Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, April 19th, 2025
Holy Saturday
Easter is tomorrow
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

New King James Version

Ecclesiastes 10:6

Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   The Topic Concordance - Evil;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Dignities;   Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 20;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The fool is appointed to great heights,but the rich remain in lowly positions.
Hebrew Names Version
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
King James Version
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
English Standard Version
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
New American Standard Bible
foolishness is set in many exalted places while the rich sit in humble places.
New Century Version
Fools are given important positions while gifted people are given lower ones;
Amplified Bible
folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.
World English Bible
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Follie is set in great excellencie, and the riche set in the lowe place.
Legacy Standard Bible
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.
Berean Standard Bible
Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions.
Contemporary English Version
They honor fools, but dishonor the rich;
Complete Jewish Bible
fools are promoted to high positions, while the rich occupy humble places.
Darby Translation
folly is set in great dignities, but the rich sit in a low place.
Easy-to-Read Version
Fools are given important positions, while the rich get jobs that are not important.
George Lamsa Translation
The fool is set in high and powerful places, and the rich shall sit in a low place.
Good News Translation
Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored.
Lexham English Bible
The fool is set in many high places, but the rich sit in lowly places.
Literal Translation
folly is set in many high positions , and many rich men sit in low situations .
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in yt a foole sytteth in greate dignite, & the rich are sett downe beneth:
American Standard Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Bible in Basic English
The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Folly is set on great heights, and the rich sit in low place.
King James Version (1611)
Folly is set in great dignitie; and the rich sit in lowe place.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
in that a foole sitteth in great dignitie, and the riche are set downe beneath.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The fool has been set in very high places, while rich men would sit in a low one.
English Revised Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and riche men sitte bynethe.
Update Bible Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Webster's Bible Translation
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
New English Translation
Fools are placed in many positions of authority, while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.
New Living Translation
when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.
New Life Bible
Fools are put in many places of honor, while rich men sit in places that are not important.
New Revised Standard
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Folly placed in great dignity, - while, the rich, in a low place, took their seat:
Douay-Rheims Bible
A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.
Revised Standard Version
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
Young's Literal Translation
He hath set the fool in many high places, And the rich in a low place do sit.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

Contextual Overview

4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, Do not leave your post; For conciliation pacifies great offenses. 5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, As an error proceeding from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place. 7 I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants. 8 He who digs a pit will fall into it, And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent. 9 He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, And he who splits wood may be endangered by it. 10 If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success. 11 A serpent may bite when it is not charmed; The babbler is no different.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Folly: Judges 9:14-20, 1 Kings 12:13, 1 Kings 12:14, Esther 3:1, Psalms 12:8, Proverbs 28:12, Proverbs 28:28

dignity: Heb. heights

the rich: James 2:3-5

Reciprocal: Proverbs 14:29 - exalteth Ecclesiastes 10:17 - when 2 Peter 2:10 - to speak

Cross-References

Genesis 9:22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Genesis 10:8
Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
Genesis 10:16
the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite;
1 Chronicles 4:40
And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful; for some Hamites formerly lived there.
Psalms 78:51
And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Psalms 105:23
Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
Psalms 105:27
They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham.
Psalms 106:22
Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Awesome things by the Red Sea.
Isaiah 11:11
It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
Jeremiah 46:9
Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth: The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 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.

q במרומים רבים εν υψεσι μεγαλοις, Sept. "in celsitudinibus amplis", Piscator, Amama, Gejerus; "in sublimitatibus amplis", Cocceius; "in altitudinibus magnis", Rambachius; "in great height", Broughton.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “evil” of Ecclesiastes 10:5 is here specified as that caprice of a king by which an unworthy favorite of low origin is promoted to successive dignities, while a noble person is degraded or neglected.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile