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
Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Ecclesiastes 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
Ecclesiastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
Ecclesiastes 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had…
Ecclesiastes 4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is fu…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 10:4-11
The scope of these verses is to keep subjects loyal and dutiful to the government. In Solomon's reign the people were very rich, and lived in prosperity, which perhaps made them proud and petulant, and when the taxes were high, though they had enough to pay them with, it is probable that many conducted themselves insolently towards the government and threatened to rebel. To such Solomon here gives some necessary cautions.
I. Let not subjects carry on a quarrel with their prince upon any private personal disgust (Ecc 10:4): "If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, if upon some misinformation given him, or some mismanagement of thine, he is displeased at thee, and threaten thee, yet l…
as--rather, "by reason of an error" [MAURER and HOLDEN].
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 10:5
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,.... Which Solomon had observed in the course of his life, practised in some kingdoms and by some princes on earth, under the sun; for there is nothing of the like kind, as after mentioned, done in heaven, above the sun;
as an error which proceedeth from the ruler; from the supreme ruler of a nation, the king of it; and it is not only as an error, or like one, a seeming one; but it is a real error, bestowing places of honour and profit on undeserving persons: which error proceeds from ignorance of the persons; or from affection to them, and from friendship cultivated with them in the younger time of life, being educated with them; or through…
"There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceedeth from the ruler." The introduction by the virtual relative raithi is as at Ecc 5:12; Ecc 6:1. Knobel, Hengst., and others give to the כ of כּשׁ the meaning of "according to," or "in consequence of which," which harmonizes neither with ra'ah nor with raithi. Also Kleinert's translation: "There is a misery - I have seen it under the sun - in respect of an error which proceedeth from the ruler," is untenable; for by this translation ra'ah is made the pred. while it is the subj. to ישׁ, and kishgagah the unfolding of this subject. Hitzig also remarks: "as [wie ein] an error, instead of which we have: in respect to […
The Church Fathers
"There is an evil that I have observed in the world as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is placed on lofty heights, while rich men sit in low places. I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves. "Where we read "as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler" Aquila, Theodotion and the Septuagint have interpreted this as "as if not of their own will", that is "hos akousian", from the face of the ruler. Symmachus agrees with this, saying, "the fool is placed in great elevation, but humble riches remain fixed." And he remembers that he has seen this wickedness in this time, because the judgement of God seems to be unjust. And it happens either through not knowing, or without his will, that either in the rulers of the world, or in the leadership of the Church, often these men, who are rich in words and wisdom, rich too in good deeds, remain ignoble and foolish holding a position in the Church. But this happens in front of his face, he who has power in that time, while he oppresses the powerful and learned men, and he does not let them come out in public, but those whom he knows to be foolish in the Church he makes greater, so that the blind are led by the blind into pitfalls. The following verse also has this meaning: "I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves". Because these men are slaves of vices and sins, or are so humble, that they are thought to be slaves by other men, they are suddenly inflated by the devil's pompousness, and they wear out the public roads with their ponies [Cfr. Horat. Epod. IV, 14.]. And each noble or wise man that is oppressed by poverty takes the road and occupation of slaves. The Hebrew seems to say that ignorance seems to leave the face of the powerful and rulers. He explains this as God, because men think that in this inequality of matter He is not acting justly, and judging as is correct. More precisely, some men believe as their predecessors do that there must be judgement so that He himself is powerful, a topic that is mentioned before these verses: if a ruler comes up against you, do not give way. Should we not be sad therefore if we seem to be humble in this world, and know from the face of the devil, that the foolish are raised and the rich thrown down? If we know that slaves have the ranks of their masters and rulers do the work of their slaves.…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cavalry · 8:6;9:25;12:3; — 8:6;9:25;12:3;
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).
The unjust and destructive delegation of authority to those incapable of using it wisely is a grave mistake. Favoritism, nepotism, extortion, and bribery can place the most reckless fools in the most powerful positions.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 10:5
Like an error emanating from the ruler. He is like a ruler who unintentionally let an error out of his mouth, and it is irrevocable. So does the Holy One, Blessed Is He, speak, and [His decrees] cannot be retracted.
