:
1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 2 A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. 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. 4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. 11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. 12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. 16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! 18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. 20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
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[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Ecclesiastes 10:1
Moreover, flies falling into myrrh, and suffocated therein, make both the appearance of that pleasant ointment and the anointing therewith an unseemly thing; and to be mindful of wisdom and of folly together is in no way proper. The wise man, indeed, is his own leader to right actions; but the fool inclines to erring courses, and will never make his folly available as a guide to what is noble. Yea, his thoughts also are vain and full of folly. But if ever a hostile spirit fall upon you, my friend, withstand it courageously, knowing that God is able to propitiate even a mighty multitude of offenses. These also are the deeds of the prince and father of all wickedness: that the fool is set on high, while the man richly gifted with wisdom is humbled; and that the slaves of sin are seen riding on horseback, while men dedicated to God walk on foot in dishonour, the wicked exulting the while. But if any one devises another's hurt, he forgets that he is preparing a snare for himself first and alone. And he who wrecks another's safety, shall fall by the bite of a serpent. But he who removes stones, indeed shall undergo no light labour; and be who cleaves wood shall bear danger with him in his own weapon. And if it chance that the axe spring out of the handle, he who engages in such work shall be put to trouble, gathering for no good and having to put to more of his iniquitous and shortlived strength. The bite of a serpent, again, is stealthy; and the charmers will not soothe the pain, for they are vain. But the good man does good works for himself and for his neighbours alike; while the fool shall sink into destruction through his folly. And when he has once opened his mouth, he begins foolishly and soon comes to an end, exhibiting his senselessness in all. Moreover, it is impossible for man to know anything, or to learn from man either what has been from the beginning, or what shall be in the future. For who shall be the declarer thereof? Besides, the man who knows not to go to the good city, sustains evil in the eyes and in the whole countenance. And I prophesy woes to that city the king of which is a youth, and its rulers gluttons. But I call the good land blessed, the king of which is the son of the free: there those who are entrusted with the power of ruling shall reap what is good in due season. But the sluggard and the idler become scoffers, and make the house decay; and misusing all things for the purposes of their own gluttony, like the ready slaves of money, for a small price they are content to do all that is base and abject. It is also right to obey kings and rulers or potentates, and not to be bitter against them, nor to utter any offensive word against them. For there is ever the risk that what has been spoken in secret may somehow become public. For swift and winged messengers convey all things to Him who alone is King both rich and mighty, discharging therein a service which is at once spiritual and reasonable.
[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Ecclesiastes 10:1
Flies falling into perfume, and drowning, make the appearance and use of that pleasant oil unseemly; so, too, it is improper to have both wisdom and foolishness together in one’s mind.

Source: PARAPHRASE OF ECCLESIASTES 10:1
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on Ecclesiastes 10:1
“Dead flies spoil the whole pot of sweet ointment,” and “when a king hearkens to unrighteous counsel, all the servants under him are wicked.” So one scabbed sheep, if not separated from those that are whole, infects the rest with the same distemper; and a person infected with the plague is to be avoided by all; and a mad dog is dangerous to everyone that it touches. If, therefore, we neglect to separate the transgressor from the church of God, we shall make the “Lord’s house a den of thieves.”

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:3.17
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:1
These flies bring death as well as life. For example there is a divinized fly about which Elijah has said, “Is there no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of the fly, the God of Ekron?” I would be astonished if they really did divinize a fly. Rather he hereby has described the worthlessness of their enterprise.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 291:3
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:1
"Dead
flies putrefy the perfumer's oil; a little folly outweighs wisdom and
honour. "Here he gives an example to illustrate the idea
expressed above, in which he says that many good things can be outweighed by
one fool, since one evil mixed with good in this way will pollute the greater
part of it, just as flies if they die in oil, make it lose its colour and
smell. And since wisdom is often mixed
with cleverness and prudence has wickedness, he teaches that we must search out
wisdom alone, or that it be mixed with the innocence of doves. Let us then be prudent to the good, and
simple in the face of the wicked. And
this is the meaning: let the righteous man have little simplicity on account of
his having too much suffering, and while he keeps his retribution for God, he
seems foolish, and does wickedness at once in vindication under the guise of
prudence. Another meaning could be those
flies that according to Isaiah inhabit a part of the river of Egypt, and
destroy the sweetness of oil and according to one source leave the smell of
their uncleanness [Cfr. Is. 7, 18.]. The chief of these flies is called Beelzebub
of the demons, and is interpreted as either 'the idol of flies' or 'the man of
the flies', or 'he who has flies' [Cfr. Matth. 12, 24.].

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 10:1
Indeed, it is said that Beelzebub means prince of flies; and it has been written of them, “Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the oil.”

Source: TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1:14.3
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Ecclesiastes 10:1
What is called the prince of flies is shown to be prince of the wicked; another text of Scripture refers to him by saying, “Dead flies destroy the perfumer’s sweet ointment.” Who destroy except those who grieve the Holy Spirit either by the crime of infidelity or by the filthy obscenity of unclean deeds, while befouling themselves either with a false faith or an evil way of life?

Source: LETTER 48, TO SCARILA
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:2-3
"A wise
man's mind tends to his right; while a fool's mind tends to his left. Even on the road as the fool walks, he lacks
sense, and proclaims to all that he is a fool.
"And in the
Gospel it is taught that a wise man's left does not know what his right is
doing. And when we are hit on the right
side of the face, we do not show the left cheek to he who hit us, but the other
one. For a wise man does not have a left
side in him, but is in fact completely the right side. And when the Saviour comes to judge us, the
lambs will stand on the right, and the goats on the left. It is written in the prophets that "the
Lord knows the ways to the right, which are wrong, and actually lead to the
left." [Prov. 4, 27.]. Therefore he who is wise always thinks about
the future, because it leads him to the right.
But he who is foolish always thinks of the present, because it is set in
the left. What follows has also been
said by the philosopher poet, who says, "the right leads to the walls of
the lower world, this is our path to Elysium, but the left is for the
wicked. That gives out punishments and
sends people down to the nether regions" [Virg. Aen. 6, 541/543.]. Firmianus of our time in the famous work of
his Institute recalls the passage about left and right, and argues that this is
about virtues and about vices. [Lactant. Divin. Instit. VI, 3,6-CSEL 19, p.486, 166sqq.] And we shouldn't think that this is contrary
to that passage, which says, "do not go to the right, nor to the
left" [Prov. 4, 27.]. In the first passage the right is taken to
mean good; but in the second it is not just right but also the decline to the
right. We should not know more than we
need to know, since virtues are in the middle and all excess in a vice. In the following verse though he says,
"but on the path that the fool walks, his heart is in need", and he
says: "all is foolishness" or "all are fools". This is the meaning: A fool hopes that all
others sin as he himself sins, and judges all others by his own standards. Then Symmachus has interpreted it in this
way: but when the fool walks along the road, he supposes that all are stupid as
he is. But the Septuagint has another
meaning, which says, 'all things which he thinks are foolish, are the most
vain'.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Ecclesiastes 10:4
He who sins gives place to the devil, taking no heed of him who said, “Do not give place to the devil,” or to Ecclesiastes, “If the spirit of him that has power ascends upon you, leave not your place.” Let us, then, who are in the Lord and who, as much as we are able, observe closely his wonders, so draw joy to our hearts from the contemplation of them.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 15:1 (PSALM 32)
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Ecclesiastes 10:4
You alone are not the source of the trouble, but there is also one who instigates you, the accursed devil. He makes his suggestions to all, but he does not prevail by force over those who do not give way to him. Therefore Ecclesiastes says, “Should the anger of the ruler burst upon you, forsake not your place.” If you shut your door, you will be out of his reach and he will not harm you. But if you are so careless as to admit the lustful thought, reflection will cause it to strike roots within you; it will capture your mind and drag you down into an abyss of sins.

Source: Catechetical Lecture 2:3
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ecclesiastes 10:4
Do not say of your God, “He is grievous to me,” or of your position, “It is useless to me,” for it is written, “Leave not your place.” The devil wishes to take it from you, he wishes to carry you away, for he is jealous of your hope and jealous of your task.

Source: LETTER 58, TO HIS CLERGY
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:4
“If the anger of the ruler rises against you”—if he seems to have power over you, it is only because you have subjected yourself to him. For as “sin reigns in the mortal bodies” of those who want to “obey their passions,” and as someone is ruled over if he is ruled by mammon and has focused his thinking on the desire for money, so he [the ruler] has power over the one who subjects himself as slave.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 294:2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:4
We also read in Ecclesiastes, “If the spirit of him that has power, ascend upon your heart, leave not your place.” From this it is clearly evident that we have committed a sin if we surrender our place to him who ascends upon us and if we have not cast down headlong the enemy ascending upon the walls. However, it seems to me that when you call down upon the heads of your brothers, that is to say, upon your slanderers, eternal fires with the devil, you are not so much dashing your brothers to the ground as you are elevating the devil, since he is to be punished in the same fires as Christians.

Source: Against Rufinus 2.7
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:4
"If the
anger of a ruler flares up against you, do not leave your place, for defence
appeases great offences. "Now the Scripture mentions the chief of that
world, the creator of the darkness and he who toils for the sons of despair,
whom the apostle also recalls. [Cfr. Eph. 2, 2; 6, 12.] For if he rises in our heart and the spirit
of bad thoughts is wounded, we ought not to give way, but fight against the
worst thoughts and free ourselves from the greatest sins, so that we do not
fill our work with that thought, since it is one thing in thought, another in
the deed of sinning. Reference to this
great sin can also be found in the Psalm: "if they had not conquered me, I
would be clean and purified from the greatest crime" [Ps. 18, 4.]. Symmachus translates the Hebrew word "marphe "as all the others do: "iama", that is, 'cleanliness' or
'neatness'. He has interpreted the
meaning too, and he says, "if the spirit of a ruler defeats you, do not
move from your place; since virtue wins over the greatest sin". That is, if the devil entices your mind and
incites you to lust, do not follow the thought of sin and flattering desire,
but stand firm and fast and extinguish the flame of desire with the cold of
chastity. My Hebrew tutor suspected
certain things about this passage for a reason I do not know. If you take any high-up position in the
world, or are appointed a post higher than the other people, do not let go of
your former works and start to forget your former virtues, or cease from your
previous work, because the cure for sins is born out of doing good things, and
not from pompous and overflowing rank.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:5-7
"There
is an evil that I have observed in the world as if it were an error proceeding
from the ruler: folly is placed on lofty heights, while rich men sit in low
places. I have seen slaves on horses and
nobles walking on foot like slaves. "Where we read "as if it were an error
proceeding from the ruler" Aquila, Theodotion and the Septuagint have
interpreted this as "as if not of their own will", that is "hos akousian", from the face of the
ruler. Symmachus agrees with this,
saying, "the fool is placed in great elevation, but humble riches remain
fixed." And he remembers that he has
seen this wickedness in this time, because the judgement of God seems to be
unjust. And it happens either through
not knowing, or without his will, that either in the rulers of the world, or in
the leadership of the Church, often these men, who are rich in words and
wisdom, rich too in good deeds, remain ignoble and foolish holding a position
in the Church. But this happens in front
of his face, he who has power in that time, while he oppresses the powerful and
learned men, and he does not let them come out in public, but those whom he
knows to be foolish in the Church he makes greater, so that the blind are led
by the blind into pitfalls. The
following verse also has this meaning: "I have seen slaves on horses and
nobles walking on foot like slaves".
Because these men are slaves of vices and sins, or are so humble, that
they are thought to be slaves by other men, they are suddenly inflated by the
devil's pompousness, and they wear out the public roads with their ponies [Cfr. Horat. Epod. IV, 14.]. And each noble or wise man that is oppressed
by poverty takes the road and occupation of slaves. The Hebrew seems to say that ignorance seems
to leave the face of the powerful and rulers.
He explains this as God, because men think that in this inequality of
matter He is not acting justly, and judging as is correct. More precisely, some men believe as their
predecessors do that there must be judgement so that He himself is powerful, a
topic that is mentioned before these verses: if a ruler comes up against you,
do not give way. Should we not be sad
therefore if we seem to be humble in this world, and know from the face of the
devil, that the foolish are raised and the rich thrown down? If we know that
slaves have the ranks of their masters and rulers do the work of their
slaves. Remember though that this horse
is seen in a good context, just as in the verse, which says, "and riding
will be your salvation". [Hab. 3, 8.]

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:7
Those who have come from paganism to the gospel—those who were slaves of desire, slaves of sin, slaves of the devil and of death—have become riders on horseback. About them it is said that, in the future, they will ride on divine words like on horses.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 299:24
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ecclesiastes 10:7
By the name horse is understood temporal dignity, as Solomon witnesses, who says, “I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” For everyone who sins is the servant of sin, and servants are upon horses when sinners are elated with the dignities of the present life.

Source: MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 6:31.43
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 10:8
The Jews in their imaginings, and in their agreeing to act unjustly against the Lord, forgot that they were bringing wrath upon themselves. Therefore does the Word lament for them saying, “Why do the people exalt themselves, and the nations imagine vain things?” For vain indeed was the imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the Life, and devising unreasonable things against the Word of the Father. For who that looks upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say, “Woe unto them, for they have imagined an evil imagination, saying against their own soul, let us bind the righteous man, because he is not pleasing to us.” And full well it is so, my brethren; for when they erred concerning the Scriptures, they knew not that “he who digs a pit for his neighbor falls into it; and he who destroys a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” And if they had not turned their faces from the Lord, they would have feared what was written before in the divine Psalms: “The heathen are caught in the pit which they made; in the snare which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known when executing judgments: by the works of his hands is the sinner taken.”

Source: FESTAL LETTERS 11:5
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:8
"He who
digs a pit will fall into it, and he who breaks down a wall will be bitten by a
snake. "This is partly unambiguous and partly to be understood in
a more complicated way. Since elsewhere
Solomon also says, "he that sets a trap will be caught in it" [Eccli. 27, 29.]. And in the seventh Psalm: "he laid out a
pond and dug it out, and then he fell into the hole he had made" [Ps. 7, 16.]. But the wall and the fence as well are the
doctrines of the Church, and the institution set up by the apostles and
prophets. And whoever knocks them down
or wants them to come to an end is bitten by a snake where he is not looking. Amos writes about this snake: "if he
goes down into the underworld, I will order a snake to kill him" [Am. 9, 3.].

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 10:8
Scripture says that there are deep things that must not under any circumstances be looked into, and the one who searches in a hedge will be bitten by a snake.

Source: LETTER 12:10
[AD 445] Vincent of Lérins on Ecclesiastes 10:8
Once they begin not only to use the divine expressions but also to explain them, not only to present them but also to interpret them, then people will realize how bitter, how sharp, how fierce they are. Then will the poisonous breath of their new ideas be exhaled, then will profane novelties appear in the open, then will you see that “the hedge is broken,” that the ancient bounds have been passed, that the dogma of the church is lacerated, that the Catholic faith is harmed.

Source: COMMONITORIES 25
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:9
"He who
moves about stones will be hurt by them; he who splits logs will be endangered
by them. "In Zechariah sacred stones are moved about
the earth. [Cfr. Zach. 9, 16.] For they do not stay firm in their place, but
revolve, and always inclining to other places, they hasten to move away. The Saviour also teaches about these living
stones in the city of the Apocalypse [Cfr. Apoc. 21, 18-27.],
and the apostle doesn't forget to mention the building of the Church. Therefore if anyone doing wrong by their
heresy, should take away those stones from the building of the Church, then he
will suffer torture afterwards. Aquila
and Symmachus write about this man, and where we have 'he who moves about stones,
will suffer from them', both write, "he who moves stones, will be wounded
by them". But because the Scripture
says very clearly, "he who moves about stones", or 'moves stones', he
does not add 'good' or 'bad'. Moreover
and to the contrary it must be understood, that the man of the Church seemingly
a bishop and elder, (if we are taking this according to the mandate of
Leviticus), took a stone away from the house of lepers, and was obliterated in
dust and ashes. [Cfr. Lev. 14, 45.] And he will suffer for this himself, because
he was forced to take away a stone from the Church of Christ and saying,
(according to the apostle), "to weep with the weeping, to mourn with the
mourners" [Rom. 12, 15.],
and "who is weak, and I burn not?" [II Cor. 11, 29.]. Also cutting wood, he will be endangered by
it. Heretics are non-fruit-bearing wood,
and copse that do not bear fruit.
Pertaining to this too is that we must not plant a glade in the house of
God, and leafy openings, that is arbours of such sounding words are scorned. However learned and wise a man may be
therefore who chops this wood with the sword of speech, he will be endangered
by it, unless he diligently pays attention.
This is similar to what follows, this will happen, "if iron is
shaped" and its appearance is changed.
This means that if his argument is found to be weaker, or if he does not
have a point, in which each argument is well balanced, then the argument of his
heart is blunt. Then the strength of
wickedness will come upon him and fortify him.
For this is what the Septuagint interprets this passage to mean: it
says, "and he is fortified by strength, and he will begin to have more
wisdom than strength; his wisdom will become strong, and superfluous, but it
will not help him who possesses it.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:10
"If a
blade is blunt and one has not sharpened the edge, nevertheless it strengthens
the warriors. Wisdom is a more powerful
skill. "If someone, he says, has seen himself lose knowledge of
the Scriptures through negligence, and the shrewdness of his intelligence has
been blunted, nonetheless he remains disturbed, and he would be just as he had
been when he started. But it happens,
meanwhile, that he that has a little knowledge is led into pride and stops
learning and reading, and little by little takes away from that which now adds
nothing to him. Thus the heart of the
pupil remains empty, and a blade that has been sharpened is made blunt. For rest and laziness are like a kind of rust
of wisdom. So then if anyone has
suffered this, let him not despair the remedy for his health, but let him go to
his teacher and be instructed again by him, and then after much toil and hard
work, and a great deal of much sweat, he will be able to regain that wisdom
that he had lost. And this is what is
said in the Hebrew more to the point: he will be strengthened by might, that
is, by toil, by sweat, by hard work, and daily reading, then wisdom will follow
suit, and his toil will come to an end, so that he might be able to receive
wisdom once more.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:11
The snake is powerful, when it spreads its poison secretly. In the one who is tricked, an impression is created that he has received something good which in reality is not good. The teacher who charms should not do so in a superflous way but in a way that accomplishes something. Then he shows his [student] the error, the guile of his seducer.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 304:20
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:11
"If the
snake bites because it has not been charmed, then there is no advantage to the
charmer's art. "The meaning of this is very apparent: the
serpent and the disparager are of the same ilk.
For just as the hidden snake bites and injects its poison, so too the
other disparages in private, and he pours out the poison of his heart against
his brother, and there will be nothing between him and the serpent. For although the tongue of man was created
for benediction and encouragement of others, the disparager makes it equal to
that of the serpent, while he uses his virtues to bad purposes. Another meaning of this is, that if the
serpent devil should bite anyone secretly, and he doesn't know it, he infects
him with the poison of sin; and if he who has been struck keeps silent, and
does not repent, and does not want to confess his wound to his teacher and
brother, they who want to encourage him and see to it that he gets better, are
not able to be of any use to him. For if
an ill man is ashamed to confess his wound to a doctor, the doctor will not be
able to cure what he does not know exists.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:11
“If a snake bites without hissing,” Ecclesiastes says, “there is no advantage for the charmer,” showing that the bite of a snake in silence is dangerous. This means that if a suggestion or thought springing from the devil is not by means of confession shown to some charmer (I mean some spiritually minded person who knows how to heal the wound at once by charms from the Scripture and how to extract the deadly poison of the snake from the heart), it will be impossible to help the sufferer who is already in danger and will no doubt die.

Source: CONFERENCE 2:9
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:11
These silent bites are alone in fending off the medicine of the wise people. This deadly menace is so utterly incurable that it is worsened by soothings, inflamed by serious treatment, and irritated by gifts.

Source: CONFERENCE 18:16
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:12
"The
words of a wise man win favour, but a fool's lips devour him. "Foolishness, if it is happy in its rusticity, will know
less evil. But now he wages war against
wisdom, and whatever prudence he sees in a learned man, he does not take to be
incited by enthusiasm. For a wise man
speaks words of knowledge, words of thanks, which are of use to those that hear
them, but the lips of a fool do not receive what is said, as it is said; on the
contrary they try to trip up a wise man and make him similar to a fool. And in fact a wise man is taught when a
foolish man speaks in his ear, and you could almost say that his words are lost
in the deep swell. Therefore he is
blessed, who speaks in the ear of a wise man.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:13-14
"His
talk begins as foolishness and ends as evil madness. The fool prates on and on, but man does not
know what will be; and who can tell him what will be after him? "So far the discussion has been about the fool, whose
lips teach the wise man, or according to another interpretation, his lips make
himself corrupt. The beginning and the
end of his speech are foolishness and evil madness; or as Symmachus has
translated it, confusion, or some kind of inconsistency of words. For while he doesn't keep to the one opinion,
he thinks he can escape sin in the many arguments he speaks at the same
time. But he does not remember all those
who have gone before him, and does not know what will happen after him, and so
is confused in ignorance and the darkness, promising himself false knowledge;
by this he thinks that he is wise, and that he is learned, if he uses lots of
words. This can be taken to refer to the
heretics, who do not heed the words of wise men, but continue to argue
different sides so they intertwine the beginning and end of their speech in
vanity, confusion, and madness; and though they know nothing, they speak more
than they know.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 10:13
The church was admonished to shun the beginning of sin. Which is that beginning of sin, like the head of a serpent? The beginning of all sin is pride.

Source: EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 74:13
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:15
By “town” he does not mean a place but the deed according to the law. The fool does “not even know the way to town.” But the one who says, “Even if we live on earth, our citizenship is in heaven,” “knows the way to the town” in which he is a true citizen. And further: “As we have heard, so we have received in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 308:1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:15
"The
toil of fools exhausts them, as one who does not know the way to town. "Join these lines with the verse above; either to those
verses that speak in general about fools, who know not God, or in particular to
that one which argues about heretics.
Read in Plato for example: unravel the tricks of Aristotle, read Zeno
and Carneas more diligently, and you will prove to be true what is written
here: the toil of fools exhausts them.
For they seek the truth in fact with all their enthusiasm, but since
they have no leader or anyone to lead the way on their journey, they are led by
their human instincts to think that they can understand wisdom, and thus they
do not arrive at the town; the Psalm speaks of this too: "Lord, you will
scatter their image in your town" [Ps. 72, 20.]. For the Lord will scatter in the town all
shadows and strange appearances or characters, in which they clothe themselves
in their many doctrines. In another
place the Psalm says of this: "the force of a river causes the city of God
to rejoice" [Ps. 45, 5.]. And in the Gospel: "a town built on a
mountain cannot be hidden" [Matth. 5, 14.]. And in Isaiah: "I am a strong city, a
city which is attacked" [Is. 27, 3. (According to the LXX.)]. And all the wise men and heretics of this
world are trying to attack this city of truth and wisdom, although it is strong
and fortified. And that which I have
said about philosophers can also be said of heretics, that they toil in vain,
and are exhausted in their enthusiasm for the Scriptures, when they wander in
the desert and are not able to find the town.
The Psalmist also mentions their madness too, saying, "they
wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell
in." [Ps. 107, 4.]

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:15
Thus, having turned aside from the royal path, they are unable to get to that metropolis to which our journeying must ever and unswervingly be directed. Ecclesiastes expressed this quite distinctly when he said, “The toil of fools afflicts those who do not know how to go to the city”—namely, to “that heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.”
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:15
And thus wandering from the king’s highway, they can never arrive at that metropolis, to which our course should ever be directed without swerving. And this Ecclesiastes has distinctly expressed saying: “The labor of fools wearies those who do not know how to go to the city”—namely, to that “heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.”

Source: CONFERENCE 24:24
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
"Woe to
you, O land, whose king acts as an adolescent, and whose ministers dine in the
morning. Happy are you, O land, whose
king is a man of dignity, and whose ministers dine at the proper time- in
strength and not in drunkenness. "He seems in fact here to reprove the young
king and to condemn indulgent judges, which in another place has been called
wisdom that is weakened by age, and even in other places mature age which is
made frail by pleasure. On the other
hand he seems to approve the king with good morals, who is appointed
easily. He also seems to praise those
judges who nonetheless prefer pleasure to the business of the town, but after
much toil and the running of the township, are forced to eat as if by
necessity. But I find more holy what
seems to lie hidden in the text, because those who depart from old laws and
despise the precepts of their ageing fathers, are called young men in the
scripture; they who do not heed the commandments of God, and desire to change
the laws of mankind. The Lord of Israel
threatens in Isaiah [Cfr. Is. 8, 1-7.],
because the people did not want the waters of Shiloah that flows in silence,
and averted the ancient stream, choosing for themselves the rivers of Samaria,
and the surges of Damascus. "And I
will give", he says, "children to be their princes, and babes shall
rule over them" [Is. 3, 4.]. Read also Daniel and you will find the old
God of Days. [Cfr. Dan. 7, 9 sqq.] Or read the Apocalypse of John where the head
of the Saviour is said to be white and snowy, and you will find it to be like
white wool. Look at Jeremiah too because
he was wise and his hair was purported to be white because of his wisdom, and
he is forbidden to call himself a young man [Cfr. Ier. 1, 7.]. Woe to the land therefore whose king is the
devil, who always desirous of new things, and even rebels against its parent in
the case of Abessalon, who regards as judges and leaders those, who love the
pleasures of the world, and who say before the day of death comes, "let us
eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" [Is. 22, 13.]. For the other part is the blessed land of the
Church whose king, Christ, is the son of all peoples. He is descended from Abraham and Isaac, and
Jacob, also from the stock of all the prophets and saints, for whom sin was not
conquered. On account of this they were
indeed children. Born of these was the
virgin, more freely Saint Mary, who had no offspring, no seed from her flank,
but all of her fruit burst out in flower, speaking in the Song of Songs:
"I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valley" [Cant. 2, 1.]. His leaders too are apostles and all are
saintly, who see their king as the son of all men, the son of a free woman; not
of the slave woman Agar, but born of Sara in freedom. And they do not eat in the morning, or
quickly. For they do not seek enjoyment
in their time, but eat in their time, and when the time for retribution will
come, they will eat in strength, and not in disorder. Every good thing of this world is a disorder,
but an everlasting strength in the future.
Just this is said in Isaiah: "look at those who serve me, they will
eat; but you will go hungry." [Is. 65, 13.] And again, "look at those who serve me,
they will be happy; but you will shamed." [Is. 65, 14.]

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on Ecclesiastes 10:16
Our intellect is not brought into submission unless our body is subject to it. The kingship of the intellect is the crucifixion of the body. The intellect is not subject to God unless the free will is subject to reason. It is hard to convey anything sublime to one who is still a beginner, and an infant in stature. “Woe to thee, O city, when thy king is a child!”

Source: ASCETICAL HOMILIES 36
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 10:17
The passage from this book which I gladly quote is one touching the two cities and their kings, the devil and Christ: “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a youth, and when the princes eat in the morning. Blessed is the land whose king is the son of freeborn parents and whose princes eat in due season, in strength and not in confusion.” Here, the devil is spoken of as a “youth” because of the foolishness, pride, rashness, unruliness, and other faults usually rampant at that age; and Christ is spoken of as the “son of freeborn parents” because he descended in the flesh from those holy patriarchs who were citizens of the free city. The princes of the devil’s city “eat in the morning,” that is, before the proper time—in the sense that, being overeager to attain perfect happiness at once in the society of this present world, they are unwilling to await the only true happiness which will come in due time in the world to come. But the princes of the city of Christ await in patience the time of a blessedness which is sure to be theirs. The conclusion, “in strength and not in confusion,” means that their hope will not cheat them.

Source: City of God 17.20
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:18
Our house, which was built to human stature, along with the habitation we shall have in heaven, will collapse if we are lazy and hesitant to do good works. And every floor that depends upon a rafter for support will crush its inhabitant when it falls to the ground. It is when the assistance of our hands and our strength is lacking that all the storm clouds and violent winds from above burst forth upon us. Moreover, because we translated this verse in the singular, it is better to understand it as pertaining to the church, all of whose sublimity will be ruined through the negligence of its leaders. And where the roof is thought to be strong, there will be found the enticements of wickedness.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 10:18
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:18
"Through
slothfulness the ceiling sags, and through idleness of the hands the house leaks." Our
house, which is held up by the condition of mankind, even that abode that we
have in heaven, sags if we are lazy and slow to do good work. And every ceiling, which is supposed to hold
the roof up high, falls to the ground and crushes its inhabitants. And when the help of hands and virtues has
eventually gone numb a great storm of all tempests and rain clouds will fall
down upon us from above. More precisely,
although we have interpreted this with regard to one man, it can be better
understood with bearing to the Church, because its stature is brought down by
the neglect of its principate. There in
the Church we find the attractions of sins, where the roof is said to be
virtue.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:18
A house never suddenly collapses except because of some old weakness in the foundation or because of extended disregard by its tenants. Thus the structure of the roof is eventually destroyed by what had begun as a tiny leak but into which, through long neglect, a stormy tempest of rain pours like a river, once a large breach has been made. For “by slothfulness a dwelling will be brought low, and through lazy hands a house will leak.”
[AD 435] John Cassian on Ecclesiastes 10:18
No house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some long-standing flaw in the foundation or when by long-continued neglect of its inhabitants, what was at first only a little drip breaks through and the protecting walls are gradually ruined. In consequence of long-standing neglect the gap becomes larger and the walls break away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river. For “by slothfulness a building is brought low, and through lazy hands the house shall leak.”

Source: CONFERENCE 6:17
[AD 749] John Damascene on Ecclesiastes 10:18
But as long as we are among the living, while the foundation of our true faith continues unshattered, even if somewhat of the outer roofwork or inner building be disabled, it is allowed to renew by repentance the part rotted by sins.

Source: BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 11:94
[AD 380] Oresiesis-Heru-sa Ast on Ecclesiastes 10:19
Let each one do his work without chatting or shouting. Let absolutely no one laugh, so that there will not apply to us the reproach of the Scriptures, “They make bread for laughter.” If someone needs to ask his neighbor a question, he must do so quietly, without shouting.
[AD 387] Horsiesios on Ecclesiastes 10:19
Let each one do his work without chatting or shouting. Let absolutely no one laugh, so that there will not apply to us the reproach of the Scriptures, “They make bread for laughter.” If someone needs to ask his neighbor a question, he must do so quietly, without shouting.

