Ecclesiastes 10

Ecclesiastes 10:1

Apostolic Constitutions: “Dead flies spoil the whole pot of sweet ointment,” and “when a king hearkens to unrighteous counsel, all the servants under him are wicked.” So one scabbed sheep, if not separated from those that are whole, infects the rest with the same distemper; and a person infected with the plague is to be avoided by all; and a mad dog is dangerous to everyone that it touches. If, therefore, we neglect to separate the transgressor from the church of God, we shall make the “Lord’s house a den of thieves.” — CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2:3.17

Augustine of Hippo: Indeed, it is said that Beelzebub means prince of flies; and it has been written of them, “Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the oil.” — TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF John 1:14.3

Didymus the Blind: These flies bring death as well as life. For example there is a divinized fly about which Elijah has said, “Is there no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of the fly, the God of Ekron?” I would be astonished if they really did divinize a fly. Rather he hereby has described the worthlessness of their enterprise. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 291:3

Fulgentius of Ruspe: What is called the prince of flies is shown to be prince of the wicked; another text of Scripture refers to him by saying, “Dead flies destroy the perfumer’s sweet ointment.” Who destroy except those who grieve the Holy Spirit either by the crime of infidelity or by the filthy obscenity of unclean deeds, while befouling themselves either with a false faith or an evil way of life? — LETTER 48, TO SCARILA

Gregory of Neocaesarea: Moreover, flies falling into myrrh, and suffocated therein, make both the appearance of that pleasant ointment and the anointing therewith an unseemly thing; and to be mindful of wisdom and of folly together is in no way proper. The wise man, indeed, is his own leader to right actions; but the fool inclines to erring courses, and will never make his folly available as a guide to what is noble. Yea, his thoughts also are vain and full of folly. But if ever a hostile spirit fall upon you, my friend, withstand it courageously, knowing that God is able to propitiate even a mighty multitude of offenses. These also are the deeds of the prince and father of all wickedness: that the fool is set on high, while the man richly gifted with wisdom is humbled; and that the slaves of sin are seen riding on horseback, while men dedicated to God walk on foot in dishonour, the wicked exulting the while. But if any one devises another’s hurt, he forgets that he is preparing a snare for himself first and alone. And he who wrecks another’s safety, shall fall by the bite of a serpent. But he who removes stones, indeed shall undergo no light labour; and be who cleaves wood shall bear danger with him in his own weapon. And if it chance that the axe spring out of the handle, he who engages in such work shall be put to trouble, gathering for no good and having to put to more of his iniquitous and shortlived strength. The bite of a serpent, again, is stealthy; and the charmers will not soothe the pain, for they are vain. But the good man does good works for himself and for his neighbours alike; while the fool shall sink into destruction through his folly. And when he has once opened his mouth, he begins foolishly and soon comes to an end, exhibiting his senselessness in all. Moreover, it is impossible for man to know anything, or to learn from man either what has been from the beginning, or what shall be in the future. For who shall be the declarer thereof? Besides, the man who knows not to go to the good city, sustains evil in the eyes and in the whole countenance. And I prophesy woes to that city the king of which is a youth, and its rulers gluttons. But I call the good land blessed, the king of which is the son of the free: there those who are entrusted with the power of ruling shall reap what is good in due season. But the sluggard and the idler become scoffers, and make the house decay; and misusing all things for the purposes of their own gluttony, like the ready slaves of money, for a small price they are content to do all that is base and abject. It is also right to obey kings and rulers or potentates, and not to be bitter against them, nor to utter any offensive word against them. For there is ever the risk that what has been spoken in secret may somehow become public. For swift and winged messengers convey all things to Him who alone is King both rich and mighty, discharging therein a service which is at once spiritual and reasonable.

