2. ( :-). right—The right hand is more expert than the left. The godly wise is more on his guard than the foolish sinner, though at times he slip. Better a diamond with a flaw, than a pebble without one. read more
A wise person may also lose his opportunity to give counsel through the error of someone else, for example, one of the rulers he has been advising. "The right" and "the left" (Ecclesiastes 10:2) are not the political right and left, conservatism and liberalism. They are the place of protection and the place of danger, or, to put in another way: the correct way and the incorrect way (cf. Psalms 16:8; Psalms 110:5; Psalms 121:5). [Note: Cf. Delitzsch, p. 373.] The "road" (Ecclesiastes 10:3) is... read more
Practical Advice Touching Life’s Puzzles1-8. Cultivate wisdom and tact, specially in the dangers that attend upon courts, but also in ordinary operations.1. Dead flies, etc.] This v. really belongs to the end of Ecclesiastes 9. As a few of the poisonous flies abounding in hot countries would render valueless a whole jar of perfume, so a man by a slight admixture of error may render nugatory much of his own skilful or upright conduct.2. At his right hand.. left] A wise man’s mind directs him to... read more
(2) At his right hand.—Perhaps better, towards his right hand, i.e., leads him to go to the right hand. The thought is the same as Ecclesiastes 2:13, namely, that though the actual results of wisdom are often disappointing, the superiority of wisdom over folly is undeniable. read more
Fences and Serpents Ecclesiastes 10:8 Any attempt to transgress the laws of life which God has enjoined is sure to bring out the hissing snake with its poison. I. All life is given us rigidly walled up. The walls are blessings, like the parapet on a mountain road, that keeps the traveller from toppling over the face of the cliff. II. Every attempt to break down these limitations brings poison into the life. Some serpents' bites inflame, some paralyse; and either an inflamed or a palsied... read more
Nor in Devotion to Affairs and its Rewards. Ecclesiastes 9:13-18; Ecclesiastes 10:1-20So far, then, Coheleth has been occupied in retracing the argument of the first Section of the Book. Now he returns upon the second and third Sections: he deals with the man who plunges into public affairs, who turns his wisdom to practical account and seeks to attain a competence, if not a fortune. He lingers over this stage of his argument, probably because the Jews, then as always, even in exile and under... read more
CHAPTER 10 This chapter contains a series of proverbs, expressing the wisdom and prudence of the natural man. Here are a number of observations and all show that there is a practical value in wisdom and that it has certain advantages. These maxims are of a different kind than the proverbs in the preceding book. There we are face to face with the wisdom which is from above, here it is the wisdom of man. The name of the Lord is not mentioned once, Similar philosophic utterances can be traced in... read more
10:2 A {a} wise man’s heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool’s heart [is] at his left.(a) So that he does all things well and justly, where as the fool does the contrary. read more
United Proverbs Ecclesiastes 10:0 In this graphic chapter we have a number of extraordinary sayings, which some commentators have fruitlessly attempted to shape into unity. Bishop Ellicott says: "Commentators cannot be said to have been very successful in their attempts to trace a connection between the proverbs of this chapter. Perhaps nothing better can be said than that the common theme of these proverbs is the advantage of wisdom. It is forcing the connection to imagine that the enterprise... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:2
"A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.""A wise man's heart (intelligence + conscience + will) will lead him in a right direction; but that of a fool has a sinister bent."[1] read more