Ecclesiastes 10:6

6 fools are promoted to high positions, while the rich occupy humble places.

Ecclesiastes 10:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 10:6

Folly is set in great dignity
Or "in great heights" ^F17; in high places of honour and truest; even foolish and wicked men; men of poor extraction, of low life, and of mean abilities and capacities; and, which is worse, men vile and vicious, as Doeg the Edomite, Haman the Amalekite, and others; and the rich sit in low places;
men not only of fortune and estates, and above doing mean and little actions, and so more fit for such high places; but men rich in wisdom and knowledge, of large capacities and of great endowments of mind, and so abundantly qualified for posts in the administration of government; and, above all, men rich in grace, fearing God, and hating coveteousness, as rulers ought to be, ( Exodus 18:21 ) ; and yet these sometimes are neglected, live in obscurity, who might otherwise be very useful in public life. The Targum interprets this and the following verse of the Israelites in exile and poverty among the Gentiles for their sins; so Jarchi.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (Mybr Mymwrmb) (en uqesi megaloiv) , Sept. "in celsitudinibus amplis", Piscator, Amama, Gejerus; "in sublimitatibus amplis", Cocceius; "in altitudinibus magnis", Rambachius; "in great height", Broughton.

Ecclesiastes 10:6 In-Context

4 If a ruler gets angry at you, stay at your post, because calmness soothes great offenses.

5 Another evil I have seen under the sun, the kind of mistake rulers make, is that

6 fools are promoted to high positions, while the rich occupy humble places.

7 I have seen servants riding horses, while princes walk on foot like slaves.

8 He who digs a pit may fall into it; he who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.