Ecclesiastes 7:9

Ecc 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Ver. 9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry.] The hasty man, we say, never wants woe. For wrath is an evil counsellor, and enwrappeth a man in manifold troubles, mischiefs, and miseries. It makes man like the bee, that vindictive creature, which, to be revenged, loseth her sting, and becomes a drone; or, like Tamar, who, to be even with her father-in-law, defiled him and herself with incest. "Cease, therefore, from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in anywise to do evil." {Psa 37:8} Athenodorus counselled Augustus to determine nothing rashly, when he was angry, till he had repeated the Greek alphabet. Ambrose taught Theodosius, in that case, to repeat the Lord’s Prayer. What a shame it is to see a Christian act like Hercules furens, or like Solomon’s fool, that casts firebrands, or as that demoniac, {Mar 2:3} out of measure fierce! That demoniac was "among the tombs," but these are among the living, and molest those most that are nearest to them.

For anger resteth in the bosom of fools.] Rush it may into a wise man’s bosom, but not rest there, lodge there, dwell there; and only where it dwells it domineers, and that is only where a fool is master of the family. Thunder, hail, tempest, neither trouble nor hurt celestial bodies. See that the sun go not down upon this evil guest: see that the soul be not soured or impured with it, for anger corrupts the heart, as leaven doth the lump, or vinegar the vessel wherein it doth continue. {a}

{a} Aug., epist. 87.

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.

7:9 anger labels you a fool: Cp. Prov 14:29; 29:11; see “Anger” Theme Note.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A man that is esteemed wise, when he falleth to oppression, becometh like a beast.

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

angry--impatient at adversity befalling thee, as Job was (Ecc 5:2; Pro 12:16).

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 9. Anger resteth in the bosom of fools.] A wise man, off his guard, may feel it for a moment: but in him it cannot rest: it is a fire which he immediately casts out of his breast. But the fool - the man who is under the dominion of his own tempers, harbours and fosters it, till it takes the form of malice, and then excites him to seek full revenge on those whom he deems enemies. Hence that class of dangerous and empty fools called duellists.

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

(9) Resteth.—Pro_14:33.

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

9. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry] From sins of speech in general, the teacher passes on to that which is the source from which they most often flow. Anger, alike from the Stoic and Epicurean stand-point (and the writer, as we have seen, had points of contact with each of them), was the note of unwisdom. If it be right at all, it is when it is calm and deliberate, an indignation against moral evil. The hasty anger of wounded self-love is, as in the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (Mat_5:22), destructive of the tranquillity of true wisdom, and, transient and impulsive as it seems at first, may harden “in the bosom of the fool” into a settled antipathy or malignant scorn.

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.

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry,.... With men, for every word that is said, or action done, that is not agreeable; encourage not, but repress, sudden angry emotions of the mind; be not quick of resentment, and at once express anger and displeasure; but be slow to wrath, for such a man is better than the mighty, Jam 1:19, Pro 16:32; or with God, for his corrections and chastisements; so the Targum,

"in the time that correction from heaven comes upon thee, do not hasten in thy soul to be hot (or angry) to say words of rebellion (or stubbornness) against heaven;''

that advice is good,

"do nothing in anger (l);''

for anger resteth in the bosom of fools; where it riseth quick, and continues long; here it soon betrays itself, and finds easy admittance, and a resting dwelling place; it easily gets in, but it is difficult to get it out of the heart of a fool; both which are proofs of his folly, Pro 12:16; see Eph 4:26; the bosom, or breast, is commonly represented as the seat of anger by other writers (m).

(l) Isocrates ad Nicoclem, p. 36. (m) "In pectoribus ira considit", Petronius; "iram sanguinei regio sub pectore cordis", Claudian. de 4. Consul. Honor. Panegyr. v. 241.

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

Speech. Hebrew, "thing." The best projects often are seen to fail. --- Beginning, as the auditor is on longer kept in suspense. --- Presumptuous. Rashness must not be confounded with courage. (Calmet) --- Hasty and immoderate anger is hurtful. (Worthington)

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).

Be not angry with any man without due consideration, and just and necessary cause; for otherwise anger is sometimes lawful, and sometimes a duty.

Resteth; hath its settled and quiet abode, is their constant companion, ever at hand upon all occasions, whereas wise men resist, and mortify, and banish it.

In the bosom; in the heart, the proper seat of the passions.

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

9. Be not hasty… angry — This exhortation comes as an inference from the foregoing remarks. Even an enemy may tell us some things good for us to know, much more, then, should we welcome the “faithful wounds” — the honest rebukes — of a friend. Only a fool would be angry at wholesome reproof. But how natural it is to be in this more or less foolish!

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

Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry. A further warning against the arrogance which murmurs at Providence and revolts against the checks of the Divine arrangement. The injunction in Ecc_5:2 might be taken in this sense. It is not a general admonition against unrighteous anger, but is leveled at the haughty indignation which a proud man feels when things do not go as he wishes, and he deems that he could have managed matters more satisfactorily. For anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Such unreasonable displeasure is the mark of a foolish or skeptical mind, and if it rests, (Pro_14:33) is fostered and cherished there, may develop into misanthropy and atheism. If we adopt the rendering" word" in ver. 8, we may see in this injunction a warning against being quick to take offence at a rebuke, as it is only the fool who will not look to the object of the censure and see that it ought to be patiently submitted to. On the subject of anger St. Gregory writes, "As often as we restrain the turbulent motions of the mind under the virtue of mildness, we are essaying to return to the likeness of our Creator. For when the peace of mind is lashed with anger, torn and rent, as it were, it is thrown into confusion, so that it is not in harmony with itself, and loses the force of the inward likeness. By anger wisdom is parted with, so that we are left wholly in ignorance what to do; as it is written, "Anger resteth in the bosom of a fool," in this way, that it withdraws the light of understanding, while by agitating it troubles the mind" ("Moral.," 5:78).

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

In this verse the author warns against this pride which, when everything does not go according to its mind, falls into passionate excitement, and thoughtlessly judges, or with a violent rude hand anticipates the end. אל־תּב: do not overturn, hasten not, rush not, as at Ecc 5:1. Why the word בּרוּחך, and not בנפשך or בלבך, is used, vid., Psychol. pp. 197-199: passionate excitements overcome a man according to the biblical representation of his spirit, Pro 25:28, and in the proving of the spirit that which is in the heart comes forth in the mood and disposition, Pro 15:13. כּעוס is an infin., like ישׁון, Ecc 5:11. The warning has its reason in this, that anger or (כעס, taken more potentially than actually) fretfulness rests in the bosom of fools, i.e., is cherished and nourished, and thus is at home, and, as it were (thought of personally, as if it were a wicked demon), feels itself at home (ינוּח, as at Pro 14:33). The haughty impetuous person, and one speaking out rashly, thus acts like a fool. In fact, it is folly to let oneself be impelled by contradictions to anger, which disturbs the brightness of the soul, takes away the considerateness of judgment, and undermines the health, instead of maintaining oneself with equanimity, i.e., without stormy excitement, and losing the equilibrium of the soul under every opposition to our wish.

From this point the proverb loses the form "better than," but tov still remains the catchword of the following proverbs. The proverb here first following is so far cogn., as it is directed against a particular kind of ka'as (anger), viz., discontentment with the present.

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.)

Be not hasty Heb. אַל תְּבַהֵל. Do not hasten.

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.