קהלת 10:10

Hebrew Modern Translation

אם קהה הברזל והוא לא פנים קלקל וחילים יגבר ויתרון הכשיר חכמה׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
אם קהה הברזל והוא לא פנים קלקל וחילים יגבר ויתרון הכשיר חכמה

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
אִם־קֵהָ֣ה הַבַּרְזֶ֗ל וְהוּא֙ לֹא־פָנִ֣ים קִלְקַ֔ל וַחֲיָלִ֖ים יְגַבֵּ֑ר וְיִתְרֹ֥ון הַכְשֵׁ֖יר חָכְמָֽה ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
אִם־קֵהָה הַבַּרְזֶל וְהוּא לֹא־פָנִים קִלְקַל וַחֲיָלִים יְגַבֵּר וְיִתְרוֹן הַכְשֵׁיר חָכְמָֽה ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wisdom: Ecclesiastes 10:15, Ecclesiastes 9:15-17, Genesis 41:33-39, Exodus 18:19-23, 1 Kings 3:9, 1 Chronicles 12:32, 2 Chronicles 23:4-11, Matthew 10:16, Acts 6:1-9, Acts 15:2-21, Romans 16:19, 1 Corinthians 14:20, Ephesians 5:15-17, Colossians 4:5, James 1:5

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 6:5 - ax head Proverbs 2:11 - General Ecclesiastes 10:2 - but

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If the iron be blunt,.... With which a man cleaves wood: the axe, made of iron:

and he do not whet the edge; with some proper instrument to make it sharper, that it may cut the more easily;

then must he put to more strength; he must give a greater blow, strike the harder, and use more force; and yet it may not be sufficient, or; it may be to no purpose, and he himself may be in the greatest danger of being hurt; as such are who push things with all their might and main, without judgment and discretion;

but wisdom [is] profitable to direct; this is the "excellency" of wisdom, that it puts a man in the right way of doing things, and of doing them right; it directs him to take the best methods, and pursue the best ways and means of doing things, both for his own good and the good of others; and so it is better than strength, Ecclesiastes 9:16.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The figures seem to be taken from the work of building up and pulling down houses. In their general application, they recommend the man who would act wisely to be cautious when taking any step in life which involves risk.

Ecclesiastes 10:8

Breaketh an hedge - Rather: “breaks through a wall.”

Serpent - The habit of snakes is to nestle in a chink of a wall, or among stones (compare Amos 5:19).

Ecclesiastes 10:9

Be endangered - Rather: “cut himself.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 10:10. If the iron be blunt — If the axe have lost its edge, and the owner do not sharpen it, he must apply the more strength to make it cut: but the wisdom that is profitable to direct will teach him, that he should whet his axe, and spare his strength. Thus, without wisdom and understanding we cannot go profitably through the meanest concerns in life.