A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.
Parallel translations
- KJV A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.
- BSB A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
- NKJV A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, But a fool’s heart at his left.
- NASB A wise person’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish person’s heart directs him toward the left.
- NLT A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.
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
The wise person's heart inclines to the right hand, the fool's to the left, a picture of wisdom tending toward skill and protection. Wisdom orients a person toward what is good and effective.
Overview
Using right and left as ancient symbols of strength and weakness, Qoheleth contrasts the bent of the wise and the foolish heart. The 'heart' here means the inner seat of thought and will. The verse calls for a heart directed by wisdom, the kind of upright inclination God works in his people through grace (Proverbs 4:23; Psalm 51:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Luke 12:18–20He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
- Eccl 10:14A fool also multiplies words. Man doesn’t know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him?
- Prov 17:16Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, since he has no understanding?
- Luke 14:28–32For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
- Eccl 10:10If the ax is blunt, and one doesn’t sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but skill brings success.
- Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.
- Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
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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 10:2 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.