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Saturday, October 26th, 2024
the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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New Living Translation

Ecclesiastes 10:6

when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.

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

Update Bible Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
New Century Version
Fools are given important positions while gifted people are given lower ones;
New English Translation
Fools are placed in many positions of authority, while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.
Webster's Bible Translation
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
World English Bible
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Amplified Bible
folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.
English Standard Version
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and riche men sitte bynethe.
English Revised Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Follie is set in great excellencie, and the riche set in the lowe place.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
Young's Literal Translation
He hath set the fool in many high places, And the rich in a low place do sit.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in yt a foole sytteth in greate dignite, & the rich are sett downe beneth:
New American Standard Bible
foolishness is set in many exalted places while the rich sit in humble places.
New King James Version
Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.
Legacy Standard Bible
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

Contextual Overview

4 If your boss is angry at you, don't quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes. 5 There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. 7 I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants! 8 When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake. 9 When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you. When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax. 10 Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed. 11 If a snake bites before you charm it, what's the use of being a snake charmer?

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
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers.
Genesis 10:8
Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth.
Genesis 10:16
Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
1 Chronicles 4:40
They found lush pastures there, and the land was spacious, quiet, and peaceful. Some of Ham's descendants had been living in that region.
Psalms 78:51
He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family, the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.
Psalms 105:23
Then Israel arrived in Egypt; Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
Psalms 105:27
They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians, and wonders in the land of Ham.
Psalms 106:22
such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
Isaiah 11:11
In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people— those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
Jeremiah 46:9
Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and 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.


 
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