Ecclesiastes 5:6

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Suffer	תִּתֵּ֤ן ti.Ten	H5414	to give · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
mouth	פִּ֙יךָ֙ pi.kha	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
flesh	בְּשָׂרֶ֔ךָ be.sa.Re.kha	H1320	flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
sin	לַחֲטִ֣יא la.cha.Ti'	H2398	properly · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
say	תֹּאמַר֙ to.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
angel	הַמַּלְאָ֔ךְ ha.mal.'Akh	H4397	a messenger · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
error	שְׁגָגָ֖ה she.ga.Gah	H7684	a mistake or inadvertent transgression · noun, common feminine singular absolute
God	הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
angry	יִקְצֹ֤ף yik.Tzof	H7107	to crack off · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
voice	קוֹלֶ֔ךָ ko.Le.cha	H6963	a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
destroy	וְחִבֵּ֖ל ve.chi.Bel	H2254	to wind tightly (as a rope) · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
work	מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה ma.'a.Seh	H4639	an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular construct
hands	יָדֶֽיךָ ya.Dei.kha	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd 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).

Cross-references

James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
James 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not tha…
Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Leviticus 5:4-6 Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be…
Genesis 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; a…
Numbers 15:25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignoranc…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:4-8

Four things we are exhorted to in these verses: - I. To be conscientious in paying our vows. 1. A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num 30:2), by which we solemnly oblige ourselves, not only, in general, to do that which we are already bound to do, but, in some particular instances, to do that to do which we were not under any antecedent obligation, whether it respects honouring God or serving the interests of his kingdom among men. When, under the sense of some affliction (Psa 66:14), or in the pursuit of some mercy (Sa1 1:11), thou hast vowed such a vow as this unto God, know that thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord and thou canst not go back; therefore, (1.) Pay it; perform what thou has…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 5:6

thy flesh--Vow not with "thy mouth" a vow (for example, fasting), which the lusts of the flesh ("body," Ecc 2:3, Margin) may tempt thee to break (Pro 20:25). angel--the "messenger" of God (Job 33:23); minister (Rev 1:20); that is, the priest (Mal 2:7) "before" whom a breach of a vow was to be confessed (Lev 5:4-5). We, Christians, in our vows (for example, at baptism, the Lord's Supper, &c.) vow in the presence of Jesus Christ, "the angel of the covenant" (Mal 3:1), and of ministering angels as witnesses (Co1 11:10; Ti1 5:21). Extenuate not any breach of them as a slight error.

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 5:6

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,.... That is, himself, who is corrupt and depraved; either by making a rash vow, which it is not in his power to keep; or such is the corruption of his nature, and the weakness of the flesh, that he cannot keep it; or by making sinful excuses after he has made the vow, and so is guilty of lying, or false swearing, or other sins of the flesh. Jarchi by "flesh" understands his children, on whom his iniquity may be visited and punished; and the Targum interprets this punishment of the judgment or condemnation of hell; see Proverbs 20:25; neither say thou before the angel that it was an error; that it was done ignorantly and through mistake: that i…

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The Church Fathers

"In spite of all dreams, futility and idle chatter, rather: Fear God! "The Hebrews explain this passage in great detail, and in the following way: and you should not do the things detailed above, about which he has already spoken, lest you believe too readily in dreams. For when you see different things, your mind will be troubled by many fears throughout your night's rest, or aroused by promises, you despise those things that are dream-like. You should only fear God. For he, who believes in dreams, gives himself over to vanities and nonsense. Another meaning of this passage is, since I have said and admonished, "you should not let your mouth bring guilt on your flesh", and to seek this or that excuse; I introduce this now, since in the dream of that life, and in the appearance, shade, cloud in which we live, we are able to find many things, which seem true to life to us and excuse our sins. Therefore I advise that you beware that alone, lest you think God is absent, but fear Him, and know He is present in all your toil, and do not force yourself to be hidden in free will, but want whatever it is that you do.
— Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes

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

Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Measure · about a bushel and a half — about a bushel and a half
Priest · . — .
Sin · .Against the body — .Against the body

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).

Ecclesiastes 5:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:4-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 5:6

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 5:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ecclesiastes 5:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:4-8

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 5:6

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 5:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 5:4-7

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:6