English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 7:9
9Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
- New International Version (NIV)Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:9
7Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. 10Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 11Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:9 word by word
אַל־תְּבַהֵ֥ל בְּרֽוּחֲךָ֖ לִכְע֑וֹס כִּ֣י כַ֔עַס בְּחֵ֥יק כְּסִילִ֖ים יָנֽוּחַ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:9
- 1 Samuel 25:21Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.
- 2 Samuel 19:43And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, "We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?" But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
- Esther 3:5And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.
- Proverbs 14:17A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
- Proverbs 16:32Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
- Jonah 4:9But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."
- Ephesians 4:26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
- James 1:19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
- Genesis 4:5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
- Genesis 34:7The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done.
- 2 Samuel 13:22But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar.
- Proverbs 26:23Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.
- Mark 6:19And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Anger resteth in the bosom of fools - A wise man, off his guard, may feel it for a moment: but in him it cannot rest: it is a fire which he immediately casts out of his breast. But the fool - the man who is under the dominion of his own tempers, harbors and fosters it, till it takes the form of malice, and then excites him to seek full revenge on those whom he deems enemies. Hence that class of dangerous and empty fools called duellists.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-10Verses 7-10 The event of our trials and difficulties is often better than at first we thought. Surely it is better to be patient in spirit, than to be proud and hasty. Be not soon angry, nor quick in resenting an affront. Be not long angry; though anger may come into the bosom of a wise man, it passes through it as a way-faring man; it dwells only in the bosom of fools. It is folly to cry out upon the badness of our times, when we have more reason to cry…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9anger settles in the lap of a fool: Compare Proverbs 14:29 and 29:11. See the “Anger” Theme Note.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. angry--impatient at adversity befalling thee, as Job was (Ec 5:2; Pr 12:16).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries