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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

Ecclesiastes 10:6

A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.

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 King James Version
Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place.
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:
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 him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease. 5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince: 6 A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath. 7 I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants. 8 He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them. 10 If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom. 11 If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly.

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
Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that his father’s nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.
Genesis 10:8
Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.
Genesis 10:16
And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite.
1 Chronicles 4:40
And they found fat pastures, and very good, and a country spacious, and quiet, and fruitful, in which some of the race of Cham had dwelt before.
Psalms 78:51
(77-51) And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.
Psalms 105:23
(104-23) And Israel went into Egypt: and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Cham.
Psalms 105:27
(104-27) He gave them power to shew them signs, and his wonders in the land of Cham.
Psalms 106:22
(105-22) Wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the Red Sea.
Isaiah 11:11
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea.
Jeremiah 46:9
Get ye up on horses, and glory in chariots, and let the valiant men come forth, the Ethiopians, and the Libyans that hold the shield, and the Lydians that take, and shoot arrows.

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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