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Wednesday 6/24/26
Thru the Bible: Of Fools and Rulers
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Of Fools and Rulers
Ecclesiastes 10:1-20,
“(1) One dead fly makes the perfumer’s ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.”
The idea here of course is that anything added to a good or completed thing ultimately serves to detract from its perfections and even can distort and pervert it.
- It only takes one tomato seed in a packet of Green Pepper seeds to make the pack no 100% Green Pepper seeds.
- It only takes one drop of toilet water to make a glass of water not pure.
- It only requires a fraction of one degree off of naval navigation to miss your harbor by miles.
I like to sometimes go through, in brief, what is happening behind the scenes in Hebrew which I think gives us a better intellectual footing for understanding the Hebrew flow of thought. I believe it also offers us an appreciation for all that translators do to clarify a text for us in English.
The Masoretic Text reads מֵחָכְמָה מִכָּבוֹד (“more than wisdom, more than honor”), but several medieval Hebrew manuscripts which are very reliable read מֵחָכְמָה וּמִכָּבוֹד (mekhokhmah umikkavod, “more than wisdom and honor”).
The textual differences are resolved by two nouns which form hendiadys. This is a figure of speech where a single complex idea is expressed by two words connected by a conjunction (in Hebrew ‘vav’) that together describe one concept. The first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second functions as an adjective: “heavy wisdom” or better, “great wisdom.”
So the truth being conveyed is that the impact of a little ignorance or willful neglect of wisdom can have a disproportionately powerful and negative effect on anything good and worthwhile. Even if the wisdom being distorted is heavy and great.
Unfortunately, like moral wrongs, this does not have to be intentional. You can do something that is wrong, which is not sin due to your ignorance of it being wrong. Yet, the action is seed and there will be a relative harvest.
Under the New Covenant, we have such a precious and powerful advantage over all other previous generations in that the Holy Spirit of God has been given to us to lead us and guide us into all truth which would include wisdom. The beautiful thing is that you do not need to possess understanding to hear His voice or respond to His inner leading and that is a treasure that far outstrips any and all monetary blessings!
This truth is further expressed in the distinction between the wise and the fool, in which for our purposes – we are the wise IF walk aware of and sensitive to the Spirit of God Who has been graciously given to us!
“(2) A wise person’s good sense protects him, but a fool’s lack of sense leaves him vulnerable. (3) Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, and shows everyone what a fool he is.”
Now Solomon introduces another set of considerations for the wise regarding those in authority and our relation to them, including another misfortune he has witnessed on earth.
“(4) If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position, for a calm response can undo great offenses.”
This first statement encourages those who are under authority to not quickly react, but to respond with a calm respect.
“(5) I have seen another misfortune on the earth: It is an error a ruler makes.
(6) Fools are placed in many positions of authority, while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.
(7) I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves.”
This statement warrants a little perspective afforded it by means of the observable character of God which is the basis for all truth and morality.
In truth, all authority comes from God. As such, those in authority should be treated in honor and preference – NOT because they are worthy of such in themselves, (which may add to our reasons) but primarily because the authority comes from God. By honoring them, we are honoring God, which seems very counter-intuative if they are themselves wicked, unrighteous, unholy and down right mean!
In the same way as it would be inappropriate in the extreme for an angel to sit on the throne of God while God waits on the angel to do its bidding, it would be unseemly for a slave to ride upon a horse while the king walks alongside in a position of servitude. One reason is because it misrepresents the truth of their relationship, but primarily because it distorts the image and authority of God.
This is no Old Testament mindset, as if such a thing existed in reality, since the same God inspired both testaments as a clear representation of His Own character and likeness. But we see a similar understanding and attitude in Christ through His examples and teaching.
Recall if you will Jesus’ teaching on the dishonorable conduct of just doing what is strictly commanded,
Luke 17:7-10,
“(7) Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? (8) Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? (9) Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? (10) So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
We understand this in the workplace. If an employee does what they are told, though it is a basis for their continuance as an employee, it is no basis for promotion. What a good manager is looking for a motivation, incentive and going the extra mile. Those who do this without having to be told, exhibit an honor for the company, their immediate manager as well as their own character. THIS, according to Jesus, is behavior worthy of praise.
