Ecclesiastes 10:6

6 a fool (is) set in high dignity, and rich men sit beneath.

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 the spirit of him, that hath power, goeth upon thee, forsake thou not thy place (If the spirit of him, who hath power, goeth against thee, do not leave thy position, that is, do not resign thy post); for curing, or taking heed, shall make (the) greatest sins to cease.

5 An evil there is, that I saw under the sun, and going out as by error from the face of the prince; (There is an evil that I saw under the sun, and going out as an error from the leader, or from the ruler;)

6 a fool (is) set in high dignity, and rich men sit beneath.

7 I saw servants on horses, and princes as servants going on the earth. (I saw servants riding on horses, and princes, or leaders, walking on the ground like servants.)

8 He that diggeth a ditch, shall fall into it; and an adder shall bite him, that destroyeth a hedge. (He who diggeth a ditch, shall fall into it; and he who destroyeth a hedge, shall be bitten by a serpent hiding in it.)