Reflections on Ecclesiastes 10

 

Ecclesiastes 10 (Contemporary English Version)


1. A few dead flies in perfume make all of it stink, and a little foolishness outweighs a lot of wisdom.
   
2. Sensible thoughts lead you to do right; foolish thoughts lead you to do wrong.
   
3. Fools show their stupidity by the way they live; it's easy to see they have no sense.
   
4. Don't give up your job when your boss gets angry. If you stay calm, you'll be forgiven.
   
5. Some things rulers do are terribly unfair:
   
6. They honor fools, but dishonor the rich;
   
7. they let slaves ride on horses, but force slave owners to walk.
   
8. If you dig a pit, you might fall in; if you break down a wall, a snake might bite you.
   
9. You could even get hurt by chiseling a stone or chopping a log.
   
10. If you don't sharpen your ax, it will be harder to use; if you are smart, you'll know what to do.
    
11. The power to charm a snake does you no good if it bites you anyway.
    
12. If you talk sensibly, you will have friends; if you talk foolishly, you will destroy yourself.
    
13. Fools begin with nonsense, and their stupid chatter ends with disaster.
    
14. They never tire of talking, but none of us really know what the future will bring.
    
15. Fools wear themselves out-- they don't know enough to find their way home.
    
16. A country is in for trouble when its ruler is childish, and its leaders party all day long.
    
17. But a nation will prosper when its ruler is mature, and its leaders don't party too much.
    
18. Some people are too lazy to fix a leaky roof-- then the house falls in.
    
19. Eating and drinking make you feel happy, and bribes can buy everything you need.
    
20. Don't even think about cursing the king; don't curse the rich, not even in secret. A little bird might hear and tell everything.
    

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In the verses of chapter 10 Solomon again proclaims the advantages of wisdom but he also points out how easily those advantages can be nullified. In fact, this point is made from the outstart in verse 1. Folly can spoil wisdom and honor, he says, as dead flies will spoil a perfumer's oil. One may have a strong history of acting wisely and spoil it all in one act of folly. This is no reason to abandon wisdom, though, for the wise man inclines to the right while the fool inclines to the left. A person's right was a reference of strength and protection and good and the left is a contrast to that. Then walking along the road, or in the way, is a reference to moral behavior, and the fool's lack of sense is obvious even as he walks this road, says Solomon. Though wisdom may be readily nullified, it is still a better road to travel.

Offering an example of wisdom's advantage, Solomon mentions how wisdom can protect a person. If a ruler's (or supervisor's or boss's) anger rises against you, remain calm. Don't go off in a huff as would be the inclination of a fool. Your calmness and steadiness at your job can put the offense to rest. Possibly suggesting that such a situation is the result of a ruler who is a fool, Solomon states an evil he has seen in which the acts of a capricious or foolish leader brings about role reversals. Therefore, position is assigned, not on merit, but on the bases of the ruler's caprice. Thus you have fools in high positions while the wise remain in lowly positions, and slaves on horses while princes walk. Such folly can nullify wisdom, as can improper timing which causes one who digs a pit to fall into it or one who quarries stone to be hurt by the stones. But the wise person is more inclined to success because he will not do such things as to work with a dull axe which requires additional strength and prolongs the job or hinders successful completion of it.

The use of the tongue is probably the clearest distinction between the wise and the foolish. While the words of a wise man will be gracious, those of a fool will consume him. From beginning to end, he speaks folly and is so oblivious of it that rather than shutting up, he talks on endlessly, making claims that have little likelihood of success. No one knows what will happen, but the fool makes his claims just the same. He is so clueless, though, that he can't even find his way to the city, much less have success with his claims.

The chapter concludes with another example of fools in leadership. Woe, he says, when your king is a household servant. This isn't to say that a household servant is necessarily a fool, but without experience or background for leadership, he will likely act the fool in the role of a ruler, particularly if he has come to the position through capricious appointment rather than by merit. In such a case, those who rule will be more inclined to enjoy the pleasures of their position without attending to the responsibilities it brings. Thus through negligence the roof caves in and the house leaks. But, the wise man in this situation will keep quiet. He will not even give thought to criticizing the foolish king, let alone speak of it even in his bedroom. What one thinks can easily slip out and one never knows when they might be overheard and "a winged creature may report the matter."