the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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World English Bible
Ecclesiastes 10:1
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Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little simpleminded folly is weightier than wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.
A dead flye doth corrupt sweete oyntment, and maketh it to stinke: Euen so oft tymes he that hath ben had in estimation for wysdome and honour, is abhorred because of a litle foolishnesse.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to stink [and] ferment; [so] a little folly is weightier than wisdom [and] honour.
Dead flies putrefy [fn] the perfumer's ointment,And cause it to give off a foul odor;So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
As dead flies cause the perfumer's ointment to stink and ferment; so a little foolishness is heavier than wisdom and than honor.
A few dead flies will make even the best perfume stink. In the same way, a little foolishness can ruin much wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause the oyntment of the Apothecarie to send foorth a stinking sauour: so doeth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisedome and honour.
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.
Deed flyes yt corruppe swete oyntment & make it to styncke, are somthinge more worth then the wy?dome & honor of a foole.
Dead flies in perfume make it stink, And a little foolishness decomposes much wisdom.
Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give off a foul odor; so a little foolishness [in one who is esteemed] outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make the oil of the perfumer give out an evil smell; more valued is a little wisdom than the great glory of the foolish.
Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; [so] does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth an offensive odor: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honor.
One dead fly makes the perfumer's ointment give off a rancid stench, so a little folly can outweigh much wisdom.
A few dead flies in perfume make all of it stink, and a little foolishness outweighs a lot of wisdom.
Just as dead flies make perfumed oil stink, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause to stinke, & putrifie the ointment of the apoticarie: so doeth a litle follie him that is in estimation for wisedome, and for glorie.
LIKE dead flies which make the container of precious ointment stink, so does a great folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumer fetid and putrid; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour.
As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make a perfume maker's oil smell bad. So does acting a little foolish weigh more than wisdom and honor.
Pestilent flies will corrupt a preparation of sweet ointment: and a little wisdom is more precious than great glory of folly.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the perfumer to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour.
As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer's oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a foul odor; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies, cause to stink and ferment, the oil of the perfumer, - More costly than wisdom or honour, is a little folly.
Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly.
Dead flies cause a bad smell and ruin the ointment of the perfumer. So also a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies turn a perfumer's oil rancid, so a little foolishness is more potent than wisdom and honor.
Dead flies can make even perfume stink. In the same way, a little foolishness can spoil wisdom.
Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom.
Dead flies make a perfumer's oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Flies `that dien, leesen the swetnesse of oynement. Litil foli at a tyme is preciousere than wisdom and glorie.
Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off an evil odor; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Dead flies cause a perfumer's perfume To send forth a stink; The precious by reason of wisdom -- By reason of honour -- a little folly!
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Dead flies: Heb. Flies of death
the ointment: Exodus 30:34, Exodus 30:35
a little: 2 Chronicles 19:2, Nehemiah 6:13, Nehemiah 13:26, Matthew 5:13-16, Galatians 2:12-14
Reciprocal: Exodus 5:21 - our savour Exodus 37:29 - the apothecary 2 Samuel 16:23 - both 2 Chronicles 16:14 - the apothecaries' art Nehemiah 3:8 - of the apothecaries Nehemiah 6:11 - would go Ecclesiastes 7:1 - precious Matthew 26:7 - very Galatians 2:2 - which Galatians 2:13 - the other
Cross-References
This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and the heavens.
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God's likeness.
This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Be fruitful, and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it."
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
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 nature poisonous and pernicious; which, when they light upon the most sweet and savoury ointment, give it an ill smell;
[so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour; a good name is like precious ointment, valuable and fragrant; sin, which is folly, is like a dead fly; not only light and mean, and base and worthless, but hurtful and pernicious, deadly, and the cause of death; and what may seem little, a peccadillo, or, however, one single act of sin, may injure the character of a wise and honourable man, and greatly expose him to shame and contempt, and cause him to stink in the nostrils of men, Genesis 36:20; and to be reproached by men, and religion and government to be reproached for his sake. Thus the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah, what a slur did it bring on the character of David, so famous for wisdom and honour, for religion and piety? and the idolatry of Solomon, the wisest of men; Jehoshaphat, that good king, entering into affinity with Ahab; and pious Josiah going to war with the king of Egypt, contrary to the word of the Lord; with many other instances. This teaches how careful men eminent for gifts and grace should be of their words and actions; since the least thing amiss in them is easily discerned, and soon taken notice of, as the least speck in a diamond, or spot in fine linen, clean and white; and there are wicked and envious persons enough watching for their halting, glad to have an occasion against them, and improve everything to the uttermost: this is a caution to wise magistrates, honourable ministers of the word, and eminent professors more especially. The Targum is,
"evil concupiscence, which dwells at the gates of the heart, is as a fly, and is the cause of death in the world; and corrupts a good name, which was before like to anointing oil, perfumed with spices:''
and to the same purpose the Midrash. One of the names of Satan is Beelzebub, the lord of a fly; who, by his temptations, solicits to sin and folly, which produce the effect here mentioned, and therefore to be shunned as a deadly fly in the ointment, Matthew 12:24. Gussetius n renders it,
"that which is precious and worthy of honour "proceeds" from wisdom; and folly "comes" from glory, "worldly glory", in a little time.''
m זבובי מות "muscae mortis", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Amama, Cocceius, Rambachius. n Ebr. Comment. p. 344.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
This verse is by its meaning so closely connected with Ecclesiastes 9:18 that the selection of it for the beginning of a new chapter seems unfortunate.
Apothecary - Rather: a dealer in spices and perfumes (compare Exodus 30:25). The swarms of flies in the East very soon corrupt and destroy any moist unguent or mixture left uncovered, and pollute a dish of food in a few minutes.
So doth ... - literally, more weighty than wisdom, than honor, is a little folly.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER X
Observations on wisdom and folly, 1-3.
Concerning right conduct towards rulers, 4.
Merit depressed, and worthlessness exalted, 5-7.
Of him who digs a pit and removes a landmark, 8, 9.
The use of wisdom and experience, 10.
Of the babbler and the fool, 11-15.
The infant king, 16.
The well-regulated court, 17.
Of slothfulness, 18.
Of feasting, 19.
Speak not evil of the king, 20.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse Ecclesiastes 10:1. Dead flies — Any putrefaction spoils perfume; and so a foolish act ruins the character of him who has the reputation of being wise and good. Alas! alas! in an unguarded moment how many have tarnished the reputation which they were many years in acquiring! Hence, no man can be said to be safe, till he is taken to the paradise of God.
