Ecclesiastes 10:3

3 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he ¹says to everyone that he is a fool.

Ecclesiastes 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 10:3

Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way
The king's highway, the common road; as he passeth along the streets, going to any place, or about any business: his wisdom faileth [him];
or "his heart" ^F16; he appears by his gait, his manner of walking, to want a heart, to be a fool; walking with a froward mouth, winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, and teaching with his fingers; all which shows the frowardness and folly of his heart, ( Proverbs 6:12-14 ) ; or he discovers it throughout his conversation, in all the actions of it, in whatsoever business he is concerned, and in all the affairs of life. The Targum is,

``when he walketh in a perplexed way;''

then his wisdom fails him; he does not know which way to take, whether to the right or left: this can never be understood of the highway of holiness, in which men, though fools, shall not err, ( Isaiah 35:8 ) ; and he saith to everyone [that] he [is] a fool;
his folly is manifest to all; he betrays it, by his words and actions, to every man he has to do with; his sins and transgressions, which are his folly, he hides not, they are evident to all; and, as the Targum expresses it,

``all say he is a fool:''

though indeed he himself says this of every other man, that he is a fool; for, according to the Vulgate Latin version, he, being a fool himself, thinks everybody else is so.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (wbl) "cor ejus", Pagninus, Montanus

Ecclesiastes 10:3 In-Context

1 Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

2 A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left.

3 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.

4 If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest.

5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler:

Cross References

• 1. [Proverbs 13:16; Proverbs 18:2]