10 "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour.
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 offences to rest.
5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.
8 He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
9 He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,
he must use more strength,
but wisdom helps one to succeed.
11 If the serpent bites before it is charmed,
there is no advantage to the charmer.
12 The words of a wise man's mouth win him favour,
but the lips of a fool consume him.
13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,
and the end of his talk is evil madness.
14 A fool multiplies words,
though no man knows what is to be,
and who can tell him what will be after him?
15 The toil of a fool wearies him,
for he does not know the way to the city.
16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
20 Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter."
Ecclesiastes 10:1-20
Delitzsch, however, makes the comment (on 8-11) that 'The sum of these four clauses is certainly not merely that he who undertakes a dangerous matter exposes himself to danger; the author seems to say, in this series of proverbs which treat of the distinction between wisdom and folly, that the wise man is everywhere conscious of his danger, and guards against it'. It is true that what is difficult may expose one to danger, that what is improper is likely to bring trouble and that what is done too late is of little use to anyone - the Good News rendering of 11 is very graphic, 'Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first' - but the exercise of wisdom is the great safeguard, for 'wisdom is profitable to direct' (10b). The theme of folly continues in 11b-15, in a series of aphorisms. Folly is notoriously talkative, and although it may begin with simple foolishness it can end with 'mischievous madness', and can do a great deal of harm before it finishes. The fool will confidently pronounce on the most baffling mysteries of life, blandly pontificating, when anyone with a modicum of sense and wisdom knows that there are no easy answers available to man and there is nothing more wearisome (15) than listening to someone who thinks he knows everything. The curious phrase in 15 'he knoweth not how to go to the city' is regarded by commentators as a proverbial expression, to the effect that the fool would get lost even on a plain road. One naturally thinks of the contrasting word in Isaiah 35:8, 'The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein' - because their minds and hearts have been illuminated by the gracious Spirit of God, from 'above the sun'. That is the essential difference between wisdom and folly.