Ecclesiastes chapter 10

vs 11

Does he receive no fee because he's now on the floor writhing in pain and dying? Or just because he didn't do the job?

vs 12

Not a pretty picture. But it is interesting to think that proverbial wisdom is that being wise (or at least saying wise things) is less likely to get you into trouble. More than that, though - to be wise is to be gracious. Grace and wisdom are linked. Not something we'd accept in modern times, I think.

vs 13

Poor fools. They start out bad, but end up really very bad. Nebuchadnezzar sort of bad.

vs 14

Not the most adequate verse break up, I'd say. But hey, if you're ever looking for a fool, then it's someone who is not gracious, whose words end up biting them, who starts dumb and ends crazy, and who talks a lot. Damn it, why do they always sound like me?

This might be a reflection on fools, but it could also be more general. The fact is that we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Sure, the world follows a pretty reasonable order, but that order breaks down often enough for us to not be able to second guess a lot of things. It's funny - people often talk about how God put order into the world for our sakes, to make our lives better. And yet the disorder and inability to know what's going to happen is what makes us rely on him.

vs 15

And I do not know how to really comment on this verse. Do they work themselves so hard that they forget how to get home? I suppose that's possible.

vs 16

Remember that feasting is not just eating - it's celebrating, and so drunkenness can come pretty quickly when feasting. As for a king who was a servant, I think the idea is that generally those not raised to be leaders aren't going to be as good as those who are. Instant power can easily go to a person's head, and coming "from the people" in a rags-to-riches style is not generally a positive thing, no matter how many movies love the plot for their RomComs.

vs 17

The opposite of the last verse, and it helps to highlight some of the reasons - although noble birth is still reason enough, it seems.

vs 18

I assume because they don't get in and fix the problems. And as everyone knows, when problems with house structure don't get fixed, they get worse, and then require more work, and the loop goes on.

vs 19

I think this verse is strongly dripping with sarcasm, but that's just in my reading. I mean the fact is that feasts are for fun, and that wine does make people feel happy, and money does solve lots of problems. But everyone's been to a feast that wasn't fun, has found that wine didn't make them feel better, and knows that money can't buy everything.

vs 20

Hence "A little bird told me." Obviously birds don't really carry the information, but it is incredible how stupid people are when they say things out loud that other people really shouldn't hear. The number of criminals who get caught because they're talking about their crimes in pubs or coffee shops and someone overhears, it's crazy.