Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 5:1

"Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God; for to draw nigh to hear is better than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil." — Ecclesiastes 5:1 (ASV)

In the Hebrew division, this is the last verse of the preceding chapter; but clearly here a new section begins, containing proverbs in the second person singular, which has not until now been used. There is no obvious connection with what has gone before; possibly, the precepts introduced here were traditionally known to have been part of Solomon’s teaching.

They consider not.—The most natural translation of this clause would be, “They know not how to do evil,” i.e., are incapable of doing evil. This would force us to understand the subject of the clause to be, not the fools, but those who are ready to hear. The Authorised Version exhibits one of the expedients resorted to in order to get a better meaning. Another translation is, “They are without knowledge, so that they do evil.”