Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:11 - 10:20
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
In the Midst of Foolish Talking and Slothfulness
v. 11. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment, that is, unless it is kept under enchantment by music or the sound of the voice properly modulated; and a babbler is no better. As one may escape the sting of the serpent by the application of charms, so he may avoid the harm of defamation by wise discretion.
v. 12. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, full of pleasant graciousness and therefore always most welcome; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself, he will injure himself by his foolish talk, Pro_10:8; Pro_14:21; Pro_14:32; Pro_15:2.
v. 13. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, as soon as he opens his mouth, it is with silly twaddle; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness, it works injury not only to himself, but mischief also to others.
v. 14. A fool also is full of words, he is talkative with empty loquacity; a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? And yet a fool will usually have most to say about future events, of what he intends to do and accomplish.
v. 15. The labor of the foolish wearleth every one of them, the slightest exertion is too much for his lazy bones, because he knoweth not how to go to the city; he does not know the road straight ahead of him, he is ignorant of the simplest matters of every-day life.
v. 16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, lacking mature judgment and discretion, a thoughtless fool, and thy princes eat in the morning, in excessive gluttony and feasting at the time when they should be dispensing justice.
v. 17. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, not so much by birth, as by wisdom and virtue, and thy princes eat in due season, at the proper time and in the proper way, for strength and not for drunkenness, in intemperate feasting, whereby the mind is blunted and the body corrupted.
v. 18. By much slothfulness, due to the owner's idleness, the building decayeth, no repairs being made, and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through, the roof leaking and the rain penetrating to the interior of the house.
v. 19. A feast is made for laughter, for foolish rioting, and wine maketh merry, the foolish rulers engaged therein neglecting the building of the government; but money answereth all things, that is, the reveling rulers believe that money will buy anything and cover up the criminality of their behavior.
v. 20. Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, in the innermost consciousness, the danger being that this state of mind will be revealed, and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber, in the foolish hope that it will not become known; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter, that is, the betrayal will be brought about in ways which are almost past understanding, whence it follows that strict prudence must govern the conduct of him who is truly wise. The believer who observes the Eighth Commandment will guard against every form of evil, even in thoughts, not for fear of earthly punishment, but for love of God.