Text -- Ecclesiastes 10:20 (NET)

10:20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts, and do not curse the rich while in your bedroom; for a bird might report what you are thinking, or some winged creature might repeat your words.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Ecc 10:20

¹ tn Perhaps the referent is people who are in authority because of their wealth.

² tn Heb “in chambers of your bedroom.”

³ tn Heb “a bird of the air.”

⁴ tn Heb “might carry the voice.” The article is used here with the force of a possessive pronoun.

⁵ tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעַל הַכְּנָפַיִם (ba’al hakkÿnafayim, “possessor of wings”) is an idiom for a winged creature, that is, a bird (e.g., Prov 1:17; see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל A.6; BDB 127 s.v. בַּעַל 5.a). The term בַּעַל (“master; possessor”) is the construct governing the attributive genitive הַכְּנָפַיִם (“wings”); see IBHS 149-51 §9.5.3b.

⁶ tn The term “your” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

⁷ tn Heb “tell the matter.”