Ecclesiastes 5:6

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,.... That is, himself, who is corrupt and depraved; either by making a rash vow, which it is not in his power to keep; or such is the corruption of his

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

Suffer not thy mouth, by uttering any rash or foolish vow. Thy flesh, i. e. thyself, the word flesh being oft put for the whole man, as , &c. And it seems to have some emphasis here, and to intimate either, 1. That such vows were made upon fleshly or carnal, and not upon spiritual and religious motives. Or rather, 2. That the flesh or corrupt nature of man, which is oft called flesh, was exceeding prone to set itself at ease and liberty from such bonds, and to neglect the chargeable duties of religion. The angel; either, 1. The blessed angels, the singular number being put for the plural, who are present in the public assemblies in which these vows were generally paid, , where they observe both the matter and manner of men’ s religious performances, as appears from , who as they rejoice in the conversion of a sinner, , so are displeased with the sins of men, and especially such as are committed in or against the worship of God. Or, 2. Christ, who in the Old Testament is frequently called an angel, as hath been oft noted before, and the Angel of the covenant, because even then he acted as God’ s messenger, appearing and speaking to the patriarchs and prophets in his Father’ s name, as a prosignification of his future incarnation, and who is and was in a special manner present in all religious assemblies; and being omniscient and omnipresent, exactly knew and observed all the vows which men made, and whether they did perform or violate them. Or rather, 3. The priest or minister of holy things, who was to require of the people the payment of their vows, to whom all sacrifices for sins of ignorance or errors about vows or other things were to be brought, ,5. For such persons are oft called angels, or, as this Hebrew word is commonly rendered, messengers, as . And this title seems to be given to the priest here, not without some emphasis, because the vow made to God was paid to the priest as one standing and acting in God’ s name and stead, and it belonged to the priest, as God’ s angel or ambassador, to discharge persons from their vows when there was just occasion so to do. That it was an error; I did foolishly and unadvisedly in making such a vow, and therefore I hope God will excuse me, and instead of that which I had vowed, accept of a sacrifice for my ignorance, according to the law for sins of ignorance, 5:15 . Wherefore should God be angry, why wilt thou provoke God to anger, at thy voice? either, 1. At the vows which thou hast hastily uttered with thy mouth, as he said above. Or rather, 2. At these frivolous excuses, wherewith thou deludest thy own conscience, and vainly imaginest that thou canst deceive God himself.

Ecclesiastes 5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it [was] an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?Ver. 6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin.] Heb., Nec des, Give not liberty to thy mouth, which of itself is so apt to overflow and run riot in sinful and superfluous language. Rein it in therefore, and lay laws upon it, lest it "cause thy flesh to sin," thyself to become a sinner against thine own soul. Say to it in this case, as Christ did to those Pharisees in the gospel, "Why temptest thou me, thou hypocrite?" or as the witch said to Saul, that sought to her, "Wherefore layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?" Shall my prayer become sin, and my religious vows, through non-payment, a cause of a curse? When thou art making such an ill bargain, say to thy mouth, as Boaz said to his kinsman, "At what time thou buyest it, thou must have Ruth with it"; so thou must have God’ s curse with it - for that is the just hire of the least sin, how much more of thy crimson crime! And let thy mouth answer, No, I may not do it; I shall mar and spoil a better inheritance; I shall anger the angel of the covenant, who, if his wrath be kindled, yea, but a little, "he will not pardon my transgression, for God’ s name is in him," who, as he is pater miserationum, "the Father of mercies," so he is Deus ultionum, "the God of recompenses." True it is that anger is not properly in God; "Fury is not in me"; but because he chides and smites for sin, as angry men use to do, therefore is anger here and elsewhere attributed to him, that men may stand in awe and not sin, since sin and punishment are linked together with chains of adamant.

