Matthew Poole and continuators on 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 .

Falling into it and abiding and being putrefied in it, especially in those Countries, where there were more filthy and venemous Flies, and where the Oyntments were more pure, and where the Air was more hot than in these parts.

Which comes to pass, partly because all the actions, and consequently the follies of such men are most diligently observed and sconest discerned and tossed about in the mouth's of men, whereas fools and all their carriages are generally disregarded; and partly because of that envious and malicious disposition of mens minds which makes them quick-[illegible: 1+ letters]ighted to discover, and glad to hear and forward to declare the faults of such as by their greater eminency did out-shine and obscure them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] Flies [illegible: 1 word].

2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand ; but a fools heart is at his left .

i. e. His understanding or wisdom.

Is always present with him and ready to direct him in all his actions. He manageth all his affairs prudently and piously. He mentions the right hand because that is the chief and most common instrument of actions, which by most men are done with more strength and expedition and orderliness and comeliness by their right hand than by their left.

His understanding and knowledge serves him onely for idle speculation and vain Ostentation, but is not at all useful or effectual to govern his affections and actions. He acts prepo[illegible: 1+ letters]erously and foolishly, like one without Heart, as it follows.

3 Yea also when he that is a fool walketh by the way , his wisdom [illegible: 1+ letters]aileth him , and he saith to every one that he is a fool .

Not onely in great undertakings, but in his daily conversation with men, in his looks and gestures and common talk

Or, [illegible: 1 word] wants an Heart, as i[illegible: 1+ letters] he had said, did I say, his Heart is at his [illegible: 1 word] hand I must recal it, for in truth he hath no Heart in him.

He publickly discovers his folly to all that meet him or conver[illegible: 1+ letters]e with him.

Marginal references: Heb. his [illegible: 1 word].

4 If the spirit of a ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place , for yielding pacifieth great offences .

The passion or wrath, as is manifest from the following words, which is oft called Spirit, as Iudg. 8. 3. 2▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]ron. 21. 16. P[illegible: 1+ letters]ov. 25. 28. Eccles. 7. 9.

To wit, in anger or discontent. Withdraw not thy self rashly and hastily from his presence and service, according to the advice, Ch. 8. 3. Continue in a diligent and faithful discharge of thy duty, as becomes a Subject; do not return anger for anger, but mooestly and humbly submit thy self to him.

Heb. healing, a gentle and submissive carriage, which is of an healing nature, whereas pride and passion do exasperate and wid[illegible: 1+ letters]n the breach already made.

Heb, maketh them to rest or [illegible: 1 word] preventeth or removeth them.

Heb. great sins, either 1. such sins as the offended Ruler might commit in the prosecution of his wrath against thee. Or rather 2. such as possibly thou hast committed against him for which he is incensed against thee; or the greatest offences or injuries that one Man commits against another, and much more those slight miscarriages of thine towards the Ruler. Let not therefore a false opinion concerning his unreconcilableness to thee, make thee desperate and draw thee into Rebellion.

Marginal references: Prov. 25. 15.

5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun , as an errour which proceedeth from the ruler .

I have observed another great vanity and misdemeanour amongst men.

So the sense is, like those errours which Rulers commonly commit. Or rather, which is indeed an errour proceeding from the Ruler. For the following miscarriage must needs come from those who have power of conferring Honour and power, &c. So the Hebrew, Cap[illegible: 1+ letters], is not a Note of likeness, but of reality, as it is, Iudg. 13. 23. Neh. 7. 2. Hose. 4. 4. & 5. 10 and oft elsewhere.

Marginal references: Heb. from befor[illegible: 1+ letters].

6 Folly is set in great dignity , and the rich sit in low place .

Foolish and unworthy Persons are frequently advanced by the favour or humour of Princes into places of Highest Trust and Dignity, which is a great reproach and mischief to the Prince, and a sore calamity to all his People.

Wise and worthy men, as is evident, because these are opposed to fools in the former clause: such as are rich in endowments of mind. The ground of the expression may be this, that rich men are capable of all the advantages of men or Books for the attainment of Wisdom, and therefore are supposed to be wise in some measure.

Neglected and de[illegible: 1+ letters]pised, or removed from those High places to which their merits had raised them.

Marginal references: Heb. in grea[illegible: 1+ letters] hei[illegible: 1+ letters]ts.

7 I have seen servants upon horses , and princes walking as servants upon Earth .

Men of a servil condition and disposition, who are altogether unfit for places of Dignity.

