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Bible in Basic English

Ecclesiastes 10:6

The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   The Topic Concordance - Evil;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Dignities;   Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 20;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The fool is appointed to great heights,but the rich remain in lowly positions.
Hebrew Names Version
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
King James Version
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
English Standard Version
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
New American Standard Bible
foolishness is set in many exalted places while the rich sit in humble places.
New Century Version
Fools are given important positions while gifted people are given lower ones;
Amplified Bible
folly is set in many exalted places and in great dignity while the rich sit in humble places.
World English Bible
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Follie is set in great excellencie, and the riche set in the lowe place.
Legacy Standard Bible
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.
Berean Standard Bible
Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions.
Contemporary English Version
They honor fools, but dishonor the rich;
Complete Jewish Bible
fools are promoted to high positions, while the rich occupy humble places.
Darby Translation
folly is set in great dignities, but the rich sit in a low place.
Easy-to-Read Version
Fools are given important positions, while the rich get jobs that are not important.
George Lamsa Translation
The fool is set in high and powerful places, and the rich shall sit in a low place.
Good News Translation
Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored.
Lexham English Bible
The fool is set in many high places, but the rich sit in lowly places.
Literal Translation
folly is set in many high positions , and many rich men sit in low situations .
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in yt a foole sytteth in greate dignite, & the rich are sett downe beneth:
American Standard Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Folly is set on great heights, and the rich sit in low place.
King James Version (1611)
Folly is set in great dignitie; and the rich sit in lowe place.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
in that a foole sitteth in great dignitie, and the riche are set downe beneath.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The fool has been set in very high places, while rich men would sit in a low one.
English Revised Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and riche men sitte bynethe.
Update Bible Version
folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in a low place.
Webster's Bible Translation
Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.
New English Translation
Fools are placed in many positions of authority, while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.
New King James Version
Folly is set in great dignity, While the rich sit in a lowly place.
New Living Translation
when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.
New Life Bible
Fools are put in many places of honor, while rich men sit in places that are not important.
New Revised Standard
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Folly placed in great dignity, - while, the rich, in a low place, took their seat:
Douay-Rheims Bible
A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath.
Revised Standard Version
folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
Young's Literal Translation
He hath set the fool in many high places, And the rich in a low place do sit.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places.

Contextual Overview

4 If the wrath of the ruler is against you, keep in your place; in him who keeps quiet even great sins may be overlooked. 5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error which comes by chance from a ruler: 6 The foolish are placed in high positions, but men of wealth are kept low. 7 I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants. 8 He who makes a hole for others will himself go into it, and for him who makes a hole through a wall the bite of a snake will be a punishment. 9 He who gets out stones from the earth will be damaged by them, and in the cutting of wood there is danger. 10 If the iron has no edge, and he does not make it sharp, then he has to put out more strength; but wisdom makes things go well. 11 If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Folly: Judges 9:14-20, 1 Kings 12:13, 1 Kings 12:14, Esther 3:1, Psalms 12:8, Proverbs 28:12, Proverbs 28:28

dignity: Heb. heights

the rich: James 2:3-5

Reciprocal: Proverbs 14:29 - exalteth Ecclesiastes 10:17 - when 2 Peter 2:10 - to speak

Cross-References

Genesis 9:22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father unclothed, and gave news of it to his two brothers outside.
Genesis 10:8
And Cush was the father of Nimrod, who was the first of the great men of the earth.
Genesis 10:16
And the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite,
1 Chronicles 4:40
And they came to some good fertile grass-land, in a wide quiet country of peace-loving people; for the people who were living there before were of the offspring of Ham.
Psalms 78:51
He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;
Psalms 105:23
Then Israel came into Egypt, and Jacob was living in the land of Ham.
Psalms 105:27
He let his signs be seen among the people, and his wonders in the land of Ham.
Psalms 106:22
Works of wonder in the land of Ham, and things of fear by the Red Sea.
Isaiah 11:11
And in that day the hand of the Lord will be stretched out the second time to get back the rest of his people, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the sea-lands.
Jeremiah 46:9
Go up, you horses; go rushing on, you carriages of war; go out, you men of war: Cush and Put, gripping the body-cover, and the Ludim, with bent bows.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Folly is set in great dignity,.... Or "in great heights" q; in high places of honour and truest; even foolish and wicked men; men of poor extraction, of low life, and of mean abilities and capacities; and, which is worse, men vile and vicious, as Doeg the Edomite, Haman the Amalekite, and others;

and the rich sit in low places; men not only of fortune and estates, and above doing mean and little actions, and so more fit for such high places; but men rich in wisdom and knowledge, of large capacities and of great endowments of mind, and so abundantly qualified for posts in the administration of government; and, above all, men rich in grace, fearing God, and hating coveteousness, as rulers ought to be, Exodus 18:21; and yet these sometimes are neglected, live in obscurity, who might otherwise be very useful in public life. The Targum interprets this and the following verse of the Israelites in exile and poverty among the Gentiles for their sins; so Jarchi.

q במרומים רבים εν υψεσι μεγαλοις, Sept. "in celsitudinibus amplis", Piscator, Amama, Gejerus; "in sublimitatibus amplis", Cocceius; "in altitudinibus magnis", Rambachius; "in great height", Broughton.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “evil” of Ecclesiastes 10:5 is here specified as that caprice of a king by which an unworthy favorite of low origin is promoted to successive dignities, while a noble person is degraded or neglected.


 
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