Ecclesiastes 10:1
Dying flies ruin the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a brief and limited foolishness.
Catholic Public Domain Version
In The King James Version
In Context
2The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a foolish man is in his left hand.
Cross References
Exodus 30:25And you shall make the holy oil of unction, an ointment composed with the skills of a perfumer,
2 Chronicles 19:2And the seer Jehu, the son of Hanani, met him, and said to him: “You offer assistance to the impious, and you are joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord. And for this reason, you certainly deserve the wrath of the Lord.
Nehemiah 13:26“Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin in this kind of thing? And certainly, among many nations, there was no king similar to him, and he was beloved of his God, and God set him as king over all of Israel. And yet foreign women led even him into sin!
Haggai 2:12Thus says the Lord of hosts: the priests question the law, saying:
Matthew 5:13You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, with what will it be salted? It is no longer useful at all, except to be cast out and trampled under by men.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 10:1
This chapter seems to be like Solomon's proverbs, a collection of wise sayings and observations, rather than a part of his sermon; but the preacher studied to be sententious, and "set in order many proverbs," to be brought in in his preaching. Yet the general scope of all the observations in this chapter is to recommend wisdom to us, and its precepts and rules, as of great use for the right ordering of our conversation and to caution us against folly. I. He recommends wisdom to private persons, who are in an… Read the whole commentary →