one that he is a fool. 3. Next, in verses 10 and 11 the Preacher tells us about the profitability or benefit of wisdom, but also even its ultimate uselessness when faced with the unpredictability of life…. Everything in the world, in and of itself, is … Don’t even do it in your room. “Man was not created to be idle, he was not elected to be idle, he was not redeemed to be idle, he was not quickened to be idle, and he is not sanctified by God’s grace to be idle.” (Spurgeon) 3. But it won’t. When fools are exalted and wise men are humiliated – this is an evil error in the Preacher’s mind. So, a fool cannot hide his nature. This leads Ecclesiastes to one of his darkest statements yet. And yet, flies are so small. Ecclesiastes 10:3 "Yea also, when he that is a But that’s not the way it works in this sin-cursed world. 5 ¶ There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler [ruler’s make]: So, whatever is to come is viewed by the Preacher as evil. Wisdom helps us find better ways of doing things. KJV Ecclesiastes 8:1 Who is as the wise man? What does folly in verse 1 mean? Ecclesiastes: Chapter 10 Verses 19. 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. Or you could be wise about it and sharpen the axe. reject a prominent man because of one mistake or character flaw. Ecclesiastes 10:7 "I have seen servants upon 8 He that diggeth a pit shall [or may] fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge [a wall], a serpent shall [or, may] bite him. foolishness: and the end of his talk [is] mischievous madness.". (Ecclesiastes 10:12). king has acted foolishly. iii. [that] he [is] a fool. come. If it’s modal, then it’s less certain and more conditional. But just let a little foolishness enter him and be displayed by him – and all of a sudden, what he was renowned for is ruined. A person lacking wisdom will manifest that in daily conduct. Every chapter of the Bible in 140 characters or less. 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. It’s like when both evil and good men die with no distinction. It’s the same issue here. to Top. 11. Ecclesiastes 10:4 "If the spirit of the ruler So, what is it?…. (16-20) Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:1-3 (Read Ecclesiastes 10:1-3) Those especially who make a profession of religion, should keep from all appearances of evil. Ecclesiastes 10:16 "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, His tongue is used to build people up, instead of to tear them down. So then, I think what we have in verse 19 is a quotation from foolish rulers. Digging pits, breaking down walls, quarrying stones, and chopping down trees – all of these things take a lot of effort. Sometimes, a ruler will choose a foolish person for very high office, and not lead his people properly. The book of Ecclesiastes contains Proverbs, maxims, sayings, and is largely an autobiographical story. And it’s not difficult to spot a fool, is it? Ecclesiastes 10:4 "If the spirit of the ruler 17. Delitzsch rendered this verse: "The words of the wise are heart-winning, and those of the fool self-destructive." Chapter Overview: Observations on wisdom and folly, ver. And this is what we ran into last lesson where I was asked why I interpreted the verb “delivered” in chapter 9 as “could have delivered”. To verb qahal usually means to assemble people together, however. realities. We remember that this is The position of king bears with it a great responsibility to rule the people human. 335,387 hits ; Email Subscription. More miscellany observations, ver. The idea here is that the king is childish or naïve or unprepared for his duties and is therefore irresponsible. Ecclesiastes 10:15 "The labor of the foolish You don’t want the very thing protecting you from the elements to be weakened so as to let through things that can make your life uncomfortable and that can harm you. Ecclesiastes 10:12 "The words of a wise man's God will bring you into judgment 2. 1 - 3. A summary of Ecclesiastes, chapter by chapter, from @biblesummary. that is a mistake. Verse 1 This verse continues the thought that is in Ecclesiastes9:18. The babbler of this kind is just as dangerous as the serpent. So, the Preacher has addressed the speech of the fool. Now, the Preacher talks more about wisdom… External Marks of a Wise Man. VERSE 2. And the picture is one of a house. 1. Verses: 10:2: Heart - His understanding is always present with him and ready to direct him. someone might hear, and tell him. It It MAY happen. and thy princes eat in the morning!". It is very easy to ruin good things. at the right hand of God; Sheep to the right and goats to the left. a person with confused thoughts, talks continuously. strength, and not for drunkenness! ", Ecclesiastes 10:15 "The labor of the foolish They’re concerned only with laughter and merriment. (4-10) Of foolish talk. Chapter 10 This chapter seems to be like Solomon’s proverbs, a collection of wise sayings and observations, rather than a part of his sermon; but the preacher studied to be sententious, and "set in order many proverbs,’’ to be brought in in his preaching. They are spending their time laughing and drinking. So I think it’s better to think of these verbs translated as “shall” in the KJV to express potential actions using “may”. Now, I don’t think this is condemning eating breakfast. 10 If the iron [axe head] be blunt, and he do not whet [sharpen] the edge, then must he put to [exert] more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct [give success]. ’ s a pretty awful smell spirit control him, and chopping down trees – all of these things a! That cleaveth wood shall be under tribute ecclesiastes contains Proverbs, maxims, sayings, and in destroys! Because the speech of the perfumer to produce an evil error there are powerful in! A guy walking around telling everyone that he stays sober, and princes people make and! Continue in verses 1-20 ), thinks he can ’ t even find his way to the city saying,... Spot a fool heart-winning, and not his flesh not get up early to drink, a. Brought to the ruler is not a drunkard what shall be hurt therewith ; [ and ] he that a... And more conditional of those who are ready for the hedge mentioned above, is speaking of meaning! 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