Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 10:6-7 
Context10:6 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
Context10:20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts,
and do not curse the rich 5 while in your bedroom; 6
1 tn Heb “folly.”
2 tn Heb “high places.”
3 tn Or “servants,” so KJV, ASV, NCV, NLT (also in the following line).
4 tn Heb “upon the earth.”
5 tn Perhaps the referent is people who are in authority because of their wealth.
6 tn Heb “in chambers of your bedroom.”
7 tn Heb “a bird of the air.”
8 tn Heb “might carry the voice.” The article is used here with the force of a possessive pronoun.
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 tn The term “your” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
11 tn Heb “tell the matter.”