Source: REGULATIONS 40
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:19
"A feast
is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, but money answers
everything. "I think that what follows relates to the
preceding verses. For with regard to the
sloth and the indolence of teachers the Church is lowered, and its roof is made
to fall, and its timbers leak, as we have shown above. Therefore here he is speaking of the
self-same teachers. And he has been seen
to accuse them, asking why they remain silent and do not make use of their duty
as teacher, (that is both for bishops and elders in the Church), saying that
they neither work on their speaking nor doctrine, the same that even Titus
admonishes [Cfr Tit. 1, 5.],
and is taught by Timothy [Cfr. I Tim. 4, 14.],
so that one does not forget the grace of God, which is bestowed upon a great
man. But in this respect they see
themselves as elders and bishops, so that they receive an allowance, and many
teachers ask for a two-fold glory, which is owed in fact to those who work on
their speaking and doctrines. But now he
takes the other side and accuses those who even speak in the Church and teach
the congregation, but they teach the people that which they like to hear,
because he flatters the sinner in his crime and incites the listeners to
applaud. For surely when such a teacher
is giving a lascivious speech in the Church, does he not promise the blessing
and realm of heaven to the crowd, as it will seem to you that his laughter
makes bread, and he mixes wine with the happiness of those who drink? Or as those who teach and seek riches, food,
and wealth through the promised delights.
Or the bread of the Church, which is the bread of mourners, and not of
those who laugh, because those who weep are blessed, for they will laugh, and
will have joy in their happiness. He
also goes on to say: money or silver answers everything, and this must be taken
as two-fold: either that those learned men become rich after their praise, and
take their place at the head of the people, or indeed, since money is always
taken in return for a speech: for "the words of the LORD are pure words:
as silver extracted in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." [Ps. 12, 6.] He asserts this because the ignoble crowd is
always moved easily by eloquence and speeches, which are composed of a great
foliage of words. Differently: those
who have free-will and are forbidden to mourn and fast, make bread in their
laughter. Isaac gets his name from this
bread as well, and in the happiness of drinking they prepare wine. And so every holy man, who is teacher of the
Church, as Christ commanded, makes bread in his laughter and happiness, and hands
out cups of wine in his joy. Money also,
which answers everything, is given out as five, and two and one talent for the
head of the family in the Gospel [Cfr. Matth. 25, 15-30.]. And ten coins which are thought to be for
slaves in business.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 10:20
If then those things, which are spoken in secret against you that are kings, are not hidden, is it not incredible that I should have spoken against you in the presence of a king and of so many bystanders?

Source: DEFENSE BEFORE CONSTANTIUS 3
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 10:20
Generally one is advised not to say bad things about others. A curse is nothing else but a wish for something bad.…The word cautions against slander. Do not even have the intention, he says, of slandering someone—let alone actually slandering someone. Look at how great an evil this is: “Do not love speaking ill [of anyone], lest you be cut off.” Thus, he says the following: Not even in your thoughts, not even in your consciousness, should you “curse the king.” But if one is not supposed to curse anyone, the king should be cursed even less.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 313:13
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 10:20
"Even in
your thoughts do not curse a king, and in your bed-chamber do not curse the
rich, for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may
betray the matter. "This simple example teaches the listeners
that we should not be overpowered by anger and fury, and curse and blame kings
and leaders, since it seems to happen against one's wish, that what we curse is
made known. And we run into danger by
the inability to hold our tongue. He
also says, "a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged
creature may betray the matter", this is to be understood as a
exaggeration, just as we are accustomed to saying, 'walls have ears to hear
those things, which we think are said in private'. But it is better to hear a teaching in this
way, so that we know that we have a commandment to follow, not only that
nothing should be spoken rashly against Christ, but also in the secret places
of our heart, however we are troubled by our many problems, nothing should be
blasphemed, nothing thought which is impious.
And since we owe love, that we have for Christ, the next part says,
"love the Lord your God," and even " your nearest" and
"yourself". [Matth. 22, 37.40.] He even orders this, so that afterwards we do
not easily take the king away from the holy, and so that we do not slander by
the wickedness of our tongue those who are rich in knowledge, wisdom and
virtues, for they are the angels who fly around the earth and are
administrators of the spirit. They say
in Zechariah, "we have traversed the earth and look all the world is inhabited
and quiet" [Zach. 1, 11.]. And just like birds, our words and thoughts
are carried to heaven. And whatever we
think in secret, is not hidden from God's knowledge.

<h2>CHAPTER 11</h2>

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes