Ecclesiastes 5:2
in Ecclesiastes 5Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
KJV
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5
Commentary
14 notes on this verse"Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God; for God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. For a dream comes from much concern, and foolish talk from many words." Several men think that this teaches here that we should not promise something too quickly in the presence of God, and without due consideration of our strengths we vow things, which we cannot then fulfil.
This site's exposition
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God
on Ecclesiastes 5:1-3
The Teacher turns from riches to reverence: Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. He would have the worshiper Draw near to listen. Verse 3 gives the parallel, As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
This site's exposition
Do not be quick to speak
Wesley and Henry read the hasty word as a rash prayer or vow spoken before God in His house. Heaven and earth mark the distance. Gregory of Nyssa takes that distance as the measure of how far God stands above reasoning, so few words keep the worshiper within his limits.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The passage in Ecclesiastes "Be not in haste to utter speech before God, because God is in heaven above and you on earth below" is intended to show the gap which separates those who are in the "body of humiliation" from him who is with the angels exalted by the help of the Word and from the holy powers with Christ himself. For it is not unreasonable that he should be strictly "at the Father's throne," allegorically called heaven, while his church, termed earth, is a footstool at his feet.
Listen to the Preacher exhorting not to be hasty to utter anything before God, "for God," (says he), "is in heaven above, and you upon earth beneath."He shows, I think, by the relation of these elements to each other, or rather by their distance, how far the divine nature is above the speculations of human reason. For that nature which transcends all intelligence is as high above earthly calculation as the stars are above the touch of our fingers, or rather, many times more than that. Knowing, then, how widely the divine nature differs from our own, let us quietly remain within our proper limits. For it is both safer and more reverent to believe the majesty of God to be greater than we can understand, than, after circumscribing his glory by our misconceptions, to suppose there is nothing beyond our conception of it.
"We do not know how to pray as we ought." He is not so much talking [about prayer] at this point as issuing a command not to theologize thoughtlessly. Indeed, anyone who belongs to this material world and whose thoughts have their origin in this …
Truly, if a person guards his mouth and acquires humility, the angels will be his friends here below; his soul will be a perfume poured out; the angels will carry his remembrance before God day and night, whether he is a monk or a secular. …
[It might be that] a person dedicates himself rashly, without comprehending what is esoteric of the wisdom of God and of the Word who is "in the beginning with God" and who is himself God. And … it is by means of the Word and God and by means of the wisdom with him that one must examine and discover these things. [Then] it must happen that he, by falling into myths and nonsense and fictions, submits himself to the danger that surrounds impiety.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Second, a remedy is given against foolish speech, which occurs in a threefold manner. "Do not rashly speak anything." Here he gives a remedy against foolish or disordered speech. Now speech is disordered either because it is inconsiderate; or because it is false, and this …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God,.... In private conversation care should be taken that no rash and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as were by Moses and David; and that no evil, nor even any idle word he uttered, since from, the abundance of the heart the mouth is apt to speak, and all is before, the Lord; not a word in the tongue but is altogether known by him, and must be accounted for to him, Psa 106:
): Be not rash with thy mouth, in making prayers, or protestations, or promises; let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. Note, (1.) When we are in the house of God, in solemn assemblies for religious worship, we are in a special manner before God and in his presence, there where he has promised to meet his people, where his eye is upon us and ours ought to be unto him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
To utter - Either in prayer, or vows. For God - Is a God of infinite majesty, holiness, and knowledge. Thy words - Either in prayer or in vowing.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This verse illustrates Ec 5:1, as to prayer in the house of God ("before God," Isa 1:12); so Ec 5:4-6 as to vows. The remedy to such vanities is stated (Ec 5:6). "Fear thou God." God is in heaven--Therefore He ought to be approached with carefully weighed words, by thee, a frail creature of earth.
Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy words, feel deeply, think much, speak little. “When ye approach his altar, on your lips Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure, Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared, Send up the silent breathings of your souls, Submissive to his will.” C.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
To utter a word before God. To speak critically toward [God] above.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Do not hurry on thy language so as to make a mistake in the words of thy mouth, and let not thy heart make a vow, resolving to do something at the time when thou prayest before the Lord, for the Lord rules over all the world, and sits upon the throne of glory in the high heavens, and thou sittest on earth, therefore let the words of thy mouth be few.
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.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּבַהֵ֨ל | tevahel | you be hasty | H926 → | 39 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּ֜יךָ | pikha | mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וְלִבְּךָ֧ | velibekha | and heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יְמַהֵ֛ר | yemaher | it hasten | H4116 → | |
| לְהוֹצִ֥יא | lehotzi' | to bring forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| דָבָ֖ר | davar | a matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ | bashamayim | [is] in the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְאַתָּ֣ה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [are] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֛ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִהְי֥וּ | yihyu | let them be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דְבָרֶ֖יךָ | devareikha | words your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| מְעַטִּֽים׃ | meatim | few | H4592 → | 101 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּבַהֵ֨לyou be hasty
tevahelH926 →39 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פִּ֜יךָmouth your
pikhaH6310 →498 times
וְלִבְּךָ֧and heart your
velibekhaH3820 →595 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יְמַהֵ֛רit hasten
yemaherH4116 →
לְהוֹצִ֥יאto bring forth
lehotzi'H3318 →1067 times
דָבָ֖רa matter
davarH1697 →1440 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙[is] in the heavens
bashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְאַתָּ֣הand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
עַל־[are] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
עַֽל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֛ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
יִהְי֥וּlet them be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
דְבָרֶ֖יךָwords your
devareikhaH1697 →1440 times
מְעַטִּֽים׃few
meatimH4592 →101 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 6:9So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
it leads to
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
- Luke 11:1–4
One day in a place where Jesus had just finished praying, one of His disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
- Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Psalms 111:9
He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name.
- Revelation 4:11
Through
Matthew 6:7And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 5:2–3
Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your…
- Ecclesiastes 5:2–3
Through
Isaiah 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
it leads to
- Romans 11:31–36
so they too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you.
- Psalms 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
- Romans 11:31–36
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 35:5.1-2; Gregory of Nyssa, ANSWER TO EUNOMIUS'S SECOND BOOK; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON PRAYER 23:4; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JEREMIAH 1:1 and Theodorus of Tabennese, FRAGMENT 2.