Ecclesiastes 10:3

Ecc 10:3 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.

Ver. 3. Yea, also when he that is a fool walketh, &c.] In his very gait, gestures, looks, laughings, &c., he bewrays his witlessness, as Jehu did his furiousness, by the manner of his marches. {2Ki 9:20} "He winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his feet, teacheth with his fingers, frowardness is in his heart," &c. {Pro 6:13-14} {See Trapp on "Pro 6:13"} {See Trapp on "Pro 6:14"} Such a froward fool was Julian the apostate, as Nazianzen describes him, with his colli crebrae conversiones, oculi vagi, pedes instabiles, &c., frequent turning of his neck, tossing up his head, wild eyes, wandering feet, &c. And such were those "haughty daughters of Sion, that walked with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, mincing and making a tinkling as they went"; {Isa 3:16} their haughtiness and hauntiness spake them little better than harlots.

And he saith to every one that he is a fool.] Upon the matter he saith it, though he say nothing. It is said that a fool, while he holds his tongue is held a wise man; {Pro 17:28} that is, if neither by his tongue nor any other part of his body he discover himself: but that can hardly be, since folly flows from man as excrements do from sick folk, and they feel it not, will hardly be persuaded of it. Symmachus, Jerome, and others, refer the last he in this sentence not to the fool himself, but to every one else whom he looks upon as so many fools like himself; {a} ex suo ingenio universos iudicans, judging of others according to his own disposition. For as the philosopher saith, Qualis quisque est tales existimat alios {b} such as any one is, the same he thinks others to be, and as men muse so they use, whether it be for the better or the worse. Jacob could not imagine that his sons were so base as to make away their brother Joseph, but said, "Surely some evil beast hath devoured him." {Gen 37:32} Joshua never suspected the false Gibeonites, nor the rest of the disciples Judas, when our Saviour said, "What thou dost, do quickly"; and again when he said, "One of you shall betray me." On the other side, fools conceit the whole world to be made up of folly; as the Lacedemonians once, neminem bonum fieri publicis literis columna incisis sanxerunt, {c} scored it upon their public posts that there was none good, no, not one; as Claudius and Caligula, being themselves notorious whoremongers, would not be persuaded that there was any chaste person upon earth; {d} as the devil charged God with envy, which is his own proper disease. {Gen 3:5} The old proverb saith, The mother seeks the daughter in the oven, as having been there some time herself. I daresay, quoth Bonner, that Cranmer would recant if he might have his living, {e} so judging of another by himself.

{a} Dicit de omnibus, stultus est.

{b} Arist. Polit., lib. iii. cap. 6.

{c} Plut. in Quaest. Graec.

{d} Dio.

{e} Acts and Mon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By his doings he betrayeth himself.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

by the way--in his ordinary course; in his simplest acts (Pro 6:12-14). That he "saith," virtually, "that he" himself, &c. [Septuagint]. But Vulgate, "He thinks that every one (else whom he meets) is a fool."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. When - a fool walketh by the way] In every act of life, and in every company he frequents, the irreligious man shows what he is. Vanity, nonsense, and wickedness are his themes: so that in effect he saith to every one that he is a fool.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) That he is a fool.—In Hebrew, as in English, the antecedent of “he” may be taken differently, and so the Vulg. and other authorities understand the verse as meaning that the fool in his self-conceit attributes folly to everyone else. But it is better, as well as more obvious, to take the verse of the self-betrayal of the fool (Pro_13:16; Pro_17:28; Pro_18:2).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way] The general drift of the proverb seems plain enough. “Even when the fool is in the way (either literally, ‘whenever and wherever he goes,’ or figuratively, ‘when he has been put in the right path of conduct’), his heart (i. e. his intellect) fails him, and he manifests his folly.” The last clause, however, admits of two constructions, each of which has the support of high authorities, (1) he saith to every one that he (the fool himself) is a fool, i. e. betrays his unwisdom in every word he utters; or (2) he says to every man that he (the man he meets) is a fool, i. e. in his self-conceit he thinks that he alone is wise (comp. Rom_12:16). On the whole the latter construction seems preferable. So it is notoriously the most significant symptom of insanity that the patient looks on all others as insane. It may be noted that (1) finds a parallel in Pro_13:16; Pro_18:2; (2) in Pro_26:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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" (p); 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, Pro 6:12; 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, Isa 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.

(p) "cor ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

“Way” may be understood either literally (compare Ecc 10:15), or figuratively, of the course of action which he follows.

He saith ... - He exposes his folly to every one he meets.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Fools. People judge others by themselves. (Calmet) --- Thus Nero could not believe that any were chaste. (Suetonius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Walketh by the way; not only in great undertakings, but in his daily conversation with men, in his looks, and gestures, and common talk.

His wisdom faileth him; or, he wants a heart; as if he had said, Did I say, his heart is at his left hand? I must recall it, for in truth he hath no heart in him.

He saith to every one that he is a fool; he publicly discovers his folly to all that meet him, or converse with him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. The fool is the subject. His wisdom faileth, should be, He lacketh wisdom. He, in the last clause, refers to every one, and the sense would be plainer if that were not inserted: He saith to every one, He is a fool! He thinks all others fools.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yea, also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way. As soon as ever he sets his foot outside the house, and mixes with other men, he exhibits his folly. If he remained at home he might keep his real ineptitude concealed; but such persons as he are unconscious of their inanity, and take no pains to hide it; they go where, they act as, their foolish heart prompts them. There is no metaphor here, nor any reference to the fool being put in the right path and perversely turning away. It is simply, as the Septuagint renders, Kai ge ejn oJdw otan afrwn poreuhtai His wisdom (Hebrew, heart) faileth him. Ginsburg and others render, "He lacketh his mind, want of heart being continually taken in the Book of Proverbs as equivalent to deficiency of understanding. (Pro_6:32 Pro_7:7, etc.) But Delitzsch and Wright consider the order of the words and the suffix to be against this view, and they translate as the Authorized Version, i.e. his understanding is at fault. And he saith to every one that he is a fool. The sentence is ambiguous, and capable of two interpretations. The Vulgate has, Cumipse insipiens sit, omnes stultos aestimat. Jerome quotes Symmachus as rendering, "He suspects all men that they are fools." According to this view, the fool in his conceit thinks that every one he meets is a fool, says this in his mind, like the sluggard in Pro_26:16, "Who is wiser in his own conceit than ten men that can render a reason." Another explanation, more closely in accordance with the foregoing clauses, takes the pronoun in "he is a fool" to refer to the man himself, se esse stultum. (comp. Psa_9:20, "Let the nations know themselves to be but men As soon as he goes abroad, his words and actions display his real character; he betrays himself; he says virtually to all with whom he has to do, "I am a fool". (comp. Pro_13:16 Pro_18:2) It is hard to say to which interpretation the Septuagint inclines, giving, Kainta ajfrosunh ejstin, "And all that he will think is folly."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Walketh - In his daily conversation. He saith - He discovers his folly to all that meet him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This proverb forms, along with the preceding, a tetrastich, for it is divided into two parts by vav. The Kerı̂ has removed the art. in כש and שה, Ecc 6:10, as incompatible with the ש. The order of the words vegam-baderek keshehsachal holek is inverted for vegam keshehsachal baderek holek, cf. Ecc 3:13, and also rav shěyihyn, Ecc 6:3; so far as this signifies, "supposing that they are many." Plainly the author intends to give prominence to "on the way;" and why, but because the fool, the inclination of whose heart, according to 2b, always goes to the left, is now placed in view as he presents himself in his public manner of life. Instead of לב־הוּא חסר we have here the verbal clause חסר לבּו, which is not, after Ecc 6:2, to be translated: corde suo caret (Herzf., Ginsb.), contrary to the suff. and also the order of the words, but, after Ecc 9:8 : cor ejus deficit, i.e., his understanding is at fault; for לב, here and at Ecc 10:2, is thus used in a double sense, as the Greek νοῦς and the Lat. mens can also be used: there it means pure, formal, intellectual soul-life; here, pregnantly (Psychol. p. 249), as at Ecc 7:7, cf. Hos 4:11, the understanding or the knowledge and will of what is right. The fool takes no step without showing that his understanding is not there, - that, so to speak, he does not take it along with him, but has left it at home. He even carries his folly about publicly, and prides himself in it as if it were wisdom: he says to all that he is a fool, se esse stultum (thus, correctly, most Jewish and Christian interpreters, e.g., Rashi and Rambach). The expression follows the scheme of Ps. 9:21: May the heathen know mortales se esse (vid., l.c.). Otherwise Luther, with Symm. and Jerome: "he takes every man as a fool;" but this thought has no support in the connection, and would undoubtedly be expressed by המּה סכלים. Still differently Knobel and Ewald: he says to all, "it is foolish;" Hitzig, on the contrary, justly remarks that סכל is not used of actions and things; this also is true of כּסיל, against himself, Ecc 5:2, where he translates qol kesil by "foolish discourses."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

and he says to all that he is a fool with his walk and with his speech, everyone recognizes that he is a fool.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.