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.
• 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!
• 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

13At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness— 14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them? The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town. 16Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. 17Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.

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 as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.
• Isaiah 44:12The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.
• Isaiah 47:12“Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
• Isaiah 55:2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
• Isaiah 57:1The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
• Habakkuk 2:6“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
• Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
• Psalms 107:4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
• Isaiah 35:8And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
• Jeremiah 50:4“In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears 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