John Gill Commentary Ecclesiastes 10

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth
a stinking savour
Such, as Jarchi observes, are in the winter season, which are weak and near to death, and get into preciousointment, prepared after the best manner, where they die, and corrupt and spoil it: or, "flies of deaths"^F13 ; deadly ones, which have something in their nature poisonous and pernicious; which, when theylight upon the most sweet and savoury ointment, give it an ill smell;

[so does] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and]
honour ;
a good name is like precious ointment, valuable and fragrant; sin, which is folly, is like a dead fly; notonly light and mean, and base and worthless, but hurtful and pernicious, deadly, and the cause of death; andwhat may seem little, a peccadillo, or, however, one single act of sin, may injure the character of a wiseand honourable man, and greatly expose him to shame and contempt, and cause him to stink in the nostrils ofmen, (Genesis 36:20);

and to be reproached by men, and religion and government to be reproached for hissake. Thus the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah, what a slur did it bring on the character of David, so famousfor wisdom and honour, for religion and piety? and the idolatry of Solomon, the wisest of men; Jehoshaphat,that good king, entering into affinity with Ahab; and pious Josiah going to war with the king of Egypt,contrary to the word of the Lord; with many other instances.

This teaches how careful men eminent for giftsand grace should be of their words and actions; since the least thing amiss in them is easily discerned, andsoon taken notice of, as the least speck in a diamond, or spot in fine linen, clean and white; and there arewicked and envious persons enough watching for their halting, glad to have an occasion against them, andimprove everything to the uttermost: this is a caution to wise magistrates, honourable ministers of the word,and eminent professors more especially.

The Targum is, ``evil concupiscence, which dwells at the gates ofthe heart, is as a fly, and is the cause of death in the world; and corrupts a good name, which was beforelike to anointing oil, perfumed with spices:'' and to the same purpose the Midrash. One of the names of Satanis Beelzebub, the lord of a fly; who, by his temptations, solicits to sin and folly, which produce the effecthere mentioned, and therefore to be shunned as a deadly fly in the ointment, (Matthew 12:24). Gussetius<sup>F14</sup> renders it, ``that which is precious and worthy of honour "proceeds" from wisdom; and folly"comes" from glory, "worldly glory", in a little time.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: (twm ybwbz) "muscae mortis", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Amama, Cocceius, Rambachius.
• F14: Ebr. Comment. p. 344.

A wise man's heart [is] at his right hand
This is not designed to express the direct position and situation of the heart of man, wise or foolish, which is the same in both; and which, according to anatomists, is in the middle of the body, inclining to the left side; but the understanding and wisdom of men, as Aben Ezra observes; which, with a wise man, is ready at hand to direct and assist him in any affair; and which under the influence of it, he goes about with great readiness and dexterity, and performs it with great ease and facility, without sinister ends and selfish views; it inclines him to pursue the true way to honour, heaven, and happiness, which lies to the right; to seek things that are above, at the right hand of God; and, in all, his honour and glory;

but a fool's heart [is] at his left ;he is at a loss for wisdom and understanding to direct him, when he has an affair of any moment upon his hand; which he goes about in an awkward manner, as left-handed persons do, and has sinister ends in what he does; and he is to every good work reprobate and unfit, and seeks earth and earthly things, which lie to the left, and in all himself.

The Targum is, ``the heart of a wise man is to get the law, which was given by the right hand of the Lord; and the heart of a fool to get the goods of gold and silver:'' so Jarchi, ``his wisdom is ready to incline him (the wise man) to the right hand way for his good; but the heart of a fool to pervert him from it.''

The ancients ^F15 used to call things wise and prudent the right hand and things foolish the left hand.

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: Suidas in voce (dexia) .

Yea also, when he that is a fool walks by the way. The king's highway, the common road; as he passes along the streets, going to any place, or about any business:

his wisdom fails [him] ; or "his heart" ^F16 ; he appears by his gait, his manner of walking, to want a heart, to be a fool; walking with a froward mouth, winking with his eyes, speaking with his feet, and teaching with his fingers; all which shows the frowardness and folly of his heart, (Proverbs 6:12–14) ; or he discovers it throughout his conversation, in all the actions of it, in whatsoever business he is concerned, and in all the affairs of life.

The Targum is, "when he walks in a perplexed way;" then his wisdom fails him; he does not know which way to take, whether to the right or left: this can never be understood of the highway of holiness, in which men, though fools, shall not err, (Isaiah 35:8) ;

and he says to everyone [that] he [is] a fool ; his folly is manifest to all; he betrays it, by his words and actions, to every man he has to do with; his sins and transgressions, which are his folly, he hides not, they are evident to all; and, as the Targum expresses it, "all say he is a fool:" though indeed he himself says this of every other man, that he is a fool; for, according to the Vulgate Latin version, he, being a fool himself, thinks everybody else is so.

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (wbl) "cor ejus", Pagninus, Montanus

If the spirit of the ruler rise up against you
The wrath of the civil magistrate, the chief ruler of the land, the sovereign prince or king, to whom men areand should be subject: if his wrath on any occasion breaks out in a furious manner, and, like a storm andtempest, is very blustering and threatening:

leave not your place ;
at court; your office under the prince, do not throw it up in a passion, and quit his service upon it; andmuch less forget your duty and allegiance to him, and go into disloyalty and rebellion; see (Ecclesiastes 8:3) ;

for yielding pacifieth great offences ;
bearing his anger patiently, submitting to his displeasure quietly, making no returns, or at least givingsoft answers, and behaving in a modest and humble manner; in time his wrath will subside, and he will bepacified, and forgive the offences committed; or be convinced that there were none, or however not so greatas to require such resentment; see (Proverbs 15:1) (25:15) .

The Targum is, ``if a spirit of evilconcupiscence rules over you; your good place, in which you were used to stand, leave not:'' some understandthis of a man's having a spirit of rule and government coming upon him, or of his being advanced to power andauthority, that then he should not forget the low estate in which he had been. Jarchi interprets it of thespirit of the governor of the world, strictly inquiring into the actions of men; and healing their sins bychastisements, which cause them to leave them.

There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun Which Solomon had observed in the course of his life, practised in some kingdoms and by some princes on earth, under the sun; for there is nothing of the like kind, as after mentioned, done in heaven, above the sun;

as an error [which] proceeds from the ruler; from the supreme ruler of a nation, the king of it; and it is not only as an error, or like one, a seeming one; but it is a real error, bestowing places of honour and profit on undeserving persons:

which error proceeds from ignorance of the persons; or from affection to them, and from friendship cultivated with them in the younger time of life, being educated with them; or through the misrepresentation and imposition of those about him, who have ends to serve by their promotion; or through his own lusts and passions, which these men indulge him in.

It may be understood of God, the supreme ruler, who suffers such things to be; and which may seem to some an error in providence, though it is not: but the other sense is best.