234 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For man also knoweth not his time,.... Though it is fixed and settled by the Lord, yet times and seasons are kept in his own power, and not known by men; not the time of his death, nor of any calamity and distress coming upon him, nor the proper season and opportunity of doing himself good, and avoiding evil; as the fishes that are taken in an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun,.... Or, "this also I have seen under the sun, even wisdom" (h): besides those things he had, just now observed, he took notice that there was such a thing as wisdom among men; though success did not always attend the wise, the understanding, and skilful; and though there was so much ignorance in men, of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[There was] a little city, and few men within it,.... Which some take to be a piece of history, a real matter of fact; that as the city of Abel, when besieged by Joab, was delivered by the counsel of a wise woman, 2 Samuel 20:15; so there was a city, which Solomon had knowledge of, which was delivered from the siege of a powerful king, by the wise...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now there was found in it a poor wise man,.... Christ, who is man, though not a mere man, but God as well as man; who was so in purpose, covenant, and promise, before his incarnation, since truly and really so; and "poor", as it was foretold he should be, and who became so for the sake of his church and people, Zechariah 9:9; yet "wise", even as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said I, wisdom [is] better than strength,.... Wisdom of mind, even in a poor man, is better than strength of body, even of the, most potent prince and powerful army, as may be concluded from the above instance; since the poor wise man could do more by his wisdom than the great king with his mighty army; who was obliged to break up the siege,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet,.... That is, by some persons and at some times, though not by all persons and always; or they are to be heard, or should be heard, though they seldom be, even the words of wise men that are poor: these are to be heard quietly and patiently, without any tumult and contradiction; or should be heard, being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war,.... And does what they cannot do; of which the wisdom of the poor wise man is a full proof, which delivered the city from a potent prince, when weapons of war could not: see Ecclesiastes 7:10; but one sinner destroyeth much good: his own soul by his sins, and the souls of others by his counsels, example, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Ecclesiastes 10 This chapter treats of the difference between wisdom and folly; and of the preferableness of the one, to the other, especially in civil government: folly is compared to a dead or deadly fly; a little of which as much hurts a wise man's reputation, as that does the most precious ointment, Ecclesiastes 10:1. A wise...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour,.... Such, as Jarchi observes, are in the winter season, which are weak and near to death, and get into precious ointment, prepared after the best manner, where they die, and corrupt and spoil it: or, "flies of deaths" (m); deadly ones, which have something in their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A wise man's heart [is] at his right hand,.... This is not designed to express the direct position and situation of the heart of man, wise or foolish, which is the same in both; and which, according to anatomists, is in the middle of the body, inclining to the left side; but the understanding and wisdom of men, as Aben Ezra observes; which, with a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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" (p); 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,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee,.... The wrath of the civil magistrate, the chief ruler of the land, the sovereign prince or king, to whom men are and should be subject: if his wrath on any occasion breaks out in a furious manner, and, like a storm and tempest, is very blustering and threatening: leave not thy place; at court;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun,.... Which Solomon had observed in the course of his life, practised in some kingdoms and by some princes on earth, under the sun; for there is nothing of the like kind, as after mentioned, done in heaven, above the sun; as an error [which] proceedeth from the ruler; from the supreme ruler of a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Folly is set in great dignity,.... Or "in great heights" (q); 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I have seen servants upon horses,.... Which being scarce in Judea, were only rode upon by princes and great personages, or such as were in affluent circumstances; and therefore it was an unusual and disagreeable sight to see servants upon them, which was a token of their being advanced upon the ruin and destruction of their masters; a reigning...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it,.... This and the three following clauses are proverbial expressions, teaching men to be wise and cautious, lest by their conduct they bring mischief upon themselves; as it often is, the one that digs a pit for another, falls into it himself, as the wise man's father before him had observed, Psalms 7:15; as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith,.... That carries them from the quarry, where they are dug; or takes them from a heap, where they lie; or that attempts to pull them out of a building, where they are put; or removes them from places, where they are set as boundaries and landmarks; all which is troublesome, and by which men get hurt;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If the iron be blunt,.... With which a man cleaves wood: the axe, made of iron: and he do not whet the edge; with some proper instrument to make it sharper, that it may cut the more easily; then must he put to more strength; he must give a greater blow, strike the harder, and use more force; and yet it may not be sufficient, or; it may be to no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment,.... See Jeremiah 8:17. Or rather, "without a whisper" (t); without hissing, or any noise, giving no warning at all: so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "in silence"; some serpents bite, others sting, some both; see Proverbs 23:32; some hiss, others not, as here; and a babbler is no better; a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The words of a wise man's mouth [are] gracious,.... Or "grace" (u). He speaks kind and good things in favour of the characters of men, and not as the babbling detractor: he speaks well of civil magistrates and rulers in the state; of the ministers of the word in the church; and of all his fellow creatures, as far as can with truth be said: and a...