Gregory of Neocaesarea: Flies falling into perfume, and drowning, make the appearance and use of that pleasant oil unseemly; so, too, it is improper to have both wisdom and foolishness together in one’s mind. — PARAPHRASE OF Ecclesiastes 10:1

Ecclesiastes 10:2

Jerome: “A wise man’s mind tends to his right; while a fool’s mind tends to his left. Even on the road as the fool walks, he lacks sense, and proclaims to all that he is a fool. “And in the Gospel it is taught that a wise man’s left does not know what his right is doing. And when we are hit on the right side of the face, we do not show the left cheek to he who hit us, but the other one. For a wise man does not have a left side in him, but is in fact completely the right side. And when the Saviour comes to judge us, the lambs will stand on the right, and the goats on the left. It is written in the prophets that “the Lord knows the ways to the right, which are wrong, and actually lead to the left.” [Prov. 4, 27.]. Therefore he who is wise always thinks about the future, because it leads him to the right. But he who is foolish always thinks of the present, because it is set in the left. What follows has also been said by the philosopher poet, who says, “the right leads to the walls of the lower world, this is our path to Elysium, but the left is for the wicked. That gives out punishments and sends people down to the nether regions” [Virg. Aen. 6, 541/543.]. Firmianus of our time in the famous work of his Institute recalls the passage about left and right, and argues that this is about virtues and about vices. [Lactant. Divin. Instit. VI, 3,6-CSEL 19, p.486, 166sqq.] And we shouldn’t think that this is contrary to that passage, which says, “do not go to the right, nor to the left” [Prov. 4, 27.]. In the first passage the right is taken to mean good; but in the second it is not just right but also the decline to the right. We should not know more than we need to know, since virtues are in the middle and all excess in a vice. In the following verse though he says, “but on the path that the fool walks, his heart is in need”, and he says: “all is foolishness” or “all are fools”. This is the meaning: A fool hopes that all others sin as he himself sins, and judges all others by his own standards. Then Symmachus has interpreted it in this way: but when the fool walks along the road, he supposes that all are stupid as he is. But the Septuagint has another meaning, which says, ‘all things which he thinks are foolish, are the most vain’. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:4

Ambrose of Milan: Let no one then say, We have no portion in Jacob nor inheritance in Israel. Let no one say, I am not among the Clergy, for it is written, Give unto Levi his lots; and again David says that he who lieth in the midst among the lots ascends to heaven with spiritual wings. Say not of your God, He is grievous to us, nor of your place, it is not for our turn, since Scripture says, Leave not thy place: For the adversary would fain deprive thee of it, he would fain drive thee away, for he envies thee thy hopes and thy function. — Letter LXXXI, To Certain of the Clergy

Basil of Caesarea: He who sins gives place to the devil, taking no heed of him who said, “Do not give place to the devil,” or to Ecclesiastes, “If the spirit of him that has power ascends upon you, leave not your place.” Let us, then, who are in the Lord and who, as much as we are able, observe closely his wonders, so draw joy to our hearts from the contemplation of them. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 15:1 (Psalms 32)

Cyril of Jerusalem: You alone are not the source of the trouble, but there is also one who instigates you, the accursed devil. He makes his suggestions to all, but he does not prevail by force over those who do not give way to him. Therefore Ecclesiastes says, “Should the anger of the ruler burst upon you, forsake not your place.” If you shut your door, you will be out of his reach and he will not harm you. But if you are so careless as to admit the lustful thought, reflection will cause it to strike roots within you; it will capture your mind and drag you down into an abyss of sins. — Catechetical Lecture 2:3

Didymus the Blind: “If the anger of the ruler rises against you”—if he seems to have power over you, it is only because you have subjected yourself to him. For as “sin reigns in the mortal bodies” of those who want to “obey their passions,” and as someone is ruled over if he is ruled by mammon and has focused his thinking on the desire for money, so he [the ruler] has power over the one who subjects himself as slave. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 294:2

