properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
stones
אֲבָנִ֔ים'a.va.Nim
H68
a stone · noun, common feminine plural absolute
hurt
יֵעָצֵ֖בye.'a.Tzev
H6087
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cleaveth
בּוֹקֵ֥עַbo.Ke.a'
H1234
to cleave · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
wood
עֵצִ֖ים'e.Tzim
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
endangered
יִסָּ֥כֶןyi.Sa.khen
H5533
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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).
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…
removeth stones--namely, of an ancient building [WEISS]. His neighbor's landmarks [HOLDEN]. Cuts out from the quarry [MAURER].
endangered--by the splinters, or by the head of the hatchet, flying back on himself. Pithy aphorisms are common in the East. The sense is: Violations of true wisdom recoil on the perpetrators.
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 10:9
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith,.... That carries them from the quarry, where they are dug; or takes them from a heap, where they lie; or that attempts to pull them out of a building, where they are put; or removes them from places, where they are set as boundaries and landmarks; all which is troublesome, and by which men get hurt; the stones fall upon them, or are too heavy for them, or they do what they should not do, and so bring themselves into trouble; as do all such persons who are for removing the boundaries of commonwealths and communities, and for changing laws, and altering constitutions;
and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby; of cutting himself: so h…
"He that diggeth a pit may fall into it; whoso breaketh down walls, a serpent may sting him. Whoso pulleth out stones may do himself hurt therewith; he who cleaveth wood may endanger himself thereby." The futures are not the expression of that which will necessarily take place, for, thus rendered, these four statements would be contrary to experience; they are the expression of a possibility. The fut. יפּול is not here meant as predicting an event, as where the clause 8a is a figure of self-punishment arising from the destruction prepared for others, Pro 26:27. Sir. 27:26. גּוּמּץ is, Pro 26:27, the Targum word for שׁחת, ditch, from גּמץ = שׁוּח, depressum esse. גּדר (R. גד, to cut), somethi…
The Church Fathers
"He who moves about stones will be hurt by them; he who splits logs will be endangered by them. "In Zechariah sacred stones are moved about the earth. [Cfr. Zach. 9, 16.] For they do not stay firm in their place, but revolve, and always inclining to other places, they hasten to move away. The Saviour also teaches about these living stones in the city of the Apocalypse [Cfr. Apoc. 21, 18-27.], and the apostle doesn't forget to mention the building of the Church. Therefore if anyone doing wrong by their heresy, should take away those stones from the building of the Church, then he will suffer torture afterwards. Aquila and Symmachus write about this man, and where we have 'he who moves about stones, will suffer from them', both write, "he who moves stones, will be wounded by them". But because the Scripture says very clearly, "he who moves about stones", or 'moves stones', he does not add 'good' or 'bad'. Moreover and to the contrary it must be understood, that the man of the Church seemingly a bishop and elder, (if we are taking this according to the mandate of Leviticus), took a stone away from the house of lepers, and was obliterated in dust and ashes. [Cfr. Lev. 14, 45.] And he will suffer for this himself, because he was forced to take away a stone from the Church of Christ and saying, (according to the apostle), "to weep with the weeping, to mourn with the mourners" [Rom. 12, 15.], and "who is weak, and I burn not?" [II Cor. 11, 29.]. Also cutting wood, he will be endangered by it. Heretics are non-fruit-bearing wood, and copse that do not bear fruit. Pertaining to this too is that we must not plant a glade in the house of God, and leafy openings, that is arbours of such sounding words are scorned. However learned and wise a man may be therefore who chops this wood with the sword of speech, he will be endangered by it, unless he diligently pays attention. This is similar to what follows, this will happen, "if iron is shaped" and its appearance is changed. This means that if his argument is found to be weaker, or if he does not have a point, in which each argument is well balanced, then the argument of his heart is blunt. Then the strength of wickedness will come upon him and fortify him. For this is what the Septuagint interprets this passage to mean: it says, "and he is fortified by strength, and he will begin to have more wisdom than strength; his…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Every activity requires wisdom. Wisdom is evident in the safety precautions taken by those engaged in every profession, yet there is always a degree of risk.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 10:9
He who removes stones will be hurt by them. One who quarries stones in the mountains will be fatigued by them.
Will be hurt. ‘יֵעָצֵב’ is an expression of weariness, as in, “with toil בְּעִצָּבוֹן shall you eat it,”13Bereishis 3:17. Alternatively, whoever scatters rocks to trip others, will himself be tripped and hurt by them. (Alshich) i.e., every man, his weariness is according to his work, so will the doer of evil reap according to what he sows.
Will be endangered by them. Shall be warmed by them, as in, “and she shall be to him a warmer סֹכֶנֶת.”14I Melochim 1:2. So will one who engages in [the study of] Torah and in [the performance of] commandments ultimately benefit from them.
