A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 5 DEALING WITH THE AWE OF GOD.

1. ECCLESTIASTES 5 COMME TARY
WRITTE A D EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Stand in Awe of God
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.
Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of
fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
BARNES, “Keep thy foot - i. e., Give thy mind to what thou art going to do.
The house of God - It has been said that here an ordinary devout Hebrew writer
might have been expected to call it “the house of Yahweh;” but to those who accept this
book as the work of Solomon after his fall into idolatry, it will appear a natural sign of
the writer’s self-humiliation, an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of
a son of the covenant, that he avoids the name of the Lord of the covenant (see Ecc_1:13
note).
Be more ready to hear - Perhaps in the sense that, “to draw near for the purpose of
hearing (and obeying) is better than etc.”
CLARKE, “Keep thy foot - This verse the Hebrew and all the versions join to the
preceding chapter.
Solomon, having before intimated, though very briefly, that the only cure against
human vanity is a due sense of religion, now enters more largely on this important
subject, and gives some excellent directions with regard to the right performance of
Divine service, the nature of vocal and mental prayer, the danger of rash vows, etc. - C.
The whole verse might be more literally translated thus: -
“Guard thy steps as thou art going to the house of God; and approach to hearken, and
not to give the sacrifice of fools, for none of them have knowledge about doing evil.”
“They offer gifts for their sins, and do not turn from their evil works; for they know not
(they distinguish not) between good and evil.” See the Chaldee.
GILL, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,.... The house of the
sanctuary of the Lord, the temple built by Solomon; and so any place of divine worship,
where the word of God is preached, and his ordinances administered. The wise man,
having observed many vanities under the sun, directs men to the house of God, where
they might learn the nature of them, and how to avoid them; though if care was not

2. taken, they would find or introduce vanity there; which, of all vanities, is the worst, and
ought to be guarded against. Wherefore, when men go to any place of divine worship,
which to do is their duty and interest, and for their honour, pleasure, and profit, they
should take care to "keep their feet", for the singular is here put for the plural, not from
going into it; nor does it signify a slow motion towards it, which should be quick, in
haste, showing earnestness, fervency, and zeal; but they should keep their feet in proper
case, in a suitable condition. The allusion is either to the pulling off of the shoes off the
feet, ordered to Moses and Joshua, when on holy ground, Exo_3:5; and which the Jews
observed, when they entered the temple on their festivals and sabbaths, even their kings,
as Juvenal (k) jeers them: not that such a rite should be literally used now, or what is
analogous to it; putting off of the hat, in a superstitious veneration of a place; but what
was signified by it, as the putting off of the old man, with his deeds, laying aside
depraved affections and sordid lusts; two apostles, James and Peter, have taught us this,
when we come to the house of God to hear his word, Jam_1:21; or the allusion is to the
custom of persons in those eastern countries dressing or washing their feet when they
visited, especially those of any note; and entered into their houses on any business, as
Mephibosheth, when he waited on David, 2Sa_19:24; or to the practice of the priests,
who washed their feet when they went into the tabernacle of the Lord, Exo_30:19.
Schindler (l) says that hence (because of this text) the Jews had before their synagogues
an iron fixed in the wall (which we call a "scraper"), on which they cleaned their shoes
before they went into the synagogue. All which may denote the purity and cleanness of
the conversation of the true worshippers of God; for, as the feet are the instruments of
the action of walking, they may intend the conduct and behaviour of the saints in the
house of God, where they should take care to do all things according to his word, which
is a lamp to the feet, and a light unto the path: moreover, what the feet are to the body,
that the affections are to the soul; and these, when a man enters into the house of God
for worship, should be set on divine and spiritual things, and not on the world, and the
things of it, which will choke the word heard, and make it unprofitable; the thoughts
should be composed, sedate, and quiet, and the mind attentive to what is spoken or
done; or otherwise, if diverted by other objects, the service will be useless;
and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools; there are sacrifices
to be offered unto God in his house, which are acceptable to him; the sacrifices of
beneficence and alms deeds to the poor, with which he is well pleased; and the
presentation of the bodies of men, as a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice unto him;
and especially their hearts, and those as broken and contrite, which are the sacrifices of
God; as also the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, which are acceptable to him
through Jesus Christ: and under the former dispensation, while sacrifices were in use by
divine appointment, when they were offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ, they
were well pleasing to God; but when they were not done in faith, and were without
repentance for sin and reformation of life; when men retained their sins with them, and
made these a cover for them, and thought by them to make atonement for their crimes,
they were no other than the sacrifices of fools, and abominable unto God; see Isa_1:11;
when these sacrifices were performed in the best manner, moral duties, as hearing and
obeying the word of the Lord, and showing mercy to men, and offering up the spiritual
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, were preferred unto them, 1Sa_15:22; and much
more to the sacrifices of fools. To be ready, or near (m), is to hear the word of the Lord,
as Jarchi interprets it; though Aben Ezra understands it of God being near to hear his
people, when they call upon him in truth. The word of the Lord was not only read
publicly in the temple and synagogues, but was explained by the priests and prophets,
the ecclesiastical rulers of the people; see Mal_2:7; so the Targum,

3. "draw near thine ear to receive the doctrine of the law, from the priests and wise men:''
and so the people of God should draw near to hear the word; be swift to hear it, attentive
to it, and receive it with all reverence, humility, love, and affection; and should not take
up with mere outward forms, which is but the sacrifice of fools;
for they consider not that they do evil; or "know not" (n); they think they are doing
well, and doing God good service, when they are doing ill; they know not truly the object
of worship, nor the spiritual nature of it, nor the right end and true use of it: or, "they
know not, only to do evil", so Aben Ezra supplies it: to do good they have no knowledge:
or, "they know not to do the will", or "good pleasure" (o); that is, of God; this sense of
the word Aben Ezra mentions.
HENRY, “Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by showing us its vanity,
is to drive us to God and to our duty, that we may not walk in the way of the world, but
by religious rules, nor depend upon the wealth of the world, but on religious advantages;
and therefore,
I. He here sends us to the house of God, to the place of public worship, to the temple,
which he himself had built at a vast expense. When he reflected with regret on all his
other works (Ecc_2:4), he did not repent of that, but reflected on it with pleasure, yet
mentions it not, lest he should seem to reflect on it with pride; but he here sends those to
it that would know more of the vanity of the world and would find that happiness which
is in vain sought for in the creature. David, when he was perplexed, went into the
sanctuary of God, Psa_73:17. Let our disappointments in the creature turn our eyes to
the Creator; let us have recourse to the word of God's grace and consult that, to the
throne of his grace and solicit that. In the word and prayer there is a balm for every
wound.
II. He charges us to behave ourselves well there, that we may not miss of our end in
coming thither. Religious exercises are not vain things, but, if we mismanage them, they
become vain to us. And therefore,
1. We must address ourselves to them with all possible seriousness and care: “Keep thy
foot, not keep it back from the house of God (as Pro_25:17), nor go slowly thither, as one
unwilling to draw nigh to God, but look well to thy goings, ponder the path of thy feet,
lest thou take a false step. Address thyself to the worship of God with a solemn pause,
and take time to compose thyself for it, not going about it with precipitation, which is
called hasting with the feet, Pro_19:2. Keep thy thoughts from roving and wandering
from the work; keep thy affections from running out towards wrong objects, for in the
business of God's house there is work enough for the whole man, and all too little to be
employed.” Some think it alludes to the charge given to Moses and Joshua to put off
their shoes (Exo_3:5, Jos_5:15,) in token of subjection and reverence. Keep thy feet
clean, Exo_30:19.
2. We must take heed that the sacrifice we bring be not the sacrifice of fools (of wicked
men), for they are fools and their sacrifice is an abomination to the Lord, Pro_15:8),
that we bring not the torn, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice, for we are plainly
told that it will not be accepted, and therefore it is folly to bring it, - that we rest not in
the sign and ceremony, and the outside of the performance, without regarding the sense
and meaning of it, for that is the sacrifice of fools. Bodily exercise, if that be all, is a jest;
none but fools will think thus to please him who is a Spirit and requires the heart, and

4. they will see their folly when they find what a great deal of pains they have taken to no
purpose for want of sincerity. They are fools, for they consider not that they do evil; they
think they are doing God and themselves good service when really they are putting a
great affront upon God and a great cheat upon their own souls by their hypocritical
devotions. Men may be doing evil even when they profess to be doing good, and even
when they do not know it, when they do not consider it. They know not but to do evil, so
some read it. Wicked minds cannot choose but sin, even in the acts of devotion. Or, They
consider not that they do evil; they act at a venture, right or wrong, pleasing to God or
not, it is all one to them.
3. That we may not bring the sacrifice of fools, we must come to God's house with
hearts disposed to know and do our duty. We must be ready to hear, that is, (1.) We
must diligently attend to the word of God read and preached. “Be swift to hear the
exposition which the priests give of the sacrifices, declaring the intent and meaning
of them, and do not think it enough to gaze upon what they do, for it must be a
reasonable service, otherwise it is the sacrifice of fools.” (2.) We must resolve to
comply with the will of God as it is made known to us. Hearing is often put for
obeying, and that is it that is better than sacrifice, 1Sa_15:22; Isa_1:15, Isa_1:16. We
come in a right frame to holy duties when we come with this upon our heart, Speak,
Lord, for thy servant hears. Let the word of the Lord come (said a good man), and if
I had 600 necks I would bow them all to the authority of it.
JAMISON, “From vanity connected with kings, he passes to vanities (Ecc_5:7) which
may be fallen into in serving the King of kings, even by those who, convinced of the
vanity of the creature, wish to worship the Creator.
Keep thy foot — In going to worship, go with considerate, circumspect, reverent
feeling. The allusion is to the taking off the shoes, or sandals, in entering a temple (Exo_
3:5; Jos_5:15, which passages perhaps gave rise to the custom). Weiss needlessly reads,
“Keep thy feast days” (Exo_23:14, Exo_23:17; the three great feasts).
hear — rather, “To be ready (to draw nigh with the desire) to hear (obey) is a better
sacrifice than the offering of fools” [Holden]. (Vulgate; Syriac). (Psa_51:16, Psa_51:17;
Pro_21:3; Jer_6:20; Jer_7:21-23; Jer_14:12; Amo_5:21-24). The warning is against
mere ceremonial self-righteousness, as in Ecc_7:12. Obedience is the spirit of the law’s
requirements (Deu_10:12). Solomon sorrowfully looks back on his own neglect of this
(compare 1Ki_8:63 with Ecc_11:4, Ecc_11:6). Positive precepts of God must be kept, but
will not stand instead of obedience to His moral precepts. The last provided no sacrifice
for willful sin (Num_15:30, Num_15:31; Heb_10:26-29).
YOUNG, "The house of God is wherever he is worshipped. At
the time of the utterance of this sermon, the temple was
the place for public worship. But even then men might
worship acceptably elsewhere : and they might worship
unacceptably at the temple. Bethel (the house of God)
had its name changed to Bethaven, (the house of idols,
Hos. X. 5,) on account of the calves which were set up
there and worshipped. We should fear, lest we make
our Bethels Bethavens. " Keep thy foot." " Stand still,
and be attentive."*
Different forms have been used to manifest reverence.