Jerome: We also read in Ecclesiastes, “If the spirit of him that has power, ascend upon your heart, leave not your place.” From this it is clearly evident that we have committed a sin if we surrender our place to him who ascends upon us and if we have not cast down headlong the enemy ascending upon the walls. However, it seems to me that when you call down upon the heads of your brothers, that is to say, upon your slanderers, eternal fires with the devil, you are not so much dashing your brothers to the ground as you are elevating the devil, since he is to be punished in the same fires as Christians. — Against Rufinus 2.7

Jerome: “If the anger of a ruler flares up against you, do not leave your place, for defence appeases great offences. “Now the Scripture mentions the chief of that world, the creator of the darkness and he who toils for the sons of despair, whom the apostle also recalls. [Cfr. Eph. 2, 2; 6, 12.] For if he rises in our heart and the spirit of bad thoughts is wounded, we ought not to give way, but fight against the worst thoughts and free ourselves from the greatest sins, so that we do not fill our work with that thought, since it is one thing in thought, another in the deed of sinning. Reference to this great sin can also be found in the Psalm: “if they had not conquered me, I would be clean and purified from the greatest crime” [Ps. 18, 4.]. Symmachus translates the Hebrew word “marphe “as all the others do: “iama”, that is, ‘cleanliness’ or ’neatness’. He has interpreted the meaning too, and he says, “if the spirit of a ruler defeats you, do not move from your place; since virtue wins over the greatest sin”. That is, if the devil entices your mind and incites you to lust, do not follow the thought of sin and flattering desire, but stand firm and fast and extinguish the flame of desire with the cold of chastity. My Hebrew tutor suspected certain things about this passage for a reason I do not know. If you take any high-up position in the world, or are appointed a post higher than the other people, do not let go of your former works and start to forget your former virtues, or cease from your previous work, because the cure for sins is born out of doing good things, and not from pompous and overflowing rank. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:5

Jerome: “There is an evil that I have observed in the world as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is placed on lofty heights, while rich men sit in low places. I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves. “Where we read “as if it were an error proceeding from the ruler” Aquila, Theodotion and the Septuagint have interpreted this as “as if not of their own will”, that is “hos akousian”, from the face of the ruler. Symmachus agrees with this, saying, “the fool is placed in great elevation, but humble riches remain fixed.” And he remembers that he has seen this wickedness in this time, because the judgement of God seems to be unjust. And it happens either through not knowing, or without his will, that either in the rulers of the world, or in the leadership of the Church, often these men, who are rich in words and wisdom, rich too in good deeds, remain ignoble and foolish holding a position in the Church. But this happens in front of his face, he who has power in that time, while he oppresses the powerful and learned men, and he does not let them come out in public, but those whom he knows to be foolish in the Church he makes greater, so that the blind are led by the blind into pitfalls. The following verse also has this meaning: “I have seen slaves on horses and nobles walking on foot like slaves”. Because these men are slaves of vices and sins, or are so humble, that they are thought to be slaves by other men, they are suddenly inflated by the devil’s pompousness, and they wear out the public roads with their ponies [Cfr. Horat. Epod. IV, 14.]. And each noble or wise man that is oppressed by poverty takes the road and occupation of slaves. The Hebrew seems to say that ignorance seems to leave the face of the powerful and rulers. He explains this as God, because men think that in this inequality of matter He is not acting justly, and judging as is correct. More precisely, some men believe as their predecessors do that there must be judgement so that He himself is powerful, a topic that is mentioned before these verses: if a ruler comes up against you, do not give way. Should we not be sad therefore if we seem to be humble in this world, and know from the face of the devil, that the foolish are raised and the rich thrown down? If we know that slaves have the ranks of their masters and rulers do the work of their slaves. Remember though that this horse is seen in a good context, just as in the verse, which says, “and riding will be your salvation”. [Hab. 3, 8.] — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:7

Didymus the Blind: Those who have come from paganism to the gospel—those who were slaves of desire, slaves of sin, slaves of the devil and of death—have become riders on horseback. About them it is said that, in the future, they will ride on divine words like on horses. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 299:24

