Ecclesiastes 10:6

6 Foolish people are given many important jobs. Rich people are given unimportant ones.

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.


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 Suppose a ruler gets very angry with you. If he does, don't quit your job in the palace. Stay calm. That will overcome the effects of your big mistakes.
5 Here's something evil I've seen on this earth. And it's the kind of mistake that rulers make.
6 Foolish people are given many important jobs. Rich people are given unimportant ones.
7 I've seen slaves on horseback. I've also seen princes who were forced to walk as if they were slaves.
8 Anyone who digs a pit might fall into it. Anyone who breaks through a wall might be bitten by a snake.
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