Riding upon Horses, as a Badge of their Dignity, as Es[illegible: 1+ letters]. 6. 8, 9. Ier. 17. 25. Ezek. 23. 23.

Which was the case of his own Father, 2. Sam. 15, 30.

Marginal references: Pro 19. 10. & 30. 22.

8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it ; and whoso breaketh an hedg a serpent shall bite him.

With this design that another may unawares fall into it.

Shall through God's just Judgment be destroyed by his own wicked devices.

Whereby another mans Fields, or Vineyards, or Orchards, are distinguished and fenced, that he may either enter upon them and take away their fruits, or by that means enlarge his own adjoining Fields. Possibly he may have a particular respect unto Magistrates or Rulers, whom God hath hedged or fenced in, both with his own Institution of Magistracy, and with his Laws, strictly requiring Obedience from their Subjects; and so he notes the danger of rising and rebelling against them.

Which oft lurks in hedges, and bites those who come within its reach.

Marginal references: Ps. 7. 15. Prov. 26. 27.

9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith : and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby .

Either 1. The stones which belong to others, and limit or distinguish their Grounds, of which see Deut. 27. 17. Or 2. Great stones too heavy for them. Which rashly attempt things too high and hard for them. Which seems better to agree with the following clause than the former Interpretation doth.

May easily receive hurt by the stones falling unexpectedly and violently upon him.

With an Iron instrument, as the manner is, he being unskilful in that art. Possibly he designs a man who causeth discord and mischief among Friends, or in a Family, or Kingdom

May peradventure cut himself.

10 If the Iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edg, then must he put to more strength ; but Wisdom is profitable to direct .

To wit, the Ax whereby he cut the wood in the former verse, which by the danger there mentioned may be supposed to be sharp, but now saith he, if it happen to be blunt.

Which is necessary to make it cut.

Heb. and wisdom, &c. And as Wisdom instructs a man in the smallest matters, as in this very matter of cutting of Wood, where it teacheth him in this case to use his utmost strength, so it is useful for a mans direction in all his great and weighty affairs. And so he insensibly slides into the commendation of Wisdom, and the censure of Folly, which is the principal design and business of this Chapter.

11 Surely the serpent will bite without inchantment , and a babler is no better.

If not seasonably prevented by the Art and care of the Charmer; which practice he doth not justifie, but only mention by way of resemblance. See on Psal. 58. 5.

Heb. a master of the tongue: which may be understood either 1. Of the Detractor or Slanderer, who like a Serpent bites secretly, who may be so called, because he takes liberty to use his Tongue as he lists, without any regard either to the offence of God, or to the injury of others, like them who said, Our Lips are our own; who is Lord over us? But I do not see either why this Phrase should be limited to the Detractor, which equally belongs to all abusers of the Tongue in any other way; or how this particular Vice of Detraction comes to be inserted here among things of a quite differing nature. Or 2. Of an Eloquent Person, who may well be called a Master of the Tongue, or of Speech, nothing being more usual in the Hebrew, than to call a Man Master of that which he excels in, or hath a full and free power to use. And this clause is and may be rendred thus, And there is no excellency or profit to the Master of the Tongue. i. e. The most Eloquent person, who doth not understand, and in due time use the Charmers Art, cannot by all his eloquence afterward hinder the biting of the Serpent, or the mischievous effects of it: And so this agrees with the principal scope of the Chapter, which is to shew the necessity and usefulness of Wisdom, and the mischief of Folly.

Marginal references: Jer. 8. 17.; Heb. the master of the tongue.

12 The words of a wise mans mouth are gracious : but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself .

Heb. Grace, as profitable, so also acceptable to others, procuring him favour with those who hear him.

His discourses are ungracious and offensive to others, and therefore pernicious to himself.

Marginal references: Pro. 10. 32. & 12. 13.; Heb. grace.; Pro. 10. 14. & 18. 7.

13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness .

All his talk from the beginning to the end is foolish and mischievous, and the more he talks, the more doth his folly appear, he proceeds from evil to worse, and adds wilfulness to his weakness, and never desists till he hath done mischief to himself or to others.

Marginal references: Heb. his mouth.

14 A fool also is full of words : a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him ?

Either 1. Talkative. Or 2. Forward to promise and brag what he will do, which is the common practice of foolish men: he is a man of words, as we use to say.

These words contain either 1. A Mimetical Representation of his folly in using vain Repetitions of the same words, such as these, a man cannot tell, &c. and who can tell, &c. Or 2. A confutation of his folly in promising or boasting of things which are wholly out of his power: For what shall be, no man can either himself foreknow, or learn it from others.

Marginal references: Pro. 15. 2.; Heb. multiplieth words.; Ch. 3. 22. & 6. 12. & 8. 7.

15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them , because he knoweth not how to go to the city .

Fools discover their folly, as by their words, of which he hath hitherto spoken, so also by their actions, and by their endless and fruitless endeavours after things which are too high and hard for them.

For he is ignorant of those things which are most easie and most necessary for him, as of the way to the great City whither he is going, or obliged by his business to go, which being a great and beaten road, is known even to Children and natural fools.

16 Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child : and thy princes eat in the morning .

Either 1. In Age. Or 2. (Which is more agreeable to the following clause) In Childish Qualities, as Ignorance, Inexperience, Injudiciousness, Rashness, Frowardness, Fickleness, or Wilfulness, and the like: in which sense this word is used, 2 Chr. 13. 7. compared with 1 Kin. 14. 21. Isa. 3. 4, 12. 1 Cor. 14. 20. Eph. 4. 14.

Give up themselves to eating and drinking excessively and intemperately, as it is explained in the next verse.

The fittest time for Gods service, and for the dispatch of weighty affairs, and for sitting in judgment. Psal. 101. 8. Ier. 21. 12. Which circumstance is added as a plain evidence of men that wholly devote themselves to vanity and Luxury; which must needs occasion gross neglect of the great concerns of the Kingdom, the oppression of the people to support such extravagancies, and a woful and general corruption of the people by their example, and otherwise; which makes him say, Wo to that people.

Marginal references: Isa. 3. 3, 4, 5, 12. & 5. 11.

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 .

Not so much by Birth, as even the worst of Kings commonly are, and have been, as by their noble and worthy dispositions, and endowments, and carriages; for such an one is opposed to the Child in the former verse. Sons of nobles are put for noble persons, as the sons of men for men, and the sons of physicians for physicians.

So as may further and not hinder their main business.

To refresh and strengthen their Natures, that they may be fit for action and business.

Not only nor chiefly to please their pala[illegible: 1+ letters]es, and indulge themselves in sensuality.

Marginal references: Prov. 31. 4.

18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth, and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through .

That House which is neglected by its owner, and not repaired, must needs come to ruine. Whereby he intimates, that the sloth and carelesness of Princes in the management of publick affairs, which is an usual attendant upon that Luxury, of which he hath now discoursed, is most destructive both to themselves, and to their people.

19 A feast is made for laughter, and Wine maketh merry : but money answereth all things .

The design and effect of feasting and drinking Wine, is, that Men may exhilarate their Minds with the society of their Friends, and with the use of the Creatures.

It procures not only Meat and Drink for Feasting, but for all other things; as the Heavens are said to answer the Earth, when they give it those showers which it desires and needs to make it fruitful, Hos. 2. 21. And this clause seems to be added as an aggravation of the sin and folly of Luxury, because Princes do thereby wast that Money and Treasure which is so highly necessary for the support and preservation of themselves, and of their Kingdoms, and are forced to squeeze Money out of their People by oppressive and dishonourable and dangerous practices, that they may have more to spend in riotous courses.

Marginal references: Ps. 104. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] g[illegible: 1+ letters]ad the li[illegible: 1+ letters]e.

20 Curse not the king , no not in thy thought , and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber : for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter .

Having spoken of the miscarriages of Kings, he now gives a caution to their Subjects, that they should not thence take occasion to speak irreverently or contemptuously of them, or wish or design any evil against their Persons or Government: For though vices may be condemned, wheresoever they are, yet both Reverence and Obedience are due to Magistrates, as they are Gods Vicegerents and Ordinances, notwithstanding their vices, as is manifest from Rom. 13. 1, &c. 1 Pet. 2. 13, &c.

In the most secret manner, by giving way to such thoughts or affections; for these will very probably break forth into such words and practices.

The Princes or Governours under the King, who are commonly rich: or any other rich men, who can oppress or punish thee by their Wealth, as well as Kings can do it by their Power.

Where thy Wife or Servant may hear thee, and afterwards through folly or passion discover it to thy ruine.

The King will hear of it by unknown and unsuspected hands, as if a Bird had chanced to be at the window when thou didst speak the words, and did hear them, and carry the report of it unto the King. It is a proverbial expression, as when we say, Hedges have Ears, and the Walls will speak. Hence Kings are said to have long Ears.

Marginal references: Ex. 22. 28.; Or, [illegible: 1 word]