5. As we take off the hat in entering a place of worship, so
the ancients took off their shoes. Ex. iii. 5. We are,
however, to reverence God, and not the place.
" Sacrifice of fools." Worship is called a sacrifice be-
cause it is an offering. Hence the prophet Hosea speaks
of "the calves of the lips." Hos. xiv. 2.
" They consider not that they do evil." By irrever-
ence and evil motives, even worshippers do evil. Wor-
ship that is mere formality is offensive to God. They
that worship God " must worship him in spirit and in
truth."
PULPIT, “This verse, in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, forms the conclusion of Ecc_4:1-
16 ; and is taken independently; but the division in our version is more natural, and the connection of
this with the following verses is obvious. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, Some
read "feet" instead of "foot," but the singular and plural numbers are both found in this signification
(comp. Psa_119:59 , Psa_119:105 ; Pro_1:15 ; Pro_4:26 , Pro_4:27 ). To "keep the
foot" is to be careful of the conduct, to remember what you are about, whither you are going. There is
no allusion to the sacerdotal rite of washing the feet before entering the holy place (Exo_30:18
, Exo_30:19 ), nor to the custom of removing the shoes on entering a consecrated building, which
was a symbol of reverential awe and obedient service. The expression is simply a term connected with
man's ordinary life transferred to his moral and religious life. The house of God is the temple. The
tabernacle is called "the house of Jehovah" (1Sa_1:7 ; 2Sa_12:20 ), and this name is commonly
applied to the temple; e.g. 1Ki_3:1 ; 2Ch_8:16 ; Ezr_3:11 . But "house of God" is applied also to
the temple (2Ch_5:14 ; Ezr_5:8 , Ezr_5:15 , etc.), so that we need not, with Bullock, suppose
that Koheleth avoids the name of the Lord of the covenant as "a natural sign of the writer's humiliation
after his fall into idolatry, and an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of a son of the
covenant." It is probable that the expression here is meant to include synagogues as well as the great
temple at Jerusalem, since the following clause seems to imply that exhortation would be heard there,
which formed no part of the temple service. The verse has furnished a text on the subject of the
reverence due to God's house and service from Chrysostom downwards. And be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools. Various are the renderings of this clause. Wright, "For to draw
near to hear is (better) than the fools offering sacrifices." (So virtually Knobel, Ewald, etc.) Ginsburg,
"For it is nearer to obey than to offer the sacrifice of the disobedient;" i.e. it is the straighter, truer way
to take when you obey God than when you merely perform outward service. The Vulgate takes the
infinitive verb as equivalent to the imperative, as the Authorized Version, Appropinqua ut audias; but it
is best to regard it as pure infinitive, and to translate, "To approach in order to hear is better than to
offer the sacrifice of fools." The sentiment is the same as that in 1Sa_15:22 , 'Hath the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." The same thought occurs in Pro_21:3
; Psa_50:7-15 ; and continually in the prophets; e.g. Isa_1:11 ; Jer_7:21-23 ; Hos_6:6 , etc.
It is the reaction against the mere ceremonialism which marked the popular religion. Koheleth had
seen and deplored this at Jerusalem and elsewhere, and he enunciates the great troth that it is more
acceptable to God that one should go to his house to hear the Law read and taught and expounded,
than to offer a formal sacrifice, which, as being the offering of a godless man is called in proverbial
language "the sacrifice of fools" (Pro_21:27 ). The verb used here, "give" (nathan), is not the usual
expression for offering sacrifice, and may possibly refer to the feast which accompanied such
sacrifices, and which often degenerated into excess (Delitzsch). That the verb rendered "to hear" does

6. not mean merely "to obey" is plain from its reference to conduct in the house of God. The reading of
the Law, and probably of the prophets, formed a feature of the temple service in Koheleth's day; the
expounding of the same in public was confined to the synagogues, which seem to have originated in
the time of the exile, though there were doubtless before that time some regular occasions of
assembling together (see 2Ki_4:23 ). For they consider not that they do evil; Ὅι οὐκ εἰσὶν εἰδότες
τοῦ ποιῆσαι κακόν ; Qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali (Vulgate); "They are without knowledge, so that they
do evil" (Delitzsch, Knobel, etc.); "As they (who obey) know not to do evil" (Ginsburg). The words can
scarcely mean, "They know not that they do evil;" nor, as Hitzig has, "They know not how to be
sorrowful." There is much difficulty in understanding the passage according to the received reading,
and Nowack, with others, deems the text corrupt. If we accept what we now find, it is best to translate,
"They know not, so that they do evil;" i.e. their ignorance predisposes them to err in this matter. The
persons meant are the "fools" who offer unacceptable sacrifices. These know not how to worship God
heartily and properly, and, thinking to please him with their formal acts of devotion, fall into a grievous
sin.
STEDMAN
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; {Eccl 5:1a RSV}
1. Learn to let God be God; that is the first thing he declares to us. The lessons of
life will fall into place when you learn that. God is in charge of life, let him be in
charge; take these lessons from his hands.
The place to learn that is in the house of God. When you go there, guard your steps, i.e.,
enter thoughtfully, expect to be taught something. In ancient Israel, of course, the house
of God was the Temple in Jerusalem. There sacrifices were offered, and explanation was
made to the people as to what they meant. There the law was read, and the wisdom of
God about life was given to people; this marvelous Old Testament was unfolded, with its
tremendous insights into the truth about life, about what humanity basically and
fundamentally is. The Temple was the only place in the land where people could learn
these things. In our day the house of God is no longer a building. We must be clear about
that. You, the people, are the house of God. What the Searcher is saying is that when you
gather together as the people of God, be expectant; there is something to be learned.
Secondly, he says, listen carefully:
... to draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know
that they are doing evil. {Eccl 5:1b RSV}
A fool is somebody who glibly utters naive, ingenuous and usually false things. What the
Searcher clearly has in mind here is our tendency to complain and murmur about what
has been handed us in life. When we gripe and grouse about our circumstances we are
really complaining against God. We are complaining about the choice God has made in
his wonderful plan for our life. We will never learn to enjoy anything that way, not even
our pleasures, let alone our pain. So he says, listen carefully, for among the people of God
the truth of God is being declared; the wisdom of God is being set forth. Just this morning
a man said to me, "I have been going through a painful experience this past week. I
learned to see myself and it horrified me. I saw things in myself which I despise in
others." That is encouraging. There is a man who is learning truth about himself.
Caution for people often get to flippant and make all kinds of commitments under strong
emotions that they do not follow up. There can be foolish vanities and rash vows and
people are just triflers. Hamilton said, “We allow that there is a great contrast when the
sameness of sermons is not set over against the variety and vivacity of Scripture, and so
often is the text injured by its treatment that we have often wished that some power could

7. give it back in its original pungency, and divested of its drowsy associations. That
passage of the Word was a burning lamp, til the obscuring interpretation conveyed it
under a bushel.”
Branson Alcott, “To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.”
Flannery O’Connor said, “Ignorance is excusable when it is borne like a cross, but when
it is wielded like a an ax, and with moral indignation, then it becomes something else
indeed.” Ellen Glasgow said, “He knows so little and knows it so fluently.”
KRETZMAN, “v. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, carefully watching lest it
stray aside from the path leading to the Lord's Temple and such a person's heart be affected with
thoughts which interfere with true devotion, and be more ready to hear, rather, "approach to hear," to
listen to and to heed the Word of God, than to give the sacrifice of fools, as is done in thoughtless
and hypocritical worship; for they consider not that they do evil, they do not realize how deeply they
offend the Lord with their irreverent behavior.
PULPIT 1-7, “Vanities in worship.
I. IRREVERENCE. Specially exhibited in entering upon Divine service. Discommended and rebuked
as:
1. Inconsistent with the sanctity of the place of worship—the house of God. Wherever men convene to
offer homage to the Divine Being, in a magnificent cathedral or in a humble upper room, upon hillsides
and moors, or in dens and caves of the earth, there is a dwelling-place of Jehovah no less than in the
temple (Solomonic or post-exilic) or in the synagogue, of both which the Preacher probably thought.
What lends sanctity to the spot in which worshippers assemble is not its material surroundings,
artificial or natural (architectural elegance or cosmical beauty); it is not even the convening there of the
worshippers themselves, however exalted their rank or sacred the character of the acts in which they
engage. It is the unseen and spiritual, but real and supernatural, presence of God in the midst of his
assembled saints (Exo_20:24 ; Psa_46:4-7 ; Mat_18:20 ; Mat_28:20 ); and the simple
consideration of this fact, much more the realization of that nearness of God to which it points, should
awaken in the breast of every one proceeding towards and crossing the threshold of a Christian
sanctuary the feeling of awe which inspired Jacob on the heights of Bethel (Gen_28:17 ), Ethan the
Ezrahite (Psa_89:7 ), and Isaiah in the temple. (Isa_6:1 ). The thought of God's immediate
neighborhood and of all that it implies, his observance of both the persons of his worshippers (Gen_
16:16 ), and the secrets of their hearts (Psa_139:1 ), should put a hush on every spirit (Hab_
2:20 ; Zec_2:13 ), and dispose each one to "keep his foot," metaphorically, to "put off his shoe," as
Moses did at the bush (Exo_3:5 ), and Joshua in presence of the Captain of Jehovah's host (Jos_
5:15 ).
2. Opposed to the true character of Divine worship. When congregations assemble in the house of

8. God to do homage to him whose presence fills the house, this end cannot be attained by offering the
sacrifice of fools, i.e. by rendering such service as proceeds from unbelieving, disobedient, and
hypocritical hearts (Pro_21:27 ), but only by assuming the attitude of one willing to hear (1Sa_
3:10 ; Psa_85:8 ) and to obey not man but God (Psa_40:5 ). If unaccompanied by a disposition
to do God's will, mere external performances are of no value whatever, however imposing their
magnificence or costly their production. What God desires in his servants is not the outward offering of
sacrifices or celebration of ceremonies, but the inward devotion of the spirit (1Sa_15:22 ; Psa_
51:16 , Psa_51:17 ; Jer_7:21-23 ; Hos_6:6 ). The highest form of worship is not speaking of
or giving to God, but hearing and receiving from God.
3. Proceeding from ignorance both of the sanctity of the place and of the spirituality of its worship.
However the final clause may be rendered (see Exposition), its sense is that irreverence springs from
ignorance—from failing properly to understand the character either of that God they pretend to
worship, or of that worship they affect to render. Ignorance of God, of his nature as spiritual, of his
character as holy, of his presence as near, of his knowledge as all-observant, of his majesty as awe-
inspiring, of his power as irresistible, is the prime root of all wrong worship, as Christ said of the
Samaritans (Joh_4:22 ), and as Paul told the Athenians (Act_17:23 ).
II. FORMALITY. Manifested when engaged in Divine service and more particularly in prayer. Two
phases of this evil commented on.
1. Rashness in prayer. (Verse 2.) Hasty utterance of whatever comes uppermost, as if any jangle of
words might suffice for devotion—a manner of prayer totally inconsistent with the thought that one is
standing in the Divine presence. If a petitioner would hardly venture to lay his requests before an
earthly sovereign, how much less should a suppliant draw near to Heaven's throne without calm
forethought and deliberation? Moreover, it is inconsistent with the real nature of prayer, which is a
making known to God of the soul's needs with thankful acknowledgment of the Divine mercies; and
how can one either state his own wants or record God's mercies who has never taken time to
investigate the one or count up the other?
2. Prolixity in prayer. Much speaking, endless and unmeaning repetitions—a characteristic of
Pharisaic devotions adverted to by Christ (Mat_6:7 ), and difficult to harmonize either with a due
regard to the majesty of God or with the possession of that inward calm which is a necessary condition
of all true prayer. As a dreamer's eloquence, usually turgid and magniloquent, proceeds from an
unquiet state of the brain, which during day has been unduly excited by a rush of business or by the
worries of waking hours, so the multitude of words emitted by a "fool's 'voice is occasioned by the
inward disquiet of a mind and heart that have not attained to rest in God. At the same time, "the
admonition, 'let thy words be few,' is not meant to set limits to the fire of devotion, being directed, not
against the inwardly devout, but against the superficially religious, who fancy that in the multitude of

9. their words they have an equivalent for the devotion they lack" (Hengstenberg).
III. INSINCERITY. Displayed after leaving Divine service, more especially in the non-fulfillment of vows
voluntarily taken while engaged in worship. Against this wickedness the preacher inveighs.
1. Because such conduct cannot be other than displeasing to God. "When thou vowest a vow, defer
not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed." As the Almighty himself
is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever," "without variableness or shadow of turning," and
"changeth not," so he desires in all his worshippers the reflection at least of this perfection, and cannot
regard with favor one who plays fast and loose with his promises to men, and far less with his vows to
God.
2. Because such conduct is in no sense unavoidable. A worshipper is under no obligation to vow
anything to Jehovah. Whatever is done in this direction must proceed from the clearest free-will.
Hence, to escape the sin of breaking one's vows, one is at liberty not to vow (Deu_23:21-23 ).
Hence also should one cautiously guard against the utterance of rash and sinful vows like those of
Jephthah (Jdg_11:30 ) and of Saul (1Sa_14:24 ), lest through fulfilling (no less than through
breaking) them one should incur sin. Similarly, "we must not vow that which through the frailty of the
flesh we have reason to fear we shall not be able to perform, as those that vow a single life and yet
know not how to keep their vow" (Matthew Henry). The same remark applies to taking vows of total
abstinence from meats and drinks.
3. Because such conduct cannot escape the just judgment of God. The rashly uttered vow, afterwards
left unfulfilled, sets the speaker of it in the place of a sinner, upon whom as guilty God will inflict
punishment. Thus through his mouth, his "flesh," or his body, i.e. his whole personality, of which the
flesh or body is the outer covering, is caused to suffer. Being just and holy, God can by no means
clear the guilty (Exo_34:7 ), although he can justify the ungodly (Rom_4:5 ). Hence the vow-
breaker cannot hope to elude the due reward of his infidelity.
4. Because such conduct is practically indefensible. To say before the angel or presiding minister in
the temple or synagogue in whose hearing the vow haft been registered that the registration of it had
been an error, was, in the judgment of the Preacher, no excuse, but rather an aggravation of the
original offence, and a sure means of drawing down upon the offender the anger of God, and of
causing God to effectually thwart and utterly destroy the designs his pretended worshipper had, first in
making his vows and afterwards in breaking them; and so, when one retreats from protestations and
promises made to God, it is no justification of his conduct in the eyes of others who may have listened
to or become aware of his votive engagements, to aver that he had made them in error. Nor is it
sufficient to excuse one in God's sight to say that one was mistaken in having promised to do so-and-
so. Hence, if one vows before God with regard to matters left in his option, it is his duty to fulfill these

10. vows, even should it be to his hurt. But in all respects it is wiser and better not to vow except in such
things as are already enjoined upon one by God; and should it be said that no possible need can arise
for taking upon one's self by voluntary obligation what already lies upon one by Divine prescription,
this will not be denied. Yet one may vow to do what God has commanded in the sense of resolving to
do it—always in dependence on promised grace; and with regard to this no better counsel can be
offered than that given by Harvey—
ISBET, “THE ETHICS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the
sacrifice of fools.’
Ecc_5:1
I. God, Who is present at all times and everywhere, has nevertheless appointed particular
seasons and especial places in which He has promised to manifest Himself more clearly, more
powerfully, and more graciously to men. The pious heart finds a temple of God everywhere. It is itself a
temple of God. Yet even hence the need of other temples does appear, for what one good man
considered by himself is, that God commands us all as a body to be. In order that we may all be thus
united together as one man, we must have public assemblies, we must have visible temples, in which
God, angels, and men may together meet.
II. From the consideration of the dignity and blessedness of men regarded in their relations to
one another and to the holy angels, and as united for the performance of that work wherein
their highest dignity and blessedness consists—namely, intercourse with God—the necessity
which thence arises for the existence of holy places is clearly evident. (1) God commanded Moses to
frame a tabernacle in which He might dwell among His people Israel. (2) The constant attendance of
our Blessed Lord at the public worship of the synagogue and that of the Apostles at the Temple afford
sufficient proof of their opinion concerning this matter.
III. To keep our feet diligently is to order devoutly not merely our thoughts, but our words,
looks, and gestures, lest we be guilty not only of irreverence towards God, but of folly towards
ourselves and of sin towards our brethren.
—
Bishop C. Wordsworth.
Illustration
‘Narrowing the application to worship, what does it say to us? Let us be truthful in our hymns, our
prayers, and our preaching. We must not call ourselves “miserable sinners” unless we believe that we
are so. Our prayers are full of vows; let us keep them. Our hymns are full of aspirations; let us try to
live up to them. What covenant did you enter into with God when you were brought into the Church?
Was not your baptism a promise to walk in newness of life? Ask yourself whether you are not often
guilty of breaking your promises made to God in confirmation.’
TRAPP, “Ecc_5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear,
than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

11. Ver. 1. Keep thy foot,] q.d., Wouldst thou see more of the world’s vanity than hitherto hath been
discoursed? get thee "to the sanctuary," as David did. {Psa_73:17 } For as they that walk in a mist
see it not so well as those that stand on a hill; so they that have their hands elbow deep in the world
cannot so easily discern what they do as those that go a little out from it. To the house of God
therefore, to the temple and synagogues, to the churches and oratories steer thy course, take thy way.
Only "see to thy feet," i.e., keep thy senses and affections with all manner of custody, from the mire of
wicked and worldly matters. Shoes we have all upon our feet - that is, to speak in St James’s phrase,
"filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness" {Jam_1:21 } in our hearts, that must be put off at God’s
school door, as God taught Moses and Joshua. {Exo_3:5 Jos_5:15 } And Pythagoras, having
read Moses belike, taught his scholars as much, when he saith, áíõðïäçôïò èõå êáé ðñïóêõíåé , Put off
thy shoes when thou sacrificest and worshippest. His followers, the Pythagoreans, expounded his
meaning, when they would not have men åí ðáñïäù ðñïóêõíåéí , but ïéêïèåí ðáñáóêåõáóáìåíïé ,
worship God carelessly or by the way, but prepare themselves at home aforehand. And Numa
Pompilius, one that had tasted of his learning, would not have men worship the gods åí ðáñåñãù êáé
áìåëùò , by the by, and for fashion, but ÷ïëçí áãïíôáò áðï ôùí áëëùí , at good leisure, and as making
religion their business. {a} In the law of Moses, the priests were commanded to wash the inwards and
the feet of the sacrifice in water. And this was done, ðáíõ óõìâïëéêùò , saith Philo, not without a
mystery - sc., to teach us to keep our feet clean when we draw nigh to God. Antonius Margarita, in his
book of the rites and ceremonies of the Jews, tells us that before their synagogues they have an iron
plate, against which they wipe and make clean their shoes before they enter; and that being entered,
they sit solemnly there for a season, not once opening their mouths, but considering who it is with
whom they have to do. Thus it was wont to be with them; but alate though they come to their
synagogues with washen hands and feet, yet for any show of devotion or elevation of spirit, they are
as reverent, saith one that was an eyewitness, {b} as grammar boys are at school when their master is
absent: their holiness is the mere outward work itself, being a brainless head and a soulless body. And
yet upon the walls of their synagogues they write usually this sentence, by an abbreviature, "Tephillan
belo cauvannah ceguph belo neshamah," i.e., A prayer without effection, is like a body without a soul.
Solinus report eth of the Cretians, that they do very religiously worship Diana, and that no man may
presume to come into her temple but barefooted. {c}Satan Dei aemulus, The devil is God’s ape. He led
these superstitious Ethnics captive, as the Chaldeans did the Egyptians, "naked and barefoot" {d}
{Isa_20:2 ; Isa_20:4 }
When thou goest to the house of God.] Called "the gate of heaven," {Gen_28:17 } such as none
but "the righteous" may "enter," {Psa_118:20 } the "beauty of holiness," the place of angels and
archangels, the kingdom of God, yea, heaven itself, {e} as Chrysostom calls it. The French Protestants
called their meeting house in Paris paradise. The primitive Christians {f} called such
places êõñéáêïõò , whence kirks, churches, and the Lord’s houses; and basilicas, kingly palaces. Now

12. it is held an uncivil thing to come to the palace of a king with dirty shoes, or to eat at his table with foul
hands. Men wash their hands every day of course, but when to dine with a prince, they wash them with
balls. So it should be here; when we come to God’s house we should come with the best preparation
we can make; we should also be there with the first, and stay till the last, as doorkeepers use to do,
which office in God’s house David held a high preferment. {Psa_84:10 } And while we are there, let
our whole deportment be as in the presence of the great God, whom we must look full in the face, and
be ready to hear, as those good souls inAct_10:33 ; "Now therefore we are all here present before
God," say they, "to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." Neither must we hear only with
the hearing of the ear, but with the obedience of the heart and life - for so the original word here
signifieth; Gen_3:17 , "Because thou hast heard," that is, obeyed, "the voice of thy wife," &c. -
hearing diligently without distraction, and doing readily without sciscitation.
Than to give the sacrifice of fools,] i.e., The formalities and external services of profligate professors
that think to set off with God for their sins by their sacrifices; for their evil deeds by their good. Hence
they burden God’s altar, and even cover it with their sacrifices; sticking in the bark and gnabling upon
the shell of holy services, not once piercing to the heart or tasting of the kernel thereof, and are
therefore "abominable, because disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." {Tit_1:16 } How
many are there at this day that not only pray by tale, as Papists do by their beads, but turn over other
duties of religion as a mere task, holding only a certain stint of them, as malt horses {g} do their pace,
or mill horses their round, merely out of form and custom, those banes and breaknecks of due
devotion! These do not only lose their labour but commit sin, {Isa_1:14 } compass God with a lie,
{Hos_11:12 } because they wash not their feet before they compass God’s altar. The heathen orator
{h} can tell these fools of the people, Deum non superstitione coli velle, sed pietate, that God requires
the heart in all holy duties, and must be served in spirit, {Joh_4:24 } even toto corde, id est amore
summo, more vero, ore fideli, re omni.
“ Hoc non fit verbis: Marce, ut ameris, ama. ” - Martial.
For they consider not that they do evil.] That they despite him with seeming honours, with
displeasing service, which is double dishonour; with seeming sanctity, which is double iniquity, and
deserves double damnation. This they so little consider, that they think God is greatly beholden to
them, and does them no small wrong that he so little regards and rewards them. {Isa_58:3Mal_
3:14 } Non sic Deos coluimus ut ille nos vinceret, said that emperor, {i} going into the field against his
enemy. We have not so served the gods, that they should serve us no better than to give the enemy
the better of us.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.

13. Reverence and fidelity
This passage is a series of cautions against irreverence and insincerity in worship,
against discouragement because of political wrongs, and against the passion for, and
misuse of, great riches. Distrust in God underlies all these evils. Humble faith in and
reliance upon Him, in the contrast, mark the wise man. Note—
I. One’s proper bearing in the Lord’s house (Ecc_5:1-7).
1. In the first three verses carelessness and loose speech are condemned in all who
come into the presence chamber of the Almighty. So it is when subjects appear
before any sovereign to do him honour or make request. Exact address and studied
phrase are required. The free and easy spirit which will not regard these is expelled
hastily and with great indignation. Earthly dignities are but a faint type of the
heavenly. The soul which faintly realizes this will come before Him with “few words,”
if he be a Sinaitic worshipper; “in fulness of faith” and “with boldness,” if he be a
Christian believer.
2. In the further admonition, hasty and ill-considered pledges are forbidden. Impetuous
promising is the worst kind of trifling, and the Church or person who incites another to
it only works him harm. We are in agreement with the Mosaic legislation regarding such
impiety, “If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.” Sin lies, not in the
refusal to make a partial and ill-considered pledge to God, but in not heeding that first of
all His commands, “Give me thine heart.” Cordial assent to this requirement makes one
an accepted worshipper, whose acts and words do not conflict when he appears before
God. Thoughtless, giddy, garrulous lips here are an abomination unto Him. One might
better be dreaming and know it.
II. The duty of relying upon the Divine justice (Ecc_5:8-9). The victims of tyranny and
wrong have not ceased wailing. We hear their pitiful cries in every era of the world’s
history.
III. The delusive character of wealth (Ecc_5:10-12). To denounce riches generally is as
though one inveighed against the air: all men breathe it. All men just as naturally long
for these material treasures. But our lungs are fitted to receive only a certain volume; we
cannot use more. We cannot store it for consumption, enjoying it all the more that
others have not as much. And the like is true of these earthly possessions. Beyond the
mere provision for food, and raiment, and shelter, and our varied tastes, they have no
power to minister, though piled high and broad as the pyramids. “He cannot reach to
feel them,” as the philosopher says. Yet the deceit is universal, that the more one can
amass the nearer he will come to perfect contentment. He will not believe that he chases
thus only a shadow—that it is as far from his embrace when he counts his millions as
when he had only units. He may as well expect to quench his thirst by drinking of the
ocean. (De Wm. S. Clark.)
Reverence and fidelity
With chapter five begins a series of proverbial sayings somewhat like those of the Book
of Proverbs, but showing more internal connection. These represent some of the
experimental knowledge which had come to the heart in its chase after many things. We
may use them, as we do the Proverbs, as condensations of wisdom, each having a
completeness in itself.
I. worship (verses 1-7).

14. 1. The proper manner of worship is here suggested to us. It mush be with a full
intention of the heart and not merely with the outward symbols. Always in worship,
even when it is most freed of external props, there is the opportunity for a lack of
right intention, and, therefore, a lack of meaning to God as well as to men. Worship
must always be interpreted by the condition of heart of the worshipper.
(1) Thought is necessary to due worship (verse 1). It would be a good thing for
every one of us if we would ask ourselves as we pass through the portals of God’s
house, “Do I really mean to worship God this hour?” If we cannot say yes, would
it not be better for us not to enter?
(2) Deliberateness is necessary to acceptable worship (verse 2). To be rash with our
mouth, to rattle off a formula, however well constructed, without weighing the meaning,
this is not to please God.
(3) Brevity is a virtue in worshipful utterance. God is high above us; we are here in a
position that should make us most deeply respectful towards Him. We should use well-
weighed words before Him, and well-weighed words are few. The touching prayers of the
Bible—the publican’s, Christ’s on the cross, Soul’s at his conversion—were brief.
2. Vows formed a considerable element in the old Jewish worship, and are more or
less recognized in the New Testament. We promise to do certain things: to be faithful
to Christ and His Church, to love our fellow-Christians, to obey those who are over
us in Christ, etc. These are vows, pledges given to God, and they should be kept as
scrupulously as we would keep a business obligation signed with our own hand.
II. A difficult passage concerning statecraft follows. The State may be mismanaged, but
it is wisest to make the best of it. “If thou seest oppression of the poor and violation of
justice and righteousness in the government of a province, be not astonished at the
matter. Such perversion of state-craft is not confined to the petty officials whose deeds
you know. Clear up to the top of the Government it is apt to be the same. For there is a
high one over a high one watching, and higher persons over them, and all are pretty
much alike” (verse 8). “But the advantage of a land in every way is a king devoted to the
field” (verse 9). The idea here is that the old simple agricultural form of government was
the best for the people of that day. The general meaning is that good government comes
from having rulers who are not rapacious for their own aggrandizement, but have the
interests of the country at heart.
III. The matter of riches, which requires such special thought to-day, when riches come
easily and to many, was not without its importance in the olden time.
1. Wealth then as now was unsatisfying (verse 10). It held out promises which it had
no power to fulfil. It said to men, “Be rich and you will be happy.” They became rich,
but they were not happy. The soul is made to crave the most ethereal kind of food;
but the rich man tries to satisfy it with coarse things. It is made to hunger for the
things of heaven; he thrusts upon it the things of earth.
2. Here also is emphasized the thought that the increase of wealth is not satisfying
(verse 11).
3. And then comes the old lesson, which many a rich man has confessed to be true, but
which those who are not rich find it very hard to believe true, that labour with
contentment is better than wealthy idleness (verse 12). Many a successful millionaire has
confessed that his happiest hours were in the beginning of his career, when he felt that
he must work hard for his wife and babies, and when he returned home at night with a
sweet sense of contented fatigue that never comes now in his anxious days of great
prosperity.” (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)

