11 If a snake gives a bite before the word of power is said, then there is no longer any use in the word of power.
12 The words of a wise man's mouth are sweet to all, but the lips of a foolish man are his destruction. 13 The first words of his mouth are foolish, and the end of his talk is evil crime. 14 The foolish are full of words; man has no knowledge of what will be; and who is able to say what will be after him? 15 The work of the foolish will be a weariness to him, because he has no knowledge of the way to the town.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:11-15
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:11-15
(Read Ecclesiastes 10:11-15)
There is a practice in the East, of charming serpents by music. The babbler's tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; and contradiction only makes it the more violent. We must find the way to keep him gentle. But by rash, unprincipled, or slanderous talk, he brings open or secret vengeance upon himself. Would we duly consider our own ignorance as to future events, it would cut off many idle words which we foolishly multiply. Fools toil a great deal to no purpose. They do not understand the plainest things, such as the entrance into a great city. But it is the excellency of the way to the heavenly city, that it is a high-way, in which the simplest wayfaring men shall not err, Isaiah 25:8. But sinful folly makes men miss that only way to happiness.