Ecclesiastes 10:15

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!

Context of Ecclesiastes 10:15

13A fool starts out by talking foolishness and ends up saying crazy things that are dangerous. 14He never stops talking. No one knows what the future will bring, or what will happen after ⌞death⌟. Who can say! Fools wear themselves out with hard work, because they don’t even know the way to town. 16How horrible it will be for any country where the king used to be a servant and where the high officials throw parties in the morning. 17A country is blessed when the king is from a noble family and when the high officials eat at the right time in order to get strength and not to get drunk.

Ecclesiastes 10:15 word by word

עֲמַ֥ל הַכְּסִילִ֖ים תְּיַגְּעֶ֑נּוּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע לָלֶ֥כֶת אֶל־עִֽיר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The labourעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• of the foolishכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684
• weariethיָגֵעַyâga‛ · be weary/toilH3021
• every one of them, because he knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not how to goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
• to the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 10:15

• Ecclesiastes 10:3Even when a fool goes walking, he has no sense and shows everyone else that he’s a fool.
• Isaiah 44:12Blacksmiths shape iron into tools. They work them over the coals and shape them with hammers, working them with their strong arms. They get hungry, and their strength fails. If they don’t drink water, they will faint.
• Isaiah 47:12Keep practicing your spells and your evil magic. You have practiced them ever since you were young. You may succeed. You may cause terror.
• Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend money on what cannot nourish you and your wages on what does not satisfy you? Listen carefully to me: Eat what is good, and enjoy the best foods.
• Isaiah 57:1Righteous people die, and no one cares. Loyal people are taken away, and no one understands. Righteous people are spared when evil comes.
• Habakkuk 2:6Won’t all of them ridicule him, directing clever sayings and riddles at him, like: “ ‘How horrible it will be for the one who makes himself rich with what is not his own and makes himself wealthy on loans. How long will this go on?’
• Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.
• Psalms 107:4They wandered around the desert on a deserted road without finding an inhabited city.
• Isaiah 35:8A highway will be there, a roadway. It will be called the Holy Road. Sinners won’t travel on it. It will be for those who walk on it. Godless fools won’t wander ⌞onto it⌟.
• Jeremiah 50:4“In those days and at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and Judah will cry as they go together to 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

• Fool

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