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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:4

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee ,.... The wrath of the civil magistrate, the chief ruler of the land, the sovereign prince or king, to whom men are and should be subject: if his wrath on any occasion breaks out in a furious manner, and, like a storm and tempest, is very blustering and threatening: leave not thy place ; at court; thine office under the prince, do not throw it up in a passion, and quit his service upon it; and much less forget thy duty and allegiance to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:6

Folly is set in great dignity ,.... Or "in great heights" F17 במרומים רבים εν υψεσι μεγαλοις , Sept. "in celsitudinibus amplis", Piscator, Amama, Gejerus; "in sublimitatibus amplis", Cocceius; "in altitudinibus magnis", Rambachius; "in great height", Broughton. ; in high places of honour and truest; even foolish and wicked men; men of poor extraction, of low life, and of mean abilities and capacities; and, which is worse, men vile and vicious, as Doeg the Edomite, Haman the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:4

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee - If the king get incensed against thee. Leave not thy place - Humble thyself before him, that is thy place and duty; for yielding to him, and not standing stoutly in thy defense, pacifieth great offenses: and then, when his anger is appeased, he will hear any thing in thy justification, if thou have any thing to offer. This is good advice to a child in reference to his parents, and to an inferior of any kind in reference to his superiors. ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 10:5

An error which proceedeth from the ruler - What this error in the ruler is, the two following verses point out: it is simpiy this - an injudicious distribution of offices, and raising people to places of trust and confidence, who are destitute of merit, are neither of name nor family to excite public confidence, and are without property; so that they have no stake in the country, and their only solicitude must naturally be to enrich themselves, and provide for their poor relatives. This is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:4

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee . "Spirit" ( ruach ) is here equivalent to "anger," as 8:3 ; Proverbs 29:11 . The idea seems to be that a statesman or councilor gives wise advice to a monarch, which the latter takes in bad part, and shows strong resentment against the person who offered it. Now, when a man knows himself to be in the right, and yet finds his counsel rejected, perhaps with scorn and reproach added, he is naturally prone to feel sore, and to show by some... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:4-7

Section 12. Illustration of the conduct of wisdom under capricious rulers, or when fools are exalted to high stations. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:5

Koheleth gives his personal experience of apparent confusion in the ordering of state affairs. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. Power gets into the hands of an unwise man, and then errors are committed and injustice reigns. As an error which proceedeth from the ruler. The כְּ here is caph veritatis, which denotes not comparison, but resemblance, the idealization of the individual, the harmony of the particular with the general idea. The evil which he noticed appeared... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 10:6

Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place . This is an instance of the error intimated in the preceding verse. A tyrannical ruler exalts incompetent persons, unworthy favorites, to "great heights", as it is literally—puts them into eminent positions. "Folly" is abstract for concrete, "fools." And the rich sit in low place . "The rich" ( ashirim ) are not simply those who have wealth, however obtained, but men of noble birth; ἀρχαιόπλουτοι , as Plumptre... read more

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