Ecclesiastes 10:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 10:20
Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
to be (causatively · verb, piel jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
king
מֶ֚לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
thought
בְּמַדָּֽעֲךָ֗be.ma.da.'a.Kha
H4093
intelligence or consciousness · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
curse
תְּקַלֵּ֖לte.ka.Lel
H7043
to be (causatively · verb, piel jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
rich
עָשִׁ֑יר'a.Shir
H6223
rich · adjective, masculine singular absolute
bedchamber
וּבְחַדְרֵי֙u.ve.chad.Rei
H2315
an apartment (usually literal) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
bird
ע֤וֹףof
H5775
a bird (as covered with feathers · noun, common masculine singular construct
air
הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
carry
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
voice
הַקּ֔וֹלha.Kol
H6963
a voice or sound · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hath
וּבַ֥עַלu.Va.'al
H1167
a master · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wings
כְּנָפַ֖יִםke.na.fa.yim
H3671
an edge or extremity · noun, common feminine dual absolute
tell
יַגֵּ֥ידya.Geid
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
matter
דָּבָֽרda.Var
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 23:5 Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
Luke 12:2-3 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
2 Kings 6:12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that th…
Exodus 22:28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:
Isaiah 8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themse…
Luke 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Luke 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 10:16–end
Solomon here observes,
I. How much the happiness of a land depends upon the character of its rulers; it is well or ill with the people according as the princes are good or bad. 1. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish and voluptuous (Ecc 10:16): Woe unto thee, O land! even the land of Canaan itself, though otherwise the glory of all lands, when thy king is a child, not so much in age (Solomon himself was young when his kingdom was happy in him) as in understanding; when the prince is weak and foolish as a child, fickle and fond of changes, fretful and humoursome, easily imposed upon, and hardly brought to business, it is ill with the people. The body staggers if the head…
thought--literally, "consciousness."
rich--the great. The language, as applied to earthly princes knowing the "thought," is figurative. But it literally holds good of the King of kings (Psa. 139:1-24), whose consciousness of every evil thought we should ever realize.
bed-chamber--the most secret place (Kg2 6:12).
bird of the air, &c.--proverbial (compare Hab 2:11; Luk 19:40); in a way as marvellous and rapid, as if birds or some winged messenger carried to the king information of the curse so uttered. In the East superhuman sagacity was attributed to birds (see on Job 28:21; hence the proverb).
Next: Ecclesiastes Chapter 11
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 10:20
Curse not the king; no, not in thy thought,.... Though he is a child, and unskilful in government, gives himself to his passions and pleasures, and neglects the affairs of the kingdom; yet be so far from rebelling against him, and doing him any injury, or speaking ill of him, as not even to wish him any ill; or, within thine own breast, imprecate any evil upon him, but rather pray for him, wish him well, and do everything to promote the welfare of his person and government, and this both for the Lord's sake, and for conscience's sake; and therefore curse him not "in thy conscience" (m), as some render it. Jarchi interprets this of God the King of the world; see Job 2:9; and Jerom of Christ;…
If then those things, which are spoken in secret against you that are kings, are not hidden, is it not incredible that I should have spoken against you in the presence of a king and of so many bystanders?
Generally one is advised not to say bad things about others. A curse is nothing else but a wish for something bad.…The word cautions against slander. Do not even have the intention, he says, of slandering someone—let alone actually slandering someone. Look at how great an evil this is: "Do not love speaking ill [of anyone], lest you be cut off." Thus, he says the following: Not even in your thoughts, not even in your consciousness, should you "curse the king." But if one is not supposed to curse anyone, the king should be cursed even less.
"Even in your thoughts do not curse a king, and in your bed-chamber do not curse the rich, for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter. "This simple example teaches the listeners that we should not be overpowered by anger and fury, and curse and blame kings and leaders, since it seems to happen against one's wish, that what we curse is made known. And we run into danger by the inability to hold our tongue. He also says, "a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter", this is to be understood as a exaggeration, just as we are accustomed to saying, 'walls have ears to hear those things, which we think are said in private'. But it is better to hear a teaching in this way, so that we know that we have a commandment to follow, not only that nothing should be spoken rashly against Christ, but also in the secret places of our heart, however we are troubled by our many problems, nothing should be blasphemed, nothing thought which is impious. And since we owe love, that we have for Christ, the next part says, "love the Lord your God," and even " your nearest" and "yourself". [Matth. 22, 37.40.] He even orders this, so that afterwards we do not easily take the king away from the holy, and so that we do not slander by the wickedness of our tongue those who are rich in knowledge, wisdom and virtues, for they are the angels who fly around the earth and are administrators of the spirit. They say in Zechariah, "we have traversed the earth and look all the world is inhabited and quiet" [Zach. 1, 11.]. And just like birds, our words and thoughts are carried to heaven. And whatever we think in secret, is not hidden from God's knowledge.
Dictionary and topics
Citizens · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF
Kings · Curse not, even in thought — Curse not, even in thought
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 10:20–end
"Curse not the king even in thy thought; and in thy bed-chamber curse not the rich; for the birds of the air carry away the sound, and the winged creature telleth the matter." In the Books of Daniel and Chronicles, מדּע, in the sense of γνῶσις, is a synon. of השׂכּל and חכמה; here it is rightly translated by the lxx by συνείδησις; it does not correspond with the moral-religious idea of conscience, but yet it touches it, for it designates the quiet, inner consciousness (Psychol. p. 134) which judges according to moral criteria: even (gam, as e.g., Deu 23:3) in the inner region of his thoughts
(Note: Hengst., not finding the transition from scientia to conscientia natural, gives, after Hart…
It is often a mystery how someone knows what we have said. The best way to control our reputation is to control our thoughts.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 10:20
Even in your thoughts [do not curse] the king. Even in your thoughts, without speech. “גַּם” means “even.”
Do not curse the king. Do not provoke the King of the Universe. Another explanation: According to its apparent meaning, this is a mortal king.
A bird of the skies. The soul, which is placed within you, which will ultimately fly up to the heaven.
And that which has wings. The angel who escorts you, as the matter is stated, “For He will command His angels on your behalf,”34Tehillim 91:11. and according to its apparent meaning, “those who go back and forth;” [i.e.,] you should worry about every person, perhaps there are listeners, who will tell [the matter] to others.35The Gemara in Mas…