Gregory the Dialogist: By the name ‘horse’ is understood temporal dignity, as Solomon witnesses, who says, “I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” For every one who sins is the servant of sin, and servants are upon horses, when sinners are elated with the dignities of the present life. But princes walk as servants, when no honour exalts many who are full of the dignity of virtues, but when the greatest misfortune here presses them down, as though unworthy. Hence it is said again; “They have slumbered who mounted horses.” That is, in the death of the soul, they, who trusted in the honour of the present life, have closed the eyes of their mind to the light of truth. — Morals on the Book of Job, Book 31, Section 43

Ecclesiastes 10:8

Athanasius of Alexandria: The Jews in their imaginings, and in their agreeing to act unjustly against the Lord, forgot that they were bringing wrath upon themselves. Therefore does the Word lament for them saying, “Why do the people exalt themselves, and the nations imagine vain things?” For vain indeed was the imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the Life, and devising unreasonable things against the Word of the Father. For who that looks upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say, “Woe unto them, for they have imagined an evil imagination, saying against their own soul, let us bind the righteous man, because he is not pleasing to us.” And full well it is so, my brethren; for when they erred concerning the Scriptures, they knew not that “he who digs a pit for his neighbor falls into it; and he who destroys a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” And if they had not turned their faces from the Lord, they would have feared what was written before in the divine Psalms: “The heathen are caught in the pit which they made; in the snare which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known when executing judgments: by the works of his hands is the sinner taken.” — FESTAL LETTERS 11:5

Augustine of Hippo: Scripture says that there are deep things that must not under any circumstances be looked into, and the one who searches in a hedge will be bitten by a snake. — LETTER 12:10

Jerome: “He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who breaks down a wall will be bitten by a snake. “This is partly unambiguous and partly to be understood in a more complicated way. Since elsewhere Solomon also says, “he that sets a trap will be caught in it” [Eccli. 27, 29.]. And in the seventh Psalm: “he laid out a pond and dug it out, and then he fell into the hole he had made” [Ps. 7, 16.]. But the wall and the fence as well are the doctrines of the Church, and the institution set up by the apostles and prophets. And whoever knocks them down or wants them to come to an end is bitten by a snake where he is not looking. Amos writes about this snake: “if he goes down into the underworld, I will order a snake to kill him” [Am. 9, 3.]. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Vincent of Lérins: Once they begin not only to use the divine expressions but also to explain them, not only to present them but also to interpret them, then people will realize how bitter, how sharp, how fierce they are. Then will the poisonous breath of their new ideas be exhaled, then will profane novelties appear in the open, then will you see that “the hedge is broken,” that the ancient bounds have been passed, that the dogma of the church is lacerated, that the Catholic faith is harmed. — COMMONITORIES 25

Ecclesiastes 10:10

Jerome: “If a blade is blunt and one has not sharpened the edge, nevertheless it strengthens the warriors. Wisdom is a more powerful skill. “If someone, he says, has seen himself lose knowledge of the Scriptures through negligence, and the shrewdness of his intelligence has been blunted, nonetheless he remains disturbed, and he would be just as he had been when he started. But it happens, meanwhile, that he that has a little knowledge is led into pride and stops learning and reading, and little by little takes away from that which now adds nothing to him. Thus the heart of the pupil remains empty, and a blade that has been sharpened is made blunt. For rest and laziness are like a kind of rust of wisdom. So then if anyone has suffered this, let him not despair the remedy for his health, but let him go to his teacher and be instructed again by him, and then after much toil and hard work, and a great deal of much sweat, he will be able to regain that wisdom that he had lost. And this is what is said in the Hebrew more to the point: he will be strengthened by might, that is, by toil, by sweat, by hard work, and daily reading, then wisdom will follow suit, and his toil will come to an end, so that he might be able to receive wisdom once more. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:11

Didymus the Blind: The snake is powerful, when it spreads its poison secretly. In the one who is tricked, an impression is created that he has received something good which in reality is not good. The teacher who charms should not do so in a superflous way but in a way that accomplishes something. Then he shows his [student] the error, the guile of his seducer. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 304:20

John Cassian: “If a snake bites without hissing,” Ecclesiastes says, “there is no advantage for the charmer,” showing that the bite of a snake in silence is dangerous. This means that if a suggestion or thought springing from the devil is not by means of confession shown to some charmer (I mean some spiritually minded person who knows how to heal the wound at once by charms from the Scripture and how to extract the deadly poison of the snake from the heart), it will be impossible to help the sufferer who is already in danger and will no doubt die. — CONFERENCE 2:9

John Cassian: These silent bites are alone in fending off the medicine of the wise people. This deadly menace is so utterly incurable that it is worsened by soothings, inflamed by serious treatment, and irritated by gifts. — CONFERENCE 18:16

Ecclesiastes 10:13

Augustine of Hippo: The church was admonished to shun the beginning of sin. Which is that beginning of sin, like the head of a serpent? The beginning of all sin is pride. — EXPLANATIONS OF THE Psalms 74:13

Jerome: “His talk begins as foolishness and ends as evil madness. The fool prates on and on, but man does not know what will be; and who can tell him what will be after him? “So far the discussion has been about the fool, whose lips teach the wise man, or according to another interpretation, his lips make himself corrupt. The beginning and the end of his speech are foolishness and evil madness; or as Symmachus has translated it, confusion, or some kind of inconsistency of words. For while he doesn’t keep to the one opinion, he thinks he can escape sin in the many arguments he speaks at the same time. But he does not remember all those who have gone before him, and does not know what will happen after him, and so is confused in ignorance and the darkness, promising himself false knowledge; by this he thinks that he is wise, and that he is learned, if he uses lots of words. This can be taken to refer to the heretics, who do not heed the words of wise men, but continue to argue different sides so they intertwine the beginning and end of their speech in vanity, confusion, and madness; and though they know nothing, they speak more than they know. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:15

Didymus the Blind: By “town” he does not mean a place but the deed according to the law. The fool does “not even know the way to town.” But the one who says, “Even if we live on earth, our citizenship is in heaven,” “knows the way to the town” in which he is a true citizen. And further: “As we have heard, so we have received in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.” — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 308:1

Jerome: “The toil of fools exhausts them, as one who does not know the way to town. “Join these lines with the verse above; either to those verses that speak in general about fools, who know not God, or in particular to that one which argues about heretics. Read in Plato for example: unravel the tricks of Aristotle, read Zeno and Carneas more diligently, and you will prove to be true what is written here: the toil of fools exhausts them. For they seek the truth in fact with all their enthusiasm, but since they have no leader or anyone to lead the way on their journey, they are led by their human instincts to think that they can understand wisdom, and thus they do not arrive at the town; the Psalm speaks of this too: “Lord, you will scatter their image in your town” [Ps. 72, 20.]. For the Lord will scatter in the town all shadows and strange appearances or characters, in which they clothe themselves in their many doctrines. In another place the Psalm says of this: “the force of a river causes the city of God to rejoice” [Ps. 45, 5.]. And in the Gospel: “a town built on a mountain cannot be hidden” [Matth. 5, 14.]. And in Isaiah: “I am a strong city, a city which is attacked” [Is. 27, 3. (According to the LXX.)]. And all the wise men and heretics of this world are trying to attack this city of truth and wisdom, although it is strong and fortified. And that which I have said about philosophers can also be said of heretics, that they toil in vain, and are exhausted in their enthusiasm for the Scriptures, when they wander in the desert and are not able to find the town. The Psalmist also mentions their madness too, saying, “they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.” [Ps. 107, 4.] — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

John Cassian: Thus, having turned aside from the royal path, they are unable to get to that metropolis to which our journeying must ever and unswervingly be directed. Ecclesiastes expressed this quite distinctly when he said, “The toil of fools afflicts those who do not know how to go to the city”—namely, to “that heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.”

John Cassian: And thus wandering from the king’s highway, they can never arrive at that metropolis, to which our course should ever be directed without swerving. And this Ecclesiastes has distinctly expressed saying: “The labor of fools wearies those who do not know how to go to the city”—namely, to that “heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all.” — CONFERENCE 24:24

Ecclesiastes 10:16

Isaac of Nineveh: Our intellect is not brought into submission unless our body is subject to it. The kingship of the intellect is the crucifixion of the body. The intellect is not subject to God unless the free will is subject to reason. It is hard to convey anything sublime to one who is still a beginner, and an infant in stature. “Woe to thee, O city, when thy king is a child!” — ASCETICAL HOMILIES 36

Jerome: “Woe to you, O land, whose king acts as an adolescent, and whose ministers dine in the morning. Happy are you, O land, whose king is a man of dignity, and whose ministers dine at the proper time- in strength and not in drunkenness. “He seems in fact here to reprove the young king and to condemn indulgent judges, which in another place has been called wisdom that is weakened by age, and even in other places mature age which is made frail by pleasure. On the other hand he seems to approve the king with good morals, who is appointed easily. He also seems to praise those judges who nonetheless prefer pleasure to the business of the town, but after much toil and the running of the township, are forced to eat as if by necessity. But I find more holy what seems to lie hidden in the text, because those who depart from old laws and despise the precepts of their ageing fathers, are called young men in the scripture; they who do not heed the commandments of God, and desire to change the laws of mankind. The Lord of Israel threatens in Isaiah [Cfr. Is. 8, 1-7.], because the people did not want the waters of Shiloah that flows in silence, and averted the ancient stream, choosing for themselves the rivers of Samaria, and the surges of Damascus. “And I will give”, he says, “children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them” [Is. 3, 4.]. Read also Daniel and you will find the old God of Days. [Cfr. Dan. 7, 9 sqq.] Or read the Apocalypse of John where the head of the Saviour is said to be white and snowy, and you will find it to be like white wool. Look at Jeremiah too because he was wise and his hair was purported to be white because of his wisdom, and he is forbidden to call himself a young man [Cfr. Ier. 1, 7.]. Woe to the land therefore whose king is the devil, who always desirous of new things, and even rebels against its parent in the case of Abessalon, who regards as judges and leaders those, who love the pleasures of the world, and who say before the day of death comes, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” [Is. 22, 13.]. For the other part is the blessed land of the Church whose king, Christ, is the son of all peoples. He is descended from Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, also from the stock of all the prophets and saints, for whom sin was not conquered. On account of this they were indeed children. Born of these was the virgin, more freely Saint Mary, who had no offspring, no seed from her flank, but all of her fruit burst out in flower, speaking in the Song of Songs: “I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valley” [Cant. 2, 1.]. His leaders too are apostles and all are saintly, who see their king as the son of all men, the son of a free woman; not of the slave woman Agar, but born of Sara in freedom. And they do not eat in the morning, or quickly. For they do not seek enjoyment in their time, but eat in their time, and when the time for retribution will come, they will eat in strength, and not in disorder. Every good thing of this world is a disorder, but an everlasting strength in the future. Just this is said in Isaiah: “look at those who serve me, they will eat; but you will go hungry.” [Is. 65, 13.] And again, “look at those who serve me, they will be happy; but you will shamed.” [Is. 65, 14.] — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 10:17

Augustine of Hippo: The passage from this book which I gladly quote is one touching the two cities and their kings, the devil and Christ: “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a youth, and when the princes eat in the morning. Blessed is the land whose king is the son of freeborn parents and whose princes eat in due season, in strength and not in confusion.” Here, the devil is spoken of as a “youth” because of the foolishness, pride, rashness, unruliness, and other faults usually rampant at that age; and Christ is spoken of as the “son of freeborn parents” because he descended in the flesh from those holy patriarchs who were citizens of the free city. The princes of the devil’s city “eat in the morning,” that is, before the proper time—in the sense that, being overeager to attain perfect happiness at once in the society of this present world, they are unwilling to await the only true happiness which will come in due time in the world to come. But the princes of the city of Christ await in patience the time of a blessedness which is sure to be theirs. The conclusion, “in strength and not in confusion,” means that their hope will not cheat them. — City of God 17.20

Ecclesiastes 10:18

Jerome: Our house, which was built to human stature, along with the habitation we shall have in heaven, will collapse if we are lazy and hesitant to do good works. And every floor that depends upon a rafter for support will crush its inhabitant when it falls to the ground. It is when the assistance of our hands and our strength is lacking that all the storm clouds and violent winds from above burst forth upon us. Moreover, because we translated this verse in the singular, it is better to understand it as pertaining to the church, all of whose sublimity will be ruined through the negligence of its leaders. And where the roof is thought to be strong, there will be found the enticements of wickedness. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 10:18

Jerome: “Through slothfulness the ceiling sags, and through idleness of the hands the house leaks.” Our house, which is held up by the condition of mankind, even that abode that we have in heaven, sags if we are lazy and slow to do good work. And every ceiling, which is supposed to hold the roof up high, falls to the ground and crushes its inhabitants. And when the help of hands and virtues has eventually gone numb a great storm of all tempests and rain clouds will fall down upon us from above. More precisely, although we have interpreted this with regard to one man, it can be better understood with bearing to the Church, because its stature is brought down by the neglect of its principate. There in the Church we find the attractions of sins, where the roof is said to be virtue. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

John Cassian: A house never suddenly collapses except because of some old weakness in the foundation or because of extended disregard by its tenants. Thus the structure of the roof is eventually destroyed by what had begun as a tiny leak but into which, through long neglect, a stormy tempest of rain pours like a river, once a large breach has been made. For “by slothfulness a dwelling will be brought low, and through lazy hands a house will leak.”

John Cassian: No house ever falls to the ground by a sudden collapse, but only when there is some long-standing flaw in the foundation or when by long-continued neglect of its inhabitants, what was at first only a little drip breaks through and the protecting walls are gradually ruined. In consequence of long-standing neglect the gap becomes larger and the walls break away, and in time the drenching storm and rain pours in like a river. For “by slothfulness a building is brought low, and through lazy hands the house shall leak.” — CONFERENCE 6:17

John Damascene: But as long as we are among the living, while the foundation of our true faith continues unshattered, even if somewhat of the outer roofwork or inner building be disabled, it is allowed to renew by repentance the part rotted by sins. — BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 11:94

Ecclesiastes 10:19

Horsiesios: Let each one do his work without chatting or shouting. Let absolutely no one laugh, so that there will not apply to us the reproach of the Scriptures, “They make bread for laughter.” If someone needs to ask his neighbor a question, he must do so quietly, without shouting. — REGULATIONS 40

Jerome: “A feast is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, but money answers everything. “I think that what follows relates to the preceding verses. For with regard to the sloth and the indolence of teachers the Church is lowered, and its roof is made to fall, and its timbers leak, as we have shown above. Therefore here he is speaking of the self-same teachers. And he has been seen to accuse them, asking why they remain silent and do not make use of their duty as teacher, (that is both for bishops and elders in the Church), saying that they neither work on their speaking nor doctrine, the same that even Titus admonishes [Cfr Tit. 1, 5.], and is taught by Timothy [Cfr. I Tim. 4, 14.], so that one does not forget the grace of God, which is bestowed upon a great man. But in this respect they see themselves as elders and bishops, so that they receive an allowance, and many teachers ask for a two-fold glory, which is owed in fact to those who work on their speaking and doctrines. But now he takes the other side and accuses those who even speak in the Church and teach the congregation, but they teach the people that which they like to hear, because he flatters the sinner in his crime and incites the listeners to applaud. For surely when such a teacher is giving a lascivious speech in the Church, does he not promise the blessing and realm of heaven to the crowd, as it will seem to you that his laughter makes bread, and he mixes wine with the happiness of those who drink? Or as those who teach and seek riches, food, and wealth through the promised delights. Or the bread of the Church, which is the bread of mourners, and not of those who laugh, because those who weep are blessed, for they will laugh, and will have joy in their happiness. He also goes on to say: money or silver answers everything, and this must be taken as two-fold: either that those learned men become rich after their praise, and take their place at the head of the people, or indeed, since money is always taken in return for a speech: for “the words of the LORD are pure words: as silver extracted in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” [Ps. 12, 6.] He asserts this because the ignoble crowd is always moved easily by eloquence and speeches, which are composed of a great foliage of words. Differently: those who have free-will and are forbidden to mourn and fast, make bread in their laughter. Isaac gets his name from this bread as well, and in the happiness of drinking they prepare wine. And so every holy man, who is teacher of the Church, as Christ commanded, makes bread in his laughter and happiness, and hands out cups of wine in his joy. Money also, which answers everything, is given out as five, and two and one talent for the head of the family in the Gospel [Cfr. Matth. 25, 15-30.]. And ten coins which are thought to be for slaves in business. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Oresiesis-Heru-sa Ast: Let each one do his work without chatting or shouting. Let absolutely no one laugh, so that there will not apply to us the reproach of the Scriptures, “They make bread for laughter.” If someone needs to ask his neighbor a question, he must do so quietly, without shouting.

Ecclesiastes 10:20

Athanasius of Alexandria: If then those things, which are spoken in secret against you that are kings, are not hidden, is it not incredible that I should have spoken against you in the presence of a king and of so many bystanders? — DEFENSE BEFORE CONSTANTIUS 3

Didymus the Blind: Generally one is advised not to say bad things about others. A curse is nothing else but a wish for something bad.…The word cautions against slander. Do not even have the intention, he says, of slandering someone—let alone actually slandering someone. Look at how great an evil this is: “Do not love speaking ill [of anyone], lest you be cut off.” Thus, he says the following: Not even in your thoughts, not even in your consciousness, should you “curse the king.” But if one is not supposed to curse anyone, the king should be cursed even less. — COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 313:13

Jerome: “Even in your thoughts do not curse a king, and in your bed-chamber do not curse the rich, for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter. “This simple example teaches the listeners that we should not be overpowered by anger and fury, and curse and blame kings and leaders, since it seems to happen against one’s wish, that what we curse is made known. And we run into danger by the inability to hold our tongue. He also says, “a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter”, this is to be understood as a exaggeration, just as we are accustomed to saying, ‘walls have ears to hear those things, which we think are said in private’. But it is better to hear a teaching in this way, so that we know that we have a commandment to follow, not only that nothing should be spoken rashly against Christ, but also in the secret places of our heart, however we are troubled by our many problems, nothing should be blasphemed, nothing thought which is impious. And since we owe love, that we have for Christ, the next part says, “love the Lord your God,” and even " your nearest” and “yourself”. [Matth. 22, 37.40.] He even orders this, so that afterwards we do not easily take the king away from the holy, and so that we do not slander by the wickedness of our tongue those who are rich in knowledge, wisdom and virtues, for they are the angels who fly around the earth and are administrators of the spirit. They say in Zechariah, “we have traversed the earth and look all the world is inhabited and quiet” [Zach. 1, 11.]. And just like birds, our words and thoughts are carried to heaven. And whatever we think in secret, is not hidden from God’s knowledge.

CHAPTER 11 — Commentary on Ecclesiastes