Ecclesiastes 10:20

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. THOUGHT - literally, consciousness. RICH - the great. The language, as applied to earthly princes knowing the "thought," is figurative. But it literally holds good of the King of kings, whose consciousness of every evil thought we should ever realize. BED-CHAMBER - the most secret place (). BIRD OF THE AIR ... - proverbial (cf. ); in a way as marvelous and rapid as if birds, or some winged messenger, carried to the king information of the curse so uttered. In the East superhuman sagacity was attributed to birds....

16-20 The happiness of a land depends on the character of its rulers. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish, and lovers of pleasure. Slothfulness is of ill consequence both to private and public affairs. Money, of itself, will neither feed nor clothe, though it answers the occasions of this present life, as what is to be had, may generally be had for money. But the soul, as it is not redeemed, so it is not maintained with corruptible things, as silver and gold. God sees what men do, and hears what they say in secret; and, when he pleases, brings it to light by strange and unsuspected ways. If there be hazard in secret thoughts and whispers against earthly rulers, what must be the peril from every deed, word, or thought of rebellion against the King of kings, and Lord of lords! He seeth in secret. His ear is ever open. Sinner! curse not THIS KING in thy inmost though...

Verse Ecclesiastes 10:20. _CURSE NOT THE KING_] Do not permit thyself even to think evil of the king; lest thy tongue at some time give vent to thy thoughts, and so thou be chargeable with treason. _FOR A BIRD OF THE AIR SHALL CARRY THE VOICE_] Does he refer here to such fowls as the _carrier pigeon_, which were often used to carry letters under their wings to a great distance, and bring back answers? The _Targum_ turns it curiously: "Do not speak evil of the king in thy conscience, nor in the secret of thy heart, nor in the most hidden place in thy house, curse not a wise man; for _Raziel_ calls daily from heaven upon Mount Horeb, and his voice goes through the whole world; and _Elijah_, the great priest, goes, flying through the air like a winged eagle, and publishes the words which are spoken in secret by all the inhabitan

Foolish rulers, by their weakness, self-indulgence and sloth, bring decay upon the state: nobleness and temperance insure prosperity: yet the subject must not rebel in word or thought against his king. Ecclesiastes 10:16 A CHILD - Rather, young. The word is applied to Rehoboam 2 Chronicles 13:7 at the time of his accession to the throne, when he was 41 years old. EAT IN THE MORNING - A sign of intemperance (compare Isaiah 5:11). Ecclesiastes 10:17...

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 10:1 Section 11. _A little folly mars the effect of wisdom, _and is sure to make itself conspicuous. ECCLESIASTES 10:1 DEAD FLIES CAUSE THE OINTMENT OF THE APOTHECARY TO SEND FORTH A STINKING SAVOR. This is a metaphorical confirmation of the truth enunciated at the end of the last chapter, "One sinner destroyeth much good." It is like the apostle's warning to his converts, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6). The Hebrew expression is literally, "flies of death," which may mean either "dead flies," as in our version and the Vulgate (muse

CURSE NOT THE KING; NO, NOT IN THY THOUGHT,.... Though he is a child, and unskilful in government, gives himself to his passions and pleasures, and neglects the affairs of the kingdom; yet be so far from rebelling against him, and doing him any injury, or speaking ill of him, as not even to wish him any ill; or, within thine own breast, imprecate any evil upon him, but rather pray for him, wish him well, and do everything to promote the welfare of his person and government, and this both for the Lord's sake, and for conscience's sake; and therefore curse him not "in thy conscience" m, as some render it. Jarchi interprets this of God the King of the world; see Job 2:9; and Jerom of Christ; who should not be blasphemed, lest the angels, that go about the earth, should carry it to heaven; AND CURSE NOT THE RICH IN THY BEDCHAMBER; subordinate rulers and magistrates, the king's ministers

CHAPTER 10 This chapter contains a series of proverbs, expressing the wisdom and prudence of the natural man. Here are a number of observations and all show that there is a practical value in wisdom and that it has certain advantages. These maxims are of a different kind than the proverbs in the preceding book. There we are face to face with the wisdom which is from above, here it is the wisdom of man. The name of the Lord is not mentioned once, Similar philosophic utterances can be traced in the literature of other ancient nations. They need no detailed annotations....

ECCLESIASTES 9:17 TO ECCLESIASTES 10:15. EXPERIENCE CRYSTALLISED IN PROVERBS. Ecclesiastes 9:17 to Ecclesiastes 10:3 forms a series of proverbs perhaps due to the sage who worked over the original book. In Ecclesiastes 9:17 follow _mg.;_ the contrast is between the quiet but sure voice of the wise and the noisy pretentious clatter of an arch-fool. With Ecclesiastes 9:18, _cf._...

CURSE NOT THE KING. Revile not. king. IN THY THOUGHT. in thy secret thought: i.e. with all thy [acquired] knowledge. Hebrew. _madda',_. rare word. Occurs only six times. Rendered "thought", here; "knowledge" (2 Chronicles 1:10 2 Chronicles 1:11, 2 Chronicles 1:12.Daniel 1:17; Daniel 1:17); "science" (Daniel 1:4)....

_Curse not the king, no not in thy thought_ The words paint, as from a painful experience, the all-pervading espionage, which, as in the _delatores_of the Roman Empire, associates itself naturally with the police of a despotic government. The wise man must recognise that espionage as a fact and gives his counsel accordingly, but it is not the less clear that the counsel itself conveys, in its grave irony, a condemnation of the practice. It may be noted that the addition of "curse not the rich" makes the irony clearer, and takes the maxim out of the hands of those who would read in it the serious condemnation of all independence of thought and speech in face of the "right divine of kings to govern wrong." For the purposes of the teacher, in the maxims in which the irony of indignation veils itself in the garb of a servile prudence, the rich man and the king stand on the same level. _in th...