Ecc 10:8-10 | JFB | STEP | 8. The fatal results to kings of such an unwise policy; the wrong done to others recoils on themselves ( ); they fall into the pit which they dug for others ( ; ; ). Breaking through the wise fences of their throne, they suffer unexpectedly themselves; as when one is stung by a serpent lurking in the stones of his neighbor's garden wall ( ), which he maliciously pulls down ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 10:8-10

8. The fatal results to kings of such an unwise policy; the wrong done to others recoils on themselves (Ec 8:9); they fall into the pit which they dug for others (Es 7:10; Psa 7:15; Pr 26:27). Breaking through the wise fences of their throne, they suffer unexpectedly themselves; as when one is stung by a serpent lurking in the stones of his neighbor's garden wall (Psa 80:12), which he maliciously pulls down (Am 5:19).

9. removeth stones--namely, of an ancient building [Weiss]. His neighbor's landmarks [Holden]. Cuts out from the quarry [Maurer].

endangered--by the splinters, or by the head of the hatchet, flying back on himself. Pithy aphorisms are common in the East. The sense is: Violations of true wisdom recoil on the perpetrators.

10. iron ... blunt--in "cleaving wood" (Ec 10:9), answering to the "fool set in dignity" (Ec 10:6), who wants sharpness. More force has then to be used in both cases; but "force" without judgment "endangers" one's self. Translate, "If one hath blunted his iron" [Maurer]. The preference of rash to judicious counsellors, which entailed the pushing of matters by force, proved to be the "hurt" of Rehoboam (1Ki 12:1-33).

wisdom is profitable to direct--to a prosperous issue. Instead of forcing matters by main "strength" to one's own hurt (Ec 9:16, 18).