15. Behaviour in church
I. That you should enter the scene of public worship with devout preparation. “Keep thy
foot,” etc. The mad whom Solomon addresses is supposed to be on his way to the house
of God. The character of a man’s step is often an index to the state of his soul. There is
the slow step of the dull brain and the quick step of the intensely active; there is the step
of the proud and the step of the humble, the thoughtless and the reflective. The soul
reveals itself in the gait, beats out its own character in the tread.
1. Realize the scene you are entering. It is “the house of God.” Whom are you to
meet? “The high and holy One,” etc. Draw not hither thoughtlessly. “Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet,” etc. (Exo_3:5). “How dreadful is this place!” etc. (Gen_28:16-17).
Do not rush hither.
2. Realize the solemnity of the purpose. It is to meet with the Mighty Creator of the
universe, whom you have offended and insulted. It is to confess to Him, and to implore
His forgiveness.
II. That you should listen to the instruction of public worship with deep attention.
Having entered the house of God, it is your duty to be more “ready to hear, than to offer
the sacrifice of fools.”
1. You should attend with profound carefulness to the services of God’s house, that
you may avoid a great evil,—that of “offering the sacrifice of fools.” Mere bodily
sacrifices are the sacrifice of fools (Eze_33:31). Lip services are the sacrifice of fools
(Isa_29:13). The hypocritical services are the sacrifices of fools (Luk_18:11-12). What
are the sacrifices that God will accept? (Psa_51:17; Isa_66:2).
2. You should attend with profound carefulness to the services of God’s house that your
mind may be in a right state to receive true good. “Be more ready to hear,” etc.
(1) Be ready to hear teachably. Let the soul be open as the parched garden in
summer to the gentle showers.
(2) Be ready to hear earnestly. Wonderful things are propounded in the house of God;
things vitally connected with your everlasting well-being.
(3) Be ready to hear practically. All the truths are to be appropriated, embodied, and
brought out in life.
III. That you should attend to the engagements of public worship with profound
reverence. “Be not rash with thy mouth,” etc. Let thy words be in harmony with thy real
state of soul; and see that thy state of soul is truthful and right. There seem to be two
reasons here against vapid verbosity in worship.
1. The vast disparity between the worshipper and the object he addresses. “For God
is in heaven,” etc. Duly realize His presence and greatness, and you will become all
but speechless before Him. Isaiah did so (Isa_6:1-6).
2. The fearful tendency of an empty soul to an unmeaning verbosity (verse 3).
(Homilist.)
A dream cometh through the multitude of business.—
The prayer and the dream
There is an analogy instituted between voluminous prayer and the voluminous dream.
The dream arises out of the various transactions of business, and the fool’s prayer

16. springs from the variety of his vocabulary. Confusion is the characteristic of both. They
are produced by external influences. The soul as a directing rational power is asleep.
Dim memories of things mingle in a wild phantasmagoria before the closed portals of
the sense of the dreamer. It is just so with the worshipping word-monger. The nature
and character of God, the promises, Scripture language, are floating before the closed
vision of the pietistic dreamer, and his prayers are a jumble of disjointed things. This
will always be the case with him who gives himself up to the external influences. But as it
is better to dream than to be dead, so is it always better to pray, even disjointedly and
wildly, than to be without that breath of the spiritual life. The mere enthusiast, guided by
no reason in his devotions, may be brought under its direction; but how shall mere
reason become enthusiastic? We answer, by the action of the Spirit of God on the soul.
What we need is this Spirit. We can prophesy to the dry bones, and clothe them with
flesh; but the Spirit of God is needed that they may stand up and become an army of
God. “Come, O breath, and breathe on those slain, that they may live,” is to be our
prayer. When we have got the answer to that petition, we shall be living, loving, active
Christians. (J. Bonnet.)
EBC 1-7, “Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
So also a happier and more effective Method of Worship is open to Men.
The men of affairs are led from the vocations of the Market and the intrigues of the
Divan into the House of God. Our first glance at the worshippers is not hopeful or
inspiriting. For here are men who offer sacrifices in lieu of obedience; and here are men
whose prayers are a voluble repetition of phrases which run far in advance of their
limping thoughts and desires: and there are men quick to make vows in moments of
peril, but slow to redeem them when the peril is past. At first the House of God looks
very like a House of Merchandise, in which brokers and traders drive a traffic as
dishonest as any that disgraces the Exchange. But while the merchants and politicians
stand criticising the conduct of the worshippers, the Preacher turns upon them and
shows them that they are the worshippers whom they criticise; that he has held up a
glass in which they see themselves as others see them; that it is they who vow and do not
pay, they who hurry on their mouths to utter words which their hearts do not prompt,
they who take the roundabout course of sinning and sacrificing for sin instead of that
plain road of obedience which leads straight to God.
But what comfort for them is there in that? How should it help them, to be beguiled into
condemning themselves? Truly there would not be much comfort in it did not the
compassionate Preacher forthwith disclose the secret of this dishonest worship, and give
them counsels of amendment. He discloses the secret in two verses (Ecc_5:3 and Ecc_
5:7), which have much perplexed the readers of this book. He there explains that just as
a mind harassed by much occupation and the many cares it breeds cannot rest even at
night, but busies itself in framing wild disturbing dreams, so also is it with the foolish
worshipper who, for want of thought and reverence, pours out before God a multitude of
unsifted and unconsidered wishes in a multitude of words. In effect he says to them:
"You men of affairs often get little help or comfort from the worship of God because you
come to it with preoccupied hearts, just as a man gets little comfort from his bed because
his brain, jaded and yet excited by many cares, will not suffer him to rest. Hence it is that
you promise more than you perform, and utter prayers more devout than any honest
expression of your desires would warrant, and offer sacrifices to avoid the charge and
trouble of obedience to the Divine laws. And as I have shown you a more excellent way of

17. transacting business than the selfish grasping mode to which you are addicted, so also I
will show you a more excellent style of worship. Go to the House of God ‘with a straight
foot,’ a foot trained to walk in the path of obedience. Keep your heart, set a watch over it,
lest it should be diverted from the simple and devout homage it should pay. Do not urge
and press it to a false emotion, to a strained and insincere mood. Let your words be few
and reverent when you speak to the Great King. Do not vow except under the
compulsion of steadfast resolves, and pay your vows even to your own hurt when once
they are made. Do not anger God, or the angel of God who, as you believe, presides over
the altar, with idle unreal talk and idle half-meant resolves, making vows of which you
afterwards repent and do not keep, pleading that you made them in error or infirmity.
But in all the exercises of your worship show a holy fear of the Almighty; and then, under
the worst oppressions of fortune and the heaviest calamities of time, you shall find the
House of God a Sanctuary, and his worship a strength, a consolation, and a delight."
This, surely, was very wholesome counsel for men of business in hard times.
HAWKER, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to
hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. (2) Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for
God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Perhaps Solomon had in view the situation of Moses at the bush, and of Joshua, before
the captain of the Lord’s host, by Jericho. Exo_3:5; Jos_5:13-15. But keeping the foot,
on entering the house of God, certainly carries with it a reference to the corresponding
affections suited to a true spiritual worshipper. Under the gospel dispensation, we may
suppose it implies what our Lord Jesus taught of worshipping God, who is a Spirit, in
spirit, and in truth. Joh_4:23-24.
SBC, “I. In the fourth chapter Koheleth comes to the conclusion that life is essentially
and irretrievably wretched—wretched not because (as he had formerly thought) it would
so soon be over, but wretched because it lasted too long. All that pleasure did for him
was thus to increase his gloom. There was one thing he had forgotten in making out his
programme: he had forgotten the miseries of other people. The prosperity he secured for
himself did not remove their adversity, but only brought it out into more startling relief.
He was infected by their wretchedness, for in the midst of all his dissipation he had
preserved a kindly heart. "I considered," he says, "the tears of those who are oppressed,
and who have no comforter." The oppression of the poor by the rich was one of the most
characteristic phases of Oriental society. To be poor was to be weak, and to be weak was
to be reduced more or less into the condition of a slave.
II. In Ecc_5:4 Koheleth makes a new departure. He remarks that greed is at the bottom
of a good deal of human misery. All work, he says, and all dexterity in work, is due to
envy, to a jealous determination to outstrip our neighbours, to what Mallock calls the
"desire for inequality." In contrast to the career of selfish isolation, Koheleth describes
the advantages of sympathetic co-operation with one’s fellow-men. We should not, he
says, strive against one another, each for his own good; we should strive with one
another, each for the good of the whole. Co-operation is preferable to competition.

18. III. It now occurs to Koheleth that we may perhaps find some help in religious
observances. He has already pointed out to us how we are hemmed in on all sides by
limitations and restrictions. It must evidently be important what attitude we assume
towards the Power which thus checks and thwarts us. Take care, he says, how you go
into the house of God, how you perform your sacrifices, and prayers, and vows. He
teaches us, as wise men have always taught, that obedience is better than sacrifice.
Again, the value of prayer depends not on its length, but on its sincerity. Speak only out
of the fulness of your heart. God is not to be trifled with. He cannot be deluded into
mistaking for worship what is mere idle talk.
A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204.
MACLAREN 1-12, “LESSONS FOR WORSHIP AND FOR WORK
This passage is composed of two or perhaps three apparently disconnected sections. The
faults in worship referred to in Ecc_5:1-7 have nothing to do with the legalised robbery
of Ecc_5:8, nor has the demonstration of the folly of covetousness in Ecc_5:10-12 any
connection with either of the preceding subjects. But they are brought into unity, if they
are taken as applications in different directions of the bitter truth which the writer sets
himself to prove runs through all life. ‘All is vanity.’ That principle may even be
exemplified in worship, and the obscure Ecc_5:7 which closes the section about the
faults of worship seems to be equivalent to the more familiar close which rings the knell
of so many of men’s pursuits in this book, ‘This also is vanity.’ It stands in the usual form
in Ecc_5:10.
We have in Ecc_5:1-7 a warning against the faults in worship which make even it to be
‘vanity,’ unreal and empty and fruitless. These are of three sorts, arranged, as it were,
chronologically. The worshipper is first regarded as going to the house of God, then as
presenting his prayers in it, and then as having left it and returned to his ordinary life.
The writer has cautions to give concerning conduct before, during, and after public
worship.
Note that, in all three parts of his warnings, his favourite word of condemnation appears
as describing the vain worship to which he opposes the right manner. They who fall into
the faults condemned are ‘fools.’ If that class includes all who mar their worship by such
errors, the church which holds them had need to be of huge dimensions; for the faults
held up in these ancient words flourish in full luxuriance to-day, and seem to haunt long-
established Christianity quite as mischievously as they did long-established Judaism. If
we could banish them from our religious assemblies, there would be fewer complaints of
the poor results of so much apparently Christian prayer and preaching.
Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins. So our passage commences with
the demeanour of the worshipper on his way to the house of God. He is to keep his foot;
that is, to go deliberately, thoughtfully, with realisation of what he is about to do. He is
to ‘draw near to hear’ and to bethink himself, while drawing near, of what his purpose
should be. Our forefathers Sunday began on Saturday night, and partly for that reason
the hallowing influence of it ran over into Monday, at all events. What likelihood is there
that much good will come of worship to people who talk politics or scandal right up to
the church door? Is reading newspapers in the pews, which they tell us in England is not
unknown in America, a good preparation for worshipping God? The heaviest rain runs
off parched ground, unless it has been first softened by a gentle fall of moisture. Hearts
that have no dew of previous meditation to make them receptive are not likely to drink in
much of the showers of blessing which may be falling round them. The formal
worshipper who goes to the house of God because it is the hour when he has always

19. gone; the curious worshipper (?) who draws near to hear indeed, but to hear a man, not
God; and all the other sorts of mere outward worshippers who make so large a
proportion of every Christian congregation-get the lesson they need, to begin with, in
this precept.
Note, that right preparation for worship is better than worship itself, if it is that of
‘fools.’ Drawing near with the true purpose is better than being near with the wrong one.
Note, too, the reason for the vanity of the ‘sacrifice of fools’ is that ‘they know not’; and
why do they not know, but because they did not draw near with the purpose of hearing?
Therefore, as the last clause of the verse says, rightly rendered, ‘they do evil.’ All hangs
together. No matter how much we frequent the house of God, if we go with unprepared
minds and hearts we shall remain ignorant, and because we are so, our sacrifices will be
‘evil.’ If the winnowing fan of this principle were applied to our decorous congregations,
who dress their bodies for church much more carefully than they do their souls, what a
cloud of chaff would fly off!
Then comes the direction for conduct in the act of worship. The same thoughtfulness
which kept the foot in coming to, should keep the heart when in, the house of God. His
exaltation and our lowliness should check hasty words, blurting out uppermost wishes,
or in any way outrunning the sentiments and emotions of prepared hearts. Not that the
lesson would check the fervid flow of real desire. There is a type of calm worship which
keeps itself calm because it is cold. Propriety and sobriety are its watchwords-both
admirable things, and both dear to tepid Christians. Other people besides the crowds on
Pentecost think that men whose lips are fired by the Spirit of God are ‘drunken,’ if not
with wine, at all events with unwholesome enthusiasm. But the outpourings of a soul
filled, not only with the sense that God is in heaven and we on earth, but also with the
assurance that He is near to it, and it to Him, are not rash and hasty, however fervid.
What is condemned is words which travel faster than thoughts or feelings, or which
proceed from hearts that have not been brought into patient submission, or from such as
lack reverent realisation of God’s majesty; and such faults may attach to the most calm
worship, and need not infect the most fervent. Those prayers are not hasty which keep
step with the suppliant’s desires, when these take the time from God’s promises. That
mouth is not rash which waits to speak until the ear has heard.
‘Let thy words be few.’ The heathen ‘think that they shall be heard for much speaking.’ It
needs not to tell our wants in many words to One who knows them altogether, any more
than a child needs many when speaking to a father or mother. But ‘few’ must be
measured by the number of needs and desires. The shortest prayer, which is not
animated by a consciousness of need and a throb of desire, is too long; the longest,
which is vitalised by these, is short enough. What becomes of the enormous percentage
of public and private prayers, which are mere repetitions, said because they are the right
thing to say, because everybody always has said them, and not because the man praying
really wants the things he asks for, or expects to get them any the more for asking?
Ecc_5:3 gives a reason for the exhortation, ‘A dream comes through a multitude of
business’-when a man is much occupied with any matter, it is apt to haunt his sleeping
as well as his waking thoughts. ‘A fool’s voice comes through a multitude of words.’ The
dream is the consequence of the pressure of business, but the fool’s voice is the cause,
not the consequence, of the gush of words. What, then, is the meaning? Probably that
such a gush of words turns, as it were, the voice of the utterer, for the time being, into
that of a fool. Voluble prayers, more abundant than devout sentiments or emotions,
make the offerer as a ‘fool’ and his prayer unacceptable.
The third direction refers to conduct after worship. It lays down the general principle
that vows should be paid, and that swiftly. A keen insight into human nature suggests

20. the importance of prompt fulfilment of the vows; for in carrying out resolutions formed
under the impulse of the sanctuary, even more than in other departments, delays are
dangerous. Many a young heart touched by the truth has resolved to live a Christian life,
and has gone out from the house of God and put off and put off till days have thickened
into months and years, and the intention has remained unfulfilled for ever. Nothing
hardens hearts, stiffens wills, and sears consciences so much as to be brought to the
point of melting, and then to cool down into the old shape. All good resolutions and
spiritual convictions may be included under the name of vows; and of all it is true that it
is better not to have formed them, than to have formed and not performed them.
Ecc_5:6-7 are obscure. The former seems to refer to the case of a man who vows and
then asks that he may be absolved from his vow by the priest or other ecclesiastical
authority. His mouth-that is, his spoken promise-leads him into sin, if he does not fulfil
it (comp. Deut. xxiii, 21, 22). He asks release from his promise on the ground that it is a
sin of weakness. The ‘angel’ is best understood as the priest (messenger), as in Mal_2:7.
Such a wriggling out of a vow will bring God’s anger; for the ‘voice’ which promised what
the hand will not perform, sins.
Ecc_5:7 is variously rendered. The Revised Version supplies at the beginning, ‘This
comes to pass,’ and goes on ‘through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many
words.’ But this scarcely bears upon the context, which requires here a reason against
rash speech and vows. The meaning seems better given, either by the rearranged text
which Delitzsch suggests, ‘In many dreams and many words there are also many
vanities’ (so, substantially, the Auth. Ver.), or as Wright, following Hitzig, etc., has it, ‘In
the multitude of dreams are also vanities, and [in] many words [as well].’ The simile of
Ecc_5:3 is recurred to, and the whirling visions of unsubstantial dreams are likened to
the rash words of voluble prayers in that both are vanity. Thus the writer reaches his
favourite thought, and shows how vanity infects even devotion. The closing injunction to
‘fear God’ sets in sharp contrast with faulty outward worship the inner surrender and
devotion, which will protect against such empty hypocrisy. If the heart is right, the lips
will not be far wrong.
Ecc_5:8-9 have no direct connection with the preceding, and their connection with the
following (Ecc_5:10-12) is slight. Their meaning is dubious. According to the prevailing
view now, the abuses of government in Ecc_5:8 are those of the period of the writer; and
the last clauses do not, as might appear at first reading, console sufferers by the thought
that God is above rapacious dignitaries, but bids the readers not be surprised if small
officials plunder, since the same corruption goes upwards through all grades of
functionaries. With such rotten condition of things is contrasted, in Ecc_5:9, the happy
state of a people living under a patriarchal government, where the king draws his
revenues, not from oppression, but from agriculture. The Revised Version gives in its
margin this rendering. The connection of these verses with the following may be that
they teach the vanity of riches under such a state of society as they describe. What is the
use of scraping wealth together when hungry officials are ‘watching’ to pounce on it?
How much better to be contented with the modest prosperity of a quiet country life! If
the translation of Ecc_5:9 in the Authorised Version and the Revised Version is retained,
there is a striking contrast between the rapine of the city, where men live by preying on
each other (as they do still to a large extent, for ‘commerce’ is often nothing better), and
the wholesome natural life of the country, where the kindly earth yields fruit, and one
man’s gain is not another’s loss.
Thus the verses may be connected with the wise depreciation of money which follows.
That low estimate is based on three grounds, which great trading nations like England
and the United States need to have dinned into their ears. First, no man ever gets

21. enough of worldly wealth. The appetite grows faster than the balance at the banker’ s.
That is so because the desire that is turned to outward wealth really needs something
else, and has mistaken its object. God, not money or money’s worth, is the satisfying
possession. It is so because all appetites, fed on earthly things, increase by gratification,
and demand ever larger draughts. The jaded palate needs stronger stimulants. The
seasoned opium-eater has to increase his doses to produce the same effects. Second, the
race after riches is a race after a phantom, because the more one has of them the more
people there spring up to share them. The poor man does with one servant; the rich man
has fifty; and his own portion of his wealth is a very small item. His own meal is but a
small slice off the immense provisions for which he has the trouble of paying. It is so,
thirdly, because in the chase he deranges his physical nature; and when he has got his
wealth, it only keeps him awake at night thinking how he shall guard it and keep it safe.
That which costs so much to get, which has so little power to satisfy, which must always
be less than the wish of the covetous man, which costs so much to keep, which stuffs
pillows with thorns, is surely vanity. Honest work is rewarded by sweet sleep. The old
legend told of unslumbering guards who kept the treasure of the golden fruit. The
millionaire has to live in a barred house, and to be always on the lookout lest some
combination of speculators should pull down his stocks, or some change in the current
of population should make his city lots worthless. Black care rides behind the successful
man of business. Better to have done a day’s work which has earned a night’s repose
than to be the slave of one’s wealth, as all men are who make it their aim and their
supreme good. Would that these lessons were printed deep on the hearts of young
Englishmen and Americans!
K&D, ““Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and to go to hear is better
than that fools give a sacrifice; for the want of knowledge leads them to do evil.” The
“house of God” is like the “house of Jahve,” 2Sa_12:20; Isa_37:1, the temple; ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬
altogether like ‫ל‬ ֵ‫־א‬ ִ‫ל־מ‬ ֶ‫,א‬ Psa_73:17. The Chethıb ָ‫יך‬ ֶ‫ל‬ְ‫ג‬ ַ‫ר‬ is admissible, for elsewhere also this
plur. (“thy feet”) occurs in a moral connection and with a spiritual reference, e.g., Psa_
119:59; but more frequently, however, the comprehensive sing. occurs. Psa_119:105; Pro_1:15;
Pro_4:26., and the Kerı thus follows the right note. The correct understanding of what
follows depends on ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ ... ‫י־‬ ִⅴ. Interpreters have here adopted all manner of impossible views.
Hitzig's translation: “for they know not how to be sorrowful,” has even found in Stuart at least
one imitator; but ‫רע‬ ‫עשׂות‬ would, as the contrast of 'asoth tov, Ecc_3:12, mean nothing else
than, “to do that which is unpleasant, disagreeable, bad,” like 'asah ra'ah, 2Sa_12:18.
Gesen., Ewald (§336b), Elster, Heiligst., Burger, Z‫צ‬ckl., Dale, and Bullock translate:
“they know not that they do evil;” but for such a rendering the words ought to have been
‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ ‫ם‬ ָ‫שׂוֹת‬ ֲ‫ע‬ (cf. Jer_15:15); the only example for the translation of ‫לעשׂות‬ after the manner of the
acc. c. inf. = se facere malum - viz. at 1Ki_19:4 - is incongruous, for ‫למות‬ does not here mean se
mori, but ut moreretur. Yet more incorrect is the translation of Jerome, which is followed by
Luther: nesciunt quid faciant mali. It lies near, as at Ecc_2:24 so also here, to suppose an injury
done to the text. Aben Ezra introduced ‫ק‬ ַ‫ר‬ before ‫,לעשׂ‬ but Koheleth never uses this limiting

