As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Parallel translations
- WEB Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to produce an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
- KJV Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
- NKJV Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.
- NASB Dead flies turn a perfumer’s oil rancid, so a little foolishness is more potent than wisdom and honor.
- NLT As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As dead flies spoil the perfumer's ointment, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Small foolishness can corrupt a reputation built on much wisdom.
Overview
This proverb warns that minor folly can have outsized destructive effects, tainting a person's standing as decay spoils fragrant oil. It urges vigilance against small compromises. The principle echoes the biblical caution that a little leaven works through the whole lump, calling believers to integrity in small things as well as great (1 Corinthians 5:6; Song of Solomon 2:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 5:13–16You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
- Gal 2:12–14For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
- Exod 30:25Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.
- Neh 13:26Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.
- 2 Chr 19:2Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
- Exod 30:34–35The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,
- Neh 6:13He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would sin by doing as he suggested, so they could give me a bad name in order to discredit me.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 10:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.