Ecclesiastes 10:9
in Ecclesiastes 10The one who quarries stones may be injured by them, and he who splits logs endangers himself.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whoso heweth out stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood is endangered thereby.
KJV
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verse"He who moves about stones will be hurt by them; he who splits logs will be endangered by them. "In Zechariah sacred stones are moved about the earth. [Cfr. Zach. 9, 16.] For they do not stay firm in their place, but revolve, and always inclining to other places, they hasten to move away. The Saviour also teaches about these living stones in the city of the Apocalypse [Cfr. Apoc.
This site's exposition
He that diggeth a pit
on Ecclesiastes 10:8-11
Four hazards of work in a row: the pit-digger falling in, the hedge-breaker bitten by the serpent that nests in old walls, the quarrier hurt by his stones, the wood-cleaver endangered by his axe. The pit proverb is the reversal figure Proverbs 26:27 and Psalm 7:15 carry, and the hedge's serpent is Palestinian masonry fact before it is a moral, as the bench notes. The blunt iron of verse 10 gives the cluster its lesson, wisdom is profitable to direct: sharpening the edge beats adding strength, and verse 11 adds the timing clause, the charmer's skill is worthless after the serpent has bitten.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
He who moves stones etc. Here he shows secondly that a harsh and useless prelate is not to be promoted; and he threatens those who promote a harsh one: whence he says: He who moves stones, that is, promotes the hard and wicked to a …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Cuts out from the quarry [MAURER]. endangered--by the splinters, or by the head of the hatchet, flying back on himself. Pithy aphorisms are common in the East. The sense is: Violations of true wisdom recoil on the perpetrators.
Whoso removeth stones - This verse teaches care and caution. Whoever pulls down an old building is likely to be hurt by the stones; and in cleaving wood many accidents occur for want of sufficient caution.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
If the axe is blunt. Sharp swords, whose sharp edges have become dull. 15 The Gemara in Maseches Ta’anis 7b, applies this verse to the type of student to whom studies are hard as iron [=ברזל].
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
10. And when the people of Israel sin, and the heavens will become hard as iron and not give rain and that generation does not pray before 'ה so that the rain does not fall therefore, the whole world is wasted by famine, and when they repent and are assembled overcome their Yetzer and appoint leaders to seek mercy from the God of Heaven, they have pleasure due to the abundance of the excellence of their wisdom..
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַסִּ֣יעַ | masia' | [one who] quarries | H5265 → | |
| אֲבָנִ֔ים | ʾavanim | stones | H68 → | 273 times |
| יֵעָצֵ֖ב | yeatzev | he will be hurt | H6087 → | |
| בָּהֶ֑ם | bahem | by <the> them | ||
| בּוֹקֵ֥עַ | bokea' | [one who] cleaves | H1234 → | |
| עֵצִ֖ים | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| יִסָּ֥כֶן | yisakhen | he will be endangered | H5533 → | |
| בָּֽם׃ | bam | by <the> them |
מַסִּ֣יעַ[one who] quarries
masia'H5265 →
אֲבָנִ֔יםstones
ʾavanimH68 →273 times
יֵעָצֵ֖בhe will be hurt
yeatzevH6087 →
בָּהֶ֑םby <the> them
bahem
בּוֹקֵ֥עַ[one who] cleaves
bokea'H1234 →
עֵצִ֖יםwood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 times
יִסָּ֥כֶןhe will be endangered
yisakhenH5533 →
בָּֽם׃by <the> them
bam
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).