22. particle; we would have to write ‫אם־לעשׂות‬ ‫,כי‬ after Ezr_3:12; Ezr_8:15. Anything thus attained,
however, is not worth the violent means thus used; for the ratifying clause is not ratifying, and
also in itself, affirmed of the ‫,כסילים‬ who, however, are not the same as the resha'im and the
hattaim, is inappropriate. Rather it might be said: they know not to do good (thus the
Syr.); or: they know not whether it be good or bad to do, i.e., they have no moral feeling,
and act not from moral motives (so the Targ.). Not less violent than this remodelling of
the text is the expedient of Herzberg, Philippson, and Ginsburg, who from ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ derive
the subject-conception of the obedient (‫ים‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ ַ‫:)ה‬ “For those understand not at all to do evil;”
the subj. ought to have been expressed if it must be something different from the immediately
preceding ‫.כסילים‬ We may thus render enam yod'im, after Psa_82:5; Isa_56:10, as complete
in itself: they (the fools) are devoid of knowledge to do evil = so that they do evil; i.e.,
want of knowledge brings them to this, that they do evil. Similarly also Knobel: they
concern themselves not, - are unconcerned (viz., about the right mode of worshipping
God), - so that they do evil, with the correct remark that the consequence of their
perverse conduct is here represented as their intention. But ‫ידע‬‫לא‬ , absol., does not mean to
be unconcerned (wanton), but to be without knowledge. Rashbam, in substance correctly: they
are predisposed by their ignorance to do evil; and thus also Hahn; Mendelssohn translates
directly: “they sin because they are ignorant.” If this interpretation is correct, then for ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ it
follows that it does not mean “to obey” (thus e.g., Zöckler), which in general it never means
without some words being added to it (cf. on the contrary, 1Sa_15:22), but “to hear,” - viz. the
word of God, which is to be heard in the house of God, - whereby, it is true, a hearing is meant
which leads to obedience.
In the word ‫,הוֹרוֹת‬ priests are not perhaps thought of, although the comparison of Ecc_5:5
(‫)המלאך‬ with Mal_2:7 makes it certainly natural; priestly instruction limited itself to information
regarding the performance of the law already given in Scripture, Lev_10:11; Deu_33:9., and to
deciding on questions arising in the region of legal praxis, Deu_24:8; Hag_2:11. The priesthood
did not belong to the teaching class in the sense of preaching. Preaching was never a part of the
temple cultus, but, for the first time, after the exile became a part of the synagogue worship. The
preachers under the O.T. were the prophets, - preachers by a supernatural divine call, and by the
immediate impulse of the Spirit; we know from the Book of Jeremiah that they sometimes went
into the temple, or there caused their books of prophecy to be read; yet the author, by the word
ַ‫ּע‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ of the foregoing proverb, scarcely thinks of them. But apart from the teaching of the
priests, which referred to the realization of the letter of the law, and the teaching of the
prophets to the realization of the spirit of the law, the word formed an essential part of the
sacred worship of the temple: the Tefilla, the Beracha, the singing of psalms, and certainly, at

23. the time of Koheleth, the reading of certain sections of the Bible. When thou goest to the house
of God, says Koheleth, take heed to thy step, well reflecting whither thou goest and how thou
hast there to appear; and (with this ְ‫ו‬ he connects with this first nota bene a second) drawing
near to hear exceeds the sacrifice-offering of fools, for they are ignorant (just because they hear
not), which leads to this result, that they do evil. ‫ן‬ ִ‫,מ‬ prae, expresses also, without an adj.,
precedence in number, Isa_10:10, or activity, Isa_9:17, or worth, Eze_15:2. ‫רוֹב‬ ָ‫ק‬ is inf. absol.
Böttcher seeks to subordinate it as such to ‫ּר‬‫מ‬ ְ‫:שׁ‬ take heed to thy foot ... and to the coming near
to hear more than to ... . But these obj. to ‫שמר‬ would be incongruous, and ‫וגו‬ ‫מתת‬ clumsy and
even distorted in expression; it ought rather to be ‫זבח‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫י־ל‬ ִ‫ס‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִⅴ ָ‫ך‬ ְ ִ ִ‫.מ‬ As the inf. absol. can
take the place of the obj., Isa_7:15; Isa_42:24; Lam_3:45, so also the place of the subj. (Ewald, §
240a), although Pro_25:27 is a doubtful example of this. That the use of the inf. absol. has a wide
application with the author of this book, we have already seen under Ecc_4:2. Regarding the
sequence of ideas in ‫ח‬ ַ‫ב‬ָ‫ז‬ ... ‫ת‬ ֵ ִ‫מ‬ (first the subj., then the obj.), vid., Gesen. §133. 3, and cf. above
at Ecc_3:18. ‫ח‬ ַ‫ב‬ֶ‫ז‬ (‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ ָ‫ב‬ְ‫,)ז‬ along with its general signification comprehending all animal sacrifices,
according to which the altar bears the name ַ‫ח‬ ֵ ְ‫ז‬ ִ‫,מ‬ early acquired also a more special signification:
it denotes, in contradistinction to ‫,עולה‬ such sacrifices as are only partly laid on the altar, and for
the most part are devoted to a sacrificial festival, Exo_18:12 (cf. Exo_12:27), the so-called
shelamim, or also zivhhe shelamim, Pro_7:14. The expression ‫זבח‬‫נתן‬ makes it probable that
here, particularly, is intended the festival (1Ki_1:41) connected with this kind of sacrifice, and
easily degenerating to worldly merriment (vid., under Pro_7:14); for the more common word for
‫ת‬ ֵ would have been ‫יב‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ or ‫חוֹט‬ ְ‫;שׁ‬ in ‫ת‬ ֵ it seems to be indicated that it means not only to
present something to God, but also to give at the same time something to man. The most
recent canonical Chokma-book agrees with Pro_21:3 in this depreciation of sacrifice. But the
Chokma does not in this stand alone. The great word of Samuel, 1Sa_15:22., that self-denying
obedience to God is better than all sacrifices, echoes through the whole of the Psalms. And the
prophets go to the utmost in depreciating the sacrificial cultus.
The second rule relates to prayer.
2 Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God. God is in heaven

24. and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
CLARKE, “Be not rash with thy mouth - Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy
words, feel deeply, think much, speak little.
“When ye approach his altar, on your lips
Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure,
Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared,
Send up the silent breathings of your souls,
Submissive to his will.”
GILL, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter
any thing before God,.... In private conversation care should be taken that no rash
and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as were by Moses and David; and that no evil,
nor even any idle word he uttered, since from, the abundance of the heart the mouth is
apt to speak, and all is before, the Lord; not a word in the tongue but is altogether known
by him, and must be accounted for to him, Psa_106:33. Jerom interprets this of words
spoken concerning God; and careful men should be of what they say of him, of his nature
and perfections, of his persons, and of his works; and it may be applied to a public
profession of his name, and of faith in him; though this should be done with the heart,
yet the heart and tongue should not be rash and hasty in making it; men should consider
what they profess and confess, and upon what foot they take up and make a profession
of religion; whether they have the true grace of God or no: and it will hold true of the
public ministry of the word, in which everything that comes uppermost in the mind, or
what is crude and undigested, should not be, uttered; but what ministers have thought
of, meditated on, well weighed in their minds, and properly digested. Some understand
this of rash vows, such as Jephthah's, is supposed to be, which are later repented of; but
rather speaking unto God in prayer is intended. So the Targum,
"thy, heart shall not hasten to bring out speech at the time thou prayest before the
Lord;''
anything and everything that comes up into the mind should not be, uttered before God;
not anything rashly and hastily; men should consider before they speak to the King of
kings; for though set precomposed forms of prayer are not to be used, yet the matter of
prayer should be thought of beforehand; what our wants are, and what we should ask
for; whether for ourselves or others; this rule I fear we often offend against: the reasons
follow;
for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; his throne is in the heavens, he dwells
in the highest heavens, though they cannot contain him; this is expressive of his majesty,
sovereignty, and supremacy, and of his omniscience and omnipotence; he is the high and
lofty One, that dwells in the high and holy place; he is above all, and sees and knows all
persons and things; and he sits in the heavens, and does whatever he pleases; and

