Yes also, when the fool walks by the way, his understanding fails him, and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
Parallel translations
- KJV Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool.
- BSB Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.
- NKJV Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, And he shows everyone that he is a fool.
- NASB Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.
- NLT You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!
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 fool's lack of sense shows even as he walks along, announcing his folly to everyone. Foolishness cannot stay hidden; it reveals itself in ordinary conduct.
Overview
Qoheleth notes that a fool's want of understanding is evident in his everyday behavior, broadcasting his character. Folly exposes itself without intending to. This reflects the wider biblical truth that the heart's condition is displayed in one's walk and words, for out of the heart the mouth speaks (Proverbs 13:16; Luke 6:45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 18:2A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.
- Prov 13:16Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.
- Prov 18:6A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.
- Eccl 5:3For as a dream comes with a multitude of cares, so a fool’s speech with a multitude of words.
- 1 Pet 4:4They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming:
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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 10:3 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
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