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

13Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness; 14they chatter on and on. No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future. Fools are so exhausted by a little work that they can’t even find their way home. 16What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning. 17Happy is the land whose king is a noble leader and whose leaders feast at the proper time to gain strength for their work, 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 10:3You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!
• Isaiah 44:12The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and weak. It makes him thirsty and faint.
• Isaiah 47:12“Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years! Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
• Isaiah 55:2Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
• Isaiah 57:1Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
• Habakkuk 2:6“But soon their captives will taunt them. They will mock them, saying, ‘What sorrow awaits you thieves! Now you will get what you deserve! You’ve become rich by extortion, but how much longer can this go on?’
• Matthew 11:28Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
• Psalms 107:4Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.
• Isaiah 35:8And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.
• Jeremiah 50:4“In those coming days,” says the Lord, “the people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah. They will come weeping and seeking 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