Eclesiastes 10:9-10 NVIPT

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 10:10

Ecclesiastes 10:10. If the iron be blunt The axe wherewith a man cuts wood; he must put to more strength To make it cut: that is, if a man do not use fit and proper means to accomplish any work, it will cost him so much the more labour and pains; but wisdom is profitable to direct Both in the choice and in the use of means. In other words, As wisdom instructs a man in the smallest matters, so it is useful for a man’s direction in all weighty affairs. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

Thoughts on wisdom and folly (9:13-10:20)A simple story illustrates how a person may be wise and humble, but the good he does is not appreciated by those who benefit from it. Riches, status and a show of power are the things people admire. If a person lacks these, he is ignored or despised, even though his quiet words of wisdom may save a city from destruction (13-18).One foolish act can spoil a lot of good. Stupidity leads to wrongdoing and marks a person out as a fool in the eyes of everyone... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:9

"Whoso heweth out stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby."These truisms have the simple meaning that certain tasks carry with them an element of risk and danger. "If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones; if you split wood, you get hurt doing it."[7] The spiritual application of this is that if one is engaged in any kind of an enterprise or activity that is designed to defraud or damage other people, it will most certainly be the same thing... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:10

"If the iron be blunt, and one do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength; but wisdom is profitable to direct."In this, the author is still talking about cleaving wood; and the iron here is a reference to the axe. "If the axe is blunt and the edge unwhetted, more strength must be put into the blow; successful skill comes from shrewd sense."[8]; Ecclesiastes 10:8-9 were summarized as saying, "Every job has its dangers."[9] This verse (1) is paraphrased: "Wisdom can make any job... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:10

Ecclesiastes 10:10. If the iron be blunt— If an iron instrument be blunt, though the edge be not quite off, and he who wanteth to make use of it increaseth his strength, skill is more profitable to succeed: or it may be rendered, If an axe be blunt, though the edge is not quite off, then the workman shall exert his utmost strength, and skill remaineth to make him succeed. Thus skill or experience is represented as a mean which is left to procure success when all others fail. Nothing can be more... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:9

9. 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. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:10

10. iron . . . blunt—in "cleaving wood" ( :-), answering to the "fool set in dignity" ( :-), who wants sharpness. More force has then to be used in both cases; but "force" without judgment "endangers" one's self. Translate, "If one hath blunted his iron" [MAURER]. The preference of rash to judicious counsellors, which entailed the pushing of matters by force, proved to be the "hurt" of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:1-33). wisdom is profitable to direct—to a prosperous issue. Instead of forcing matters... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 10:8-11

Improper timing can also nullify wisdom. Four different situations illustrate the fact that though wisdom is valuable in a variety of everyday tasks (Ecclesiastes 10:8-10), one can lose its advantage if the timing is not right (Ecclesiastes 10:11)."The sum of these four clauses [in Ecclesiastes 10:8-9] is certainly not merely that he who undertakes a dangerous matter exposes himself to danger; the author means to say, in this series of proverbs which treat of the distinction between wisdom and... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

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

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ecclesiastes 10:9

(9) Removeth.—The nearest parallel is 1 Kings 5:17, where the word is used with regard to the quarryings, not the removing of stones. For the latter sense, however, there is countenance in 2 Kings 4:4, where the word is translated “set aside.”Cleaveth wood.—Or, cutteth down trees, an operation not free from danger (Deuteronomy 19:5). read more