Ecclesiastes 10:6-7

10:6 Fools ¹  are placed in many positions of authority, ² 

while wealthy men sit in lowly positions.

10:7 I have seen slaves ³  on horseback

and princes walking on foot ⁴  like slaves.

Ecclesiastes 10:20

10:20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts,

and do not curse the rich ⁵  while in your bedroom; ⁶ 

for a bird ⁷  might report what you are thinking, ⁸ 

or some winged creature ⁹  might repeat your ¹⁰  words. ¹¹ 

[10:6]  ¹ tn Heb “folly.”

[10:6]  ² tn Heb “high places.”

[10:7]  ³ tn Or “servants,” so KJV, ASV, NCV, NLT (also in the following line).

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “upon the earth.”

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Perhaps the referent is people who are in authority because of their wealth.

[10:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “in chambers of your bedroom.”

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “a bird of the air.”

[10:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “might carry the voice.” The article is used here with the force of a possessive pronoun.

[10:20]  ⁹ 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.

[10:20]  ¹⁰ tn The term “your” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[10:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “tell the matter.”