--- title: "Ecclesiastes 10 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible" description: "Read Ecclesiastes 10 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour." image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10" --- [ Read](/kjv/ecclesiastes/10)[ Commentary](/study/ecclesiastes/10)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ecclesiastes/10) Audio 1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: *so doth* a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom *and* honour.* 2 A wise man’s heart *is* at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left. 3 Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth *him*, and he saith to every one *that* he *is* a fool.* 4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 5 There is an evil *which* I have seen under the sun, as an error *which* proceedeth from the ruler:* 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.* 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; *and* he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom *is* profitable to direct. 11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.* 12 The words of a wise man’s mouth *are* gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.* 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth *is* foolishness: and the end of his talk *is* mischievous madness.* 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?* 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. 16 ¶ Woe to thee, O land, when thy king *is* a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17 Blessed *art* thou, O land, when thy king *is* the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! 18 ¶ By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 19 ¶ A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all *things*.* 20 ¶ Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.* [Ecclesiastes 9](/study/ecclesiastes/9) [Ecclesiastes 11](/study/ecclesiastes/11) ## Commentary To verse 1 **1.** Following up :-. **him that is in reputation**—for example, David ([2 Samuel 12:14](/kjv/2-samuel/12/14)); Solomon ([1 Kings 11:1-43](/kjv/1-kings/11/1-43)); Jehoshaphat ([2 Chronicles 18:1-34](/kjv/2-chronicles/18/1-34); [2 Chronicles 19:2](/kjv/2-chronicles/19/2)); Josiah ([2 Chronicles 19:2](/kjv/2-chronicles/19/2)- :). The more delicate the perfume, the more easily spoiled is the ointment. Common oil is not so liable to injury. So the higher a man's religious character is, the more hurt is caused by a sinful folly in him. Bad savor is endurable in oil, but not in what professes to be, and is compounded by the perfumer ("apothecary") for, fragrance. "Flies" answer to "a little folly" (sin), appropriately, being *small* ([2 Chronicles 19:2](/kjv/2-chronicles/19/2)- :); also, "Beelzebub" means *prince of flies.* "Ointment" answers to "reputation" ([Ecclesiastes 7:1](/kjv/ecclesiastes/7/1); [Genesis 34:30](/kjv/genesis/34/30)). The verbs are *singular,* the noun *plural,* implying that *each* of the flies causes the stinking savor. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10","name":"Ecclesiastes 10 - Study King James Bible with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ecclesiastes 10 with commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible commentary. 1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"commentary critical and explanatory on the whole bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes","name":"Ecclesiastes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/10","name":"10"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```