Matthew Poole and continuators on Ecclesiastes 10:11

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.