Ecclesiastes 10:3

3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.

Ecclesiastes 10:3 in Other Translations

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.

3 Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.

3 You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!

3 Fools on the road have no sense of direction. The way they walk tells the story: "There goes the fool again!"

3 Yea also, when the fool walketh by the way, his understanding faileth him, and he saith to every one [that] he is a fool.

3 Even when a fool goes walking, he has no sense and shows everyone else that he's a fool.

3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool.

3 A foolish person doesn't have any sense at all. He shows everyone he is foolish. He does it even when he is walking along the road.

Ecclesiastes 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 10:3

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" ^F16; 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, ( Proverbs 6:12-14 ) ; 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, ( Isaiah 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F16 (wbl) "cor ejus", Pagninus, Montanus

Ecclesiastes 10:3 In-Context

1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

3 Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.

4 If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler:

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 13:16; Proverbs 18:2