But are there exceptions? Absolutely!
Jesus, though master of all, washed His disciples feet and taught them by word and by example that a leader in God’s kingdom, must first be servant of all.
Both of these truths are held in perfect tension between God’s Character and Worthiness alongside His tender heart and loving kindness.
The scriptures are NOT against owning slaves, but they are against mistreatment of the same. In most, though not all biblical cases, slaves and servants were those who without benevolent masters would have fared far worse if they had been on their own. Many of them would have died, or worse due to a lack of means to provide for themselves. Nevertheless, if the servant were a fellow Jew OR a resident Gentile who had been circumcised into the covenant, their servitude could only be for a maximum of 6 years. In the seventh year, they were to be set free – though they could choose, of their own freewill, to remain as servants.
“(8) One who digs a pit may fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. (9) One who quarries stones may be injured by them; one who splits logs may be endangered by them. (10) If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
“(11) If the snake should bite before it is charmed, the snake charmer is in trouble.”
Now the lessons of these statements are obvious enough. All actions carry consequences and some are more serious than others. But wise is the person who considers the possible outcomes as best they may, and takes appropriate precautions to avoid them.
But the mention of the possibility of encountering a serpent when breaking through a wall strikes us in the modern world as a bit arbitrary. So where does that come from?
In the ancient Near East, walls and property fences were often made of loose stones or mud-bricks. They provided little more than visual boundaries which were vital but not particularly formidable. The boundaries often contained crevices between the stones which served as natural habitat for snakes – some of which would certainly have been poisonous.
So this would have made a lot of sense to a reader at the time.
In fact, the likelihood was evidently rather good that one would find a snake there – at least such is indicated in the construction of the phrase, since it links the action and consequence so tightly together that they are effectively treated as a single reality. So that the snake’s bite is presented as the inevitable, spontaneous outcome of blindly disturbing an environment.
As to the meaning, well…
Whatever a person’s motive might be in demolishing a wall – whether legitimate or not, tearing down that barrier blindly disturbs the “snake in the grass” as it were. So this serves as a potent and rather visual warning that an action performed without calculating the consequences can and very well may result in harm.
As to the mention of the snake charmer, Solomon is simply driving his main point further. The statement is that if the snake bites before it has been effectively charmed, then the charmer’s skill is both insufficient and worthless. The idea being that if in your precautions to avoid danger, you miss something or were not thorough, then your wisdom and perhaps your skill is lacking and your precautions will come to nothing.
I think the forced idea here is – be careful, don’t be hasty and think before you act. I remember one of the first lessons my valued friend and mentor in all things carpentry related – Jim Montgomery, taught me, was to “measure twice, cut once”. In my case, it often turns into measure three or four times, then go back once more to make sure you got it right. Regardless of the adaptation to his wise instruction, it has held me in good stead many times!
“(12) The words of a wise person win him favor, but the words of a fool are self-destructive. [meaning they engulf him with tragedy]
(13) At the beginning his words are foolish and at the end his talk is wicked madness, (14) yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?”
The Hebrew phrase used in this verse literally translates to “the fool’s lips swallow or consume him. Meaning that the fool’s own uncontrolled, rash, or arrogant words trigger their own downfall.
This is followed up in verses 13-14 with an explanation of how this often plays out.
The fool’s speech begins with nonsense but escalates into pure and “evil madness”. The spew forth foolish rambling regarding things they cannot possibly know. All too often this plunges the fool into conflicts, broken relationships and even social or professional ruin.
These verses set up a direct parallel, where a wise person’s words build favor and bring life, whereas a fool’s words act as toxic, destructive traps that swallow their credibility and bring calamity into their own life.
So foolish talk inevitably backfires, making the fool the architect of their own misfortunes and suffering. But being a fool, they do not learn from their misfortunes but just keep on babbling!
I was initially unclear as to whether in verse 14b, Solomon was still pointing back to the foolishness of the fool in his unwillingness to learn or consider the final outcome of his life of foolishness or if he were moving forward to say that all of humanity is ignorant of the future, and thereby further emphasizing the need for looking before you leap. But evidently the text is definitely pointing back to the fool.
The question is rhetorical but also emphasizes our limitation as humans due to our inability to know with certainty the ultimate outcome of our actions. While none of us knows what tomorrow may bring, urging caution is always in order. But the statement is saying that no one can sufficiently warn someone who is truly a fool – they are too proud to listen to anything, much less cautionary advice regarding the uncertainty of their future.
An adaptation of a familiar idiom here would be appropriate here:
“Be foolish once, shame on you, be foolish continually, inherit shame eternally.”
Now this next phrase I found a little perplexing. I figured out the most obvious possible meaning, but there are in fact three meanings here which are possible from the Hebrew and they all contain ‘A’ truth.
“(15) The toil of a stupid fool wears him out, because he does not even know the way to the city.”
This is taken from the Hebrew/Greek Study Bible expositions on words. The Old Testament Hebrew and Aramaic being largely the work of Dr. Warren Patrick Baker.
“This line may be interpreted in one of three ways:
(1) “the labor of fools wearies him because he did not know enough to go to a town,” referring to the labor of the peasants who had not been able to find a place in town where life was easier;
(2) “the labor of the fools so wearies everyone of them (singular pronoun taken in a distributive sense) so much that he even does not know how to go to town,” that is, he does not even know how to do the easiest thing in the world;
(3) “let the labor of fools so weary him that he may not even know how to go to town,” taking the verb as a jussive.”
To take the verse jussively requires a little unpacking. This means that instead of focusing upon the incompetence of a fool, the jussive mood turns the phrase into a taunt or even a rhetorical wish.
It expresses Solomon’s overall sentiment, to let the fool tire himself out with his own pointless babbling and foolish pursuits until he loses all sense of basic direction. So if this is the correct way of understanding the phrase it is highlighting the self-destructive and disorienting nature of foolishness.
Speaking of dizzying or disorienting, the last series of verses are all connected and lead to a singular point. I will walk you through it as we read with some ending commentary on them and the chapter as a whole.
“(16) Woe to you, O land, when your king is childish, and your princes feast in the morning!”
The word “childish” could be rendered “a child” or even “foolish”, both of which are similar in scope and would seem more fitting to the development of Solomon’s point in this chapter.
Getting up from sleep only to feast rather than to accomplish one’s given tasks is an act of irresponsibility very much akin to childishness.
This child king or king who is childish as well as the type of feast being referenced is further defined by its opposite in the following verse.
“(17) Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time – with self-control and not in drunkenness.”
So it seems that the “child king” or “childish king” is not your typical king of progeny, in that a son of noble birth is used for a comparison in verse 17. Also the feast of verse 16 is clearly one of excessive indulgence and drunkenness, since verse 17’s feast is with self-control and sobriety.
The reason the second group of rulers and leaders is a blessing is because those who rule with a slack hand, generate vulnerabilities and deficiencies in the kingdom that negatively impacts everyone under their rule. This is illustrated by a faulty roof which goes unrepaired.
“(18) Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of idle hands the house leaks.”
Solomon now explains the purpose of a legitimate feast which is for laughter and merriment, but that such foolish rulers believe that money is an answer for everything. It may even imply that they believe their money justifies their actions, which is an infirmity of mind that many of the rich possess.
“(19) Feasts are made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.”
Solomon concludes with solid advice for the citizens or servants who are under authority or subject in any way to the wealthy, regardless of their nobility of character or lack thereof.
“(20) Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse the rich while in your bedroom; for a bird might report what you are thinking, or some winged creature might repeat your words.”
I am reminded of a passage in the New Testament which reinforce this wisdom –
1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”
Blessings!