(6) The angel.—It has been proposed to translate this word the “messenger,” or ambassador of God, and understand “the priest” (see Malachi 2:7); and it has been regarded as one of the notes of later date in this book that the word should be used in such a sense. But even in the passage of Malachi there is no trace that the word “angel” had then become an ordinary name for the priest, such as would be intelligible if used in that sense without explanation from the context. Neither, again, is there reason for supposing that the priest had power to dispense with vows alleged to have been rashly undertaken. The power given him (Leviticus 27) is of a different nature. I therefore adhere to the obvious sense, which suggests that the real vow is observed and recorded by a heavenly angel. It falls in with this view that the phrase is “before the angel.” If an excuse pleaded to a priest was intended, we should have, “Say not thou to the priest.” Error.—The word is that which describes sins of ignorance (Numbers 15). The tacit assumption in this verse, that God interposes to punish when His name is taken in vain, clearly expresses the writer’s real conviction, and shows that such a verse as Ecclesiastes 9:2 is only the statement of a speculative difficulty.

Verse 6. Neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error] Nor think of saying "before the cruel angel, who shall exercise authority over thee in the judgment of the great day, that thou didst it through ignorance." - Chaldee. I believe by the angel nothing else is intended than the priest, whose business it was to take cognizance of vows and offerings. See Leviticus 5:4-5. In Malachi 2:7, the priest is called the "angel of the Lord of hosts."

6. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin] The “mouth” may refer either to the thoughtless utterance of the rash vow, such as that of Jephthah (Judges 11:30) or Saul (1 Samuel 14:24), or to the appetite which leads the man who has made a vow, say of the Nazarite type, to indulge in the drink or food which he had bound himself to renounce. The former meaning seems more in harmony with the context. The latter clause is translated by many Commentators to bring punishment (the expiation for sin) upon thy flesh, but the A.V. is probably correct. The “flesh” stands as in Genesis 6:3; Psalms 78:39, and in New Testament language (Romans 7:18; Romans 7:25), for the corrupt sensuous element in man’s nature. The context forbids the extension of the precept to sins of speech in general, as in the wider teaching of Jas 3:1-12. neither say thou before the angel] The words have been taken by most Jewish and some Christian interpreters as referring to the “angel” in the strict sense of the term, who was believed in Rabbinic traditions to preside over the Temple or the altar, and who, it is assumed, would punish the evasion of the vow on the frivolous excuse that it had been spoken inconsiderately. 1 Corinthians 11:13 and 1 Timothy 5:21 are referred to as illustrations of the same thought. This interpretation, however, seems scarcely in harmony with the generally Hellenised tone of the book, and in Haggai 1:13 and Malachi 2:7 we have distinct evidence that the term had come to be applied to prophets and priests, as in 2 Corinthians 8:23 and Revelation 1:20 it is used of ministers in the Christian Church, and this, it is obvious, gives a tenable, and, on the whole, a preferable meaning. The man comes to the priest with an offering less in value than he had vowed, or postpones the fulfilment of his vow indefinitely, and using the technical language of Num 15:25, explains that the vow had been made in ignorance, and therefore that he was not bound to fulfil it to the letter. Other commentators again (Grätz) look on the word as describing a subordinate officer of the Temple. wherefore should God be angry at thy voice] The question is in form like those of Ezr 4:22; Ezra 7:23, and is rhetorically more emphatic than a direct assertion. The words are a more distinct assertion of a Divine Government seen in earthly rewards and punishments than the book has as yet presented. The vow made, as was common, to secure safety or prosperity, could have no other result than loss and, it might be, ruin, if it were vitiated from the first by a rashness which took refuge in dishonesty.

Suffer not thy mouth ... - i. e., Do not make rash vows which may hereafter be the cause of evasion and prevarication, and remain unfulfilled.

6. Suffer not… to sin — Allusion is made to keeping negative vows. A promise to abstain from any kind of meat or drink, if broken, brings sin upon the body; as when the eye is evil the whole body is full of darkness.