English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 10:15
15The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.
Ecclesiastes 10:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
- New International Version (NIV)The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!
- New Living Translation (NLT)Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can’t even find their way home.
Context of Ecclesiastes 10:15
13The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. 14A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. 16Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! 17Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Read all of Ecclesiastes 10Ecclesiastes 10:15 word by word
עֲמַ֥ל הַכְּסִילִ֖ים תְּיַגְּעֶ֑נּוּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע לָלֶ֥כֶת אֶל־עִֽיר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 10:15
- Ecclesiastes 10:3Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
- Isaiah 44:12The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.
- Isaiah 47:12Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror.
- Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
- Isaiah 57:1The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
- Habakkuk 2:6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!"
- Matthew 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- Psalms 107:4Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
- Isaiah 35:8And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
- Jeremiah 50:4"In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15He knoweth not how to go to the city - I suppose this to be a proverb: "He knows nothing; he does not know his way to the next village." He may labor; but for want of judgment he wearies himself to no purpose.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15The sense is: “The fool wearies himself with ineffectual attempts, he has not sufficient knowledge for the transaction of ordinary business.”Read the comment
- 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
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15People who rarely work get tired quickly when they try to do it.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. labour ... wearieth--(Is 55:2; Ha 2:13). knoweth not how to go to the city--proverb for ignorance of the most ordinary matters (Ec 10:3); spiritually, the heavenly city (Psa 107:7; Mt 7:13, 14). Maurer connects Ec 10:15 with the following verses. The labor (vexation) caused by the foolish (injurious princes, Ec 10:4-7) harasses him who "knows not how to go to the city," to ingratiate himself with them there. English Version is simpler.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 10:15
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries