Ecclesiastes 10:13

Ecclesiastes 10:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
• New International Version (NIV)At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness—
• English Standard Version (ESV)The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The words of his mouth begin with foolishness, And the end of his talk is raving madness.

Context of Ecclesiastes 10:13

11Someone may have power over dangerous snakes. But that will not help him if the snake bites him first. 12People respect a wise person, because of the things that he says. But the words of a fool will destroy him. When a fool starts to speak, he says silly things. When he finishes, he is saying crazy things that are wicked. 14But he never stops talking. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. Nobody can tell us what will happen after we die. 15When a fool does any work, he quickly becomes tired. He is so tired that he forgets the way to town.

Ecclesiastes 10:13 word by word

תְּחִלַּ֥ת דִּבְרֵי־פִ֖יהוּ סִכְל֑וּת וְאַחֲרִ֣ית פִּ֔יהוּ הוֹלֵל֖וּת רָעָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The beginningתְּחִלָּהtechillâh · beginningH8462
• of the wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
• of his mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• foolishnessסִכְלוּתsiklûth ώiklûth · follyH5531
• and the endאַחֲרִית'achărîyth · endH319
• of his talkפֶּהpeh · lip: wordH6310
• mischievousרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• madnessהוֹלֵלוּתhôlêlûth · madnessH1948

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 10:13

• Judges 14:15On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, ‘Find a way to make your husband tell you the answer. If you do not, we will use fire to destroy your father's house, with you inside it! Did you ask us to come to your marriage party to make us poor?’
• 1 Samuel 20:26Saul did not say anything about it that day. He thought, ‘Perhaps something has happened to David that has made him unclean. I am sure that is why he is not here.’
• 1 Samuel 22:7Saul said to his officers, ‘Listen to me, you men of Benjamin's tribe. Do you really think that this son of Jesse will give fields and vineyards to all of you? Will he make you all officers and leaders in his army? No!
• 1 Samuel 25:10Nabal answered David's young men, ‘Who is this David? Do I know this son of Jesse? Many servants run away from their masters these days.
• 2 Samuel 19:41Then all the men of Israel's tribes came to the king. They complained, ‘Why did our brothers, the men of Judah's tribe, take you for themselves? Why were they the only people who could help the king to cross the Jordan River? They helped you and your family and your soldiers to cross, and we had no part in it.’
• 2 Samuel 20:1There was a wicked man there in Gilgal. His name was Sheba. He was Bicri's son, who belonged to Benjamin's tribe. He made a loud noise with a trumpet and then he shouted, ‘Israelite people, we have nothing to do with Jesse's son, David! We do not belong to his kingdom! So we should all return to our homes.’
• 2 Kings 6:27The king replied, ‘Why do you ask me? Only the Lord can help you. I have no wheat or wine to give you.’
• Proverbs 29:9If a wise person accuses a foolish person in court, there will be no agreement. The fool will only laugh or he will become angry.
• Matthew 2:7Then Herod secretly told the wise men to come to meet with him. They told him the time that the star had appeared.
• Luke 6:2Some of the Pharisees were walking with them. They said, ‘You should not be doing that on our day of rest. It is against God's Law.’
• Luke 11:38Jesus did not wash his hands before he ate the meal. This surprised the Pharisee.
• John 12:10So the leaders of the priests decided to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus too.
• Acts 5:28‘We told you that you must not teach people any more with the authority of Jesus. But now look at what you have done! Now people everywhere in Jerusalem have heard your teaching. You also want people to think that we are guilty for the death of Jesus.’
• Acts 6:9But some men spoke against Stephen. They did not agree with what he taught people. These men were from one of the Jewish meeting places in Jerusalem. People called them, ‘The Group of Free Men’. These men were Jews from the cities called Cyrene and Alexandria. Some of them were from towns in Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen.
• Acts 7:54The group of Jewish leaders listened to Stephen. What he said made them very angry. They bit their teeth together because they were so angry.
• Acts 19:24In Ephesus there was a man called Demetrius. He used silver to make beautiful things. He made models that looked like the temple of Artemis. He paid a lot of money to people who did this work for him.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10:13

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-15Verses 11-15 There is a practice in the East, of charming serpents by music. The babbler's tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; and contradiction only makes it the more violent. We must find the way to keep him gentle. But by rash, unprincipled, or slanderous talk, he brings open or secret vengeance upon himself. Would we duly consider our own ignorance as to future events, it would cut off many idle words which we foolishly multiply. Fools…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Illustrating the folly and injuriousness of the fool's words; last clause of Ec 10:12.Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 10:13

• Fool
• Slander
• Speaking
• Words

In the dictionaries

• Direct
• Idleness
• Prince
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings