A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
Parallel translations
- WEB A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.
- KJV A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his 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 12:18–20Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods.
- Eccl 10:14Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?
- Prov 17:16Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?
- Luke 14:28–32Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
- Eccl 10:10If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success.
- Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools deceives them.
- Eccl 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Resources, by level
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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.