Ecclesiastes 10:1-12:8

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1

Ecclesiastes 10:1. Dead flies cause, &c.— The smell arising from the perfume of the perfumer is infected by dead flies; so is the value of wisdom and reputation by a little folly. See Desvoeux, and Bishop Lowth's third Prelection. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1

1. Following up :-. him that is in reputation—for example, David (2 Samuel 12:14); Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-43); Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 18:1-34; 2 Chronicles 19:2); Josiah (2 Chronicles 19:2- :). The more delicate the perfume, the more easily spoiled is the ointment. Common oil is not so liable to injury. So the higher a man's religious character is, the more hurt is caused by a sinful folly in him. Bad savor is endurable in oil, but not in what professes to be, and is compounded by the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

Practical Advice Touching Life’s Puzzles1-8. Cultivate wisdom and tact, specially in the dangers that attend upon courts, but also in ordinary operations.1. Dead flies, etc.] This v. really belongs to the end of Ecclesiastes 9. As a few of the poisonous flies abounding in hot countries would render valueless a whole jar of perfume, so a man by a slight admixture of error may render nugatory much of his own skilful or upright conduct.2. At his right hand.. left] A wise man’s mind directs him to... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

Fences and Serpents Ecclesiastes 10:8 Any attempt to transgress the laws of life which God has enjoined is sure to bring out the hissing snake with its poison. I. All life is given us rigidly walled up. The walls are blessings, like the parapet on a mountain road, that keeps the traveller from toppling over the face of the cliff. II. Every attempt to break down these limitations brings poison into the life. Some serpents' bites inflame, some paralyse; and either an inflamed or a palsied... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

Nor in Devotion to Affairs and its Rewards. Ecclesiastes 9:13-18; Ecclesiastes 10:1-20So far, then, Coheleth has been occupied in retracing the argument of the first Section of the Book. Now he returns upon the second and third Sections: he deals with the man who plunges into public affairs, who turns his wisdom to practical account and seeks to attain a competence, if not a fortune. He lingers over this stage of his argument, probably because the Jews, then as always, even in exile and under... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

CHAPTER 10 This chapter contains a series of proverbs, expressing the wisdom and prudence of the natural man. Here are a number of observations and all show that there is a practical value in wisdom and that it has certain advantages. These maxims are of a different kind than the proverbs in the preceding book. There we are face to face with the wisdom which is from above, here it is the wisdom of man. The name of the Lord is not mentioned once, Similar philosophic utterances can be traced in... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

United Proverbs Ecclesiastes 10:0 In this graphic chapter we have a number of extraordinary sayings, which some commentators have fruitlessly attempted to shape into unity. Bishop Ellicott says: "Commentators cannot be said to have been very successful in their attempts to trace a connection between the proverbs of this chapter. Perhaps nothing better can be said than that the common theme of these proverbs is the advantage of wisdom. It is forcing the connection to imagine that the enterprise... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:1

CONTENTS The Preacher is still prosecuting his sermon through this Chapter; but folding up many important sayings within short sentences. Ecclesiastes 10:1 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. This verse may serve to show us how frequently some of the most precious things are veiled under an unpromising cover. If we take this expression in its literal sense, no doubt it is very... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:1

Ointment. A fly cannot live in it. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xi. 19.) --- Hence the smallest faults must be avoided, (Calmet) and superfluous cares, (St. Gregory) as well as the conversation of the wicked, (Thaumat.) particularly of heretics. (St. Augustine, contra Fulg. 14.) --- Detractors may be compared to flies: they seek corruption, &c. A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump, 1 Corinthians v. 6. (Calmet) --- The wicked infect their companions, and vice destroys all former virtues.... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1-3

1-3 Those especially who make a profession of religion, should keep from all appearances of evil. A wise man has great advantage over a fool, who is always at a loss when he has anything to do. Sin is the reproach of sinners, wherever they go, and shows their folly. read more

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