Ecclesiastes 5:2 BSB

Ecclesiastes 5:2

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 words be few.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes (420)

"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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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:

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
אַל־	'al-	may not	H408 →
תְּבַהֵ֨ל	te.va.Hel	you be hasty	H926 →
עַל־	'al-	on	H5921 →
פִּ֜יךָ	Pi.kha	mouth your	H6310 →
וְלִבְּךָ֧	ve.li.be.Kha	and heart your	H3820 →
אַל־	'al-	may not	H408 →
יְמַהֵ֛ר	ye.ma.Her	it hasten	H4116 →
לְהוֹצִ֥יא	le.ho.Tzi'	to bring forth	H3318 →
דָבָ֖ר	da.Var	a matter	H1697 →
לִפְנֵ֣י	lif.Nei	<to> before	H6440 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים	ha.'E.lo.Him	<the> God	H430 →
כִּ֣י	ki	for	H3588 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים	ha.'E.lo.Him	<the> God	H430 →
בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙	ba.sha.Ma.yim	[is] in the heavens	H8064 →
וְאַתָּ֣ה	ve.'a.Tah	and you	H859 →
עַל־	'al-	[are] on	H5921 →
הָאָ֔רֶץ	ha.'A.retz	the earth	H776 →
עַֽל־	'al-	there-	H5921 →
כֵּ֛ן	ken	-fore	H3651 →
יִהְי֥וּ	yih.Yu	let them be	H1961 →
דְבָרֶ֖יךָ	de.va.Rei.kha	words your	H1697 →
מְעַטִּֽים׃	me.'a.Tim	few	H4592 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 6:9
So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
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.
Through
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.
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…
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.
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.

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Walks through Ecclesiastes 5

Vanity Under the Sun — Ecclesiastes

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About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 5 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 5 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Ecclesiastes