25. therefore all should stand in awe of him, and consider what they say unto him. Our Lord
seems to have respect to this passage when he directed his disciples to pray, saying, "Our
Father, which art in heaven", Mat_6:9; and when we pray to him we should think what
we ourselves are, that we are on the earth, the footstool of God; that we are of the earth,
earthly; dwell in houses of clay, which have their foundation in the dust; crawling worms
on earth, unworthy of his notice; are but dust and ashes, who take upon us to speak unto
him;
therefore let, by words be few; of which prayer consists; such was the prayer of the
publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner", Luk_18:13; and such the prayer which
Christ has given as a pattern and directory to his people; who has forbid vain repetitions
and much speaking in prayer, Mat_6:7; not that all lengthy prayers are to be
condemned, or all repetitions in them; our Lord was all night in prayer himself; and
Nehemiah, Daniel, and others, have used repetitions in prayer, which may be done with
fresh affection, zeal, and fervency; but such are forbidden as are done for the sake of
being heard for much speaking, as the Heathens; and who thought they were not
understood unless they said a thing a hundred times over (p); or when done to gain a
character of being more holy and religious than others, as the Pharisees.
HENRY, “We must be very cautious and considerate in all our approaches and
addresses to God (Ecc_5:2): Be not rash with thy mouth, in making prayers, or
protestations, or promises; let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God.
Note, (1.) When we are in the house of God, in solemn assemblies for religious worship,
we are in a special manner before God and in his presence, there where he has promised
to meet his people, where his eye is upon us and ours ought to be unto him. (2.) We have
something to say, something to utter before God, when we draw nigh to him in holy
duties; he is one with whom we have to do, with whom we have business of vast
importance. If we come without an errand, we shall go away without any advantage. (3.)
What we utter before God must come from the heart, and therefore we must not be rash
with our mouth, never let our tongue outrun our thoughts in our devotions; the words
of our mouth, must always be the product of the meditation of our hearts. Thoughts are
words to God, and words are but wind if they be not copied from the thoughts. Lip-
labour, though ever so well laboured, if that be all, is but lost labour in religion, Mat_
15:8, Mat_15:9. (4.) It is not enough that what we say comes from the heart, but it must
come from a composed heart, and not from a sudden heat or passion. As the mouth
must not be rash, so the heart must not be hasty; we must not only think, but think
twice, before we speak, when we are to speak either from God in preaching or to God in
prayer, and not utter any thing indecent and undigested, 1Co_14:15.
5. We must be sparing of our words in the presence of God, that is, we must be reverent
and deliberate, not talk to God as boldly and carelessly as we do to one another, not
speak what comes uppermost, not repeat things over and over, as we do to one
another, that what we say may be understood and remembered and may make
impression; no, when we speak to God we must consider, (1.) That between him and
us there is an infinite distance: God is in heaven, where he reigns in glory over us
and all the children of men, where he is attended with an innumerable company of
holy angels and is far exalted above all our blessing and praise. We are on earth, the
footstool of his throne; we are mean and vile, unlike God, and utterly unworthy to
receive any favour from him or to have any communion with him. Therefore we must
be very grave, humble, and serious, and be reverent in speaking to him, as we are
when we speak to a great man that is much our superior; and, in token of this, let our
words be few, that they may be well chosen, Job_9:14. This does not condemn all

26. long prayers; were they not good, the Pharisees would not have used them for a
pretence; Christ prayed all night; and we are directed to continue in prayer. But it
condemns careless heartless praying, vain repetitions (Mat_6:7), repeating Pater-
nosters by tale. Let us speak to God, and of him, in his own words, words which the
scripture teaches; and let our words, words of our own invention, be few, lest, not
speaking by rule, we speak amiss.
JAMISON, “rash — opposed to the considerate reverence (“keep thy foot,” Ecc_5:1).
This verse illustrates Ecc_5:1, as to prayer in the house of God (“before God,” Isa_1:12);
so Ecc_5:4-6 as to vows. The remedy to such vanities is stated (Ecc_5:6). “Fear thou
God.”
God is in heaven — Therefore He ought to be approached with carefully weighed
words, by thee, a frail creature of earth.
HAWKER, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to
hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. (2) Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for
God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
Perhaps Solomon had in view the situation of Moses at the bush, and of Joshua, before
the captain of the Lord’s host, by Jericho. Exo_3:5; Jos_5:13-15. But keeping the foot,
on entering the house of God, certainly carries with it a reference to the corresponding
affections suited to a true spiritual worshipper. Under the gospel dispensation, we may
suppose it implies what our Lord Jesus taught of worshipping God, who is a Spirit, in
spirit, and in truth. Joh_4:23-24.
YOUNG, "This may refer either to offering prayer or imparting
instruction. " The admonition ' let thy words be few,' "
says Hengstenberg, " is not meant to set limits to the glow
and fire of devotion. It is directed not against tlie in-
wardly devout, but against the superficially religious^ who
fancy that in the multitude of their words they have an
equivalent for the devotion they lack." Our Saviour re-
bukes the Pharisees who for pretense made long prayers.
Public prayer becomes a weariness to many when too
much protracted ; and sermons when brief are generally
more for edification than when too prolix. No general
rule, however, will suit all circumstances. Secret prayer,
when offered with Jacob's importunity, may continue all
night, and even when the morning dawns the worshipper
may say to the Angel of the Covenant, " I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me."
PULPIT, “Koheleth warns against thoughtless words or hasty professions in prayer, which formed
another feature of popular religion. Be not rash with thy mouth. The warning is against hasty and
thoughtless words in prayer, words that go from the lips with glib facility, but come not from the heart.
Thus our Lord bids those who pray not to use vain repetitions ( µὴ βαττολογήσατε ), as the heathen,
who think to be heard for their much speaking (Mat_6:7 ). Jesus himself used the same words in his
prayer in the garden, and heCONTINUALLY urges the lesson of much and constant prayer—a

27. lessen enforced by apostolic admonitions (see Luk_11:5 , etc.; Php_4:6 ; 1Th_5:17 ); but it is
quite possible to use the same words, and yet throw the whole heart into them each time that they are
repeated. Whether the repetition is vain or not depends upon the spirit of the person who prays. Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God. We should weigh well our wishes, arrange
them discreetly, ponder whether they are such as we can rightly make subjects of petition, ere we lay
them in words before the Lord. "Before God" may mean in the temple, the house of God, where he is
specially present, as Solomon himself testified (1Ki_8:27 , 1Ki_8:30 , 1Ki_8:43 ). God is in
heaven. The infinite distance between God and man, illustrated by the contrast of earth and the
illimitable heaven, is the ground of the admonition to reverence and thoughtfulness (comp. Psa_
115:3 , Psa_115:16 ; Isa_4:1-6 :8, 9; Isa_66:1 ). Therefore let thy words be few, as becomes
one who speaks in the awful presence of God. Ben-Sira seems to have had this passage in mind
when he writes (Ecclesiasticus 7:14), "Prate not in a multitude of elders, and repeat not
( µὴ δευτερώσης ) the word in prayer." We may remember the conduct of the priests of Baal (1Ki_
18:26 ). Ginsburg and WrightQUOTE the Talmudic precept ('Beraehoth,' 68. a), "Let the words of a
man always be few in the presence of God, according as it is written," and then follows the passage in
our text.
KRETZMAN, “v. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth, quick to speak, especially in thoughtless prayer, and
let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, since prayer demands an attitude of true
devotion; for God is in heaven, exalted above all levity and thoughtless form of worship, and thou
upon earth, immeasurably beneath the majesty of the almighty Sovereign of the earth; therefore let
thy words be few, not indulging in heathenish babbling, Mat_6:7 .
K&D, ““Be not hasty with thy mouth, and let not thy heart hasten to speak a word before
God: for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For
by much business cometh dreaming, and by much talk the noise of fools.” As we say in
German: auf Fl geln fliegen [to flee on wings], auf Einem Auge nicht sehen [not to see
with one eye], auf der Fl‫צ‬te blasen [to blow on the flute], so in Heb. we say that one
slandereth with (auf) his tongue (Psa_15:3), or, as here, that he hasteth with his mouth,
i.e., is forward with his mouth, inasmuch as the word goes before the thought. It is the
same usage as when the post-bibl. Heb., in contradistinction to ‫ב‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ‫,התורה‬ the law given
in the Scripture, calls the oral law ‫ה‬ ֶ ‫ל־‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ‫,הת‬ i.e., the law mediated ‫,על־פה‬ oraliter = oralis
traditio (Shabbath 31a; cf. Gittin 60b). The instrument and means is here regarded as the
substratum of the action - as that which this lays as a foundation. The phrase: “to take on the
lips,” Psa_16:4, which needs no explanation, is different. Regarding ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ִ , festinare, which is, like
‫ר‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ִ‫,מ‬ the intens. of Kal, vid., once it occurs quite like our “sich beeilen” to hasten, with reflex.
accus. suff., 2Ch_35:21. Man, when he prays, should not give the reins to his tongue, and multiply
words as one begins and repeats over a form which he has learnt, knowing certainly that it is God
of whom and to whom he speaks, but without being conscious that God is an infinitely exalted
Being, to whom one may not carelessly approach without collecting his thoughts, and
irreverently, without lifting up his soul. As the heavens, God's throne, are exalted above the
earth, the dwelling-place of man, so exalted is the heavenly God above earthly man, standing far
beneath him; therefore ought the words of a man before God to be few, - few, well-chosen
reverential words, in which one expresses his whole soul. The older language forms no plur. from
the subst. ‫ט‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ (fewness) used as an adv.; but the more recent treats it as an adj., and forms

28. from it the plur. ‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ (here and in Psa_109:8, which bears the superscription le-david, but has
the marks of Jeremiah's style); the post-bibl. places in the room of the apparent adj. the particip.
adj. ‫ט‬ ֵ‫מוֹע‬ with the plur. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫וּע‬ ֽ‫מ‬ (‫ין‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫וּע‬ ֽ‫,)מ‬ e.g., Berachoth 61a: “always let the words of a man
before the Holy One (blessed be His name!) be few” (‫.)מוע‬ Few ought the words to be; for where
they are many, it is not without folly. This is what is to be understood, Ecc_5:2, by the
comparison; the two parts of the verse stand here in closer mutual relation than Ecc_7:1, - the
proverb is not merely synthetical, but, like Job_5:7, parabolical. The ‫ב‬ is both times that of the
cause. The dream happens, or, as we say, dreams happen ‫ן‬ָ‫י‬ְ‫נ‬ ִ‫ע‬‫ּב‬‫ר‬ ְ ; not: by much labour; for
labour in itself, as the expenditure of strength making one weary, has as its consequence, Ecc_
5:11, sweet sleep undisturbed by dreams; but: by much self-vexation in a man's striving after high
and remote ends beyond what is possible (Targ., in manifold project-making); the care of such a
man transplants itself from the waking to the sleeping life, it if does not wholly deprive him of
sleep, Ecc_5:11, Ecc_8:16, - all kinds of images of the labours of the day, and fleeting phantoms
and terrifying pictures hover before his mind. And as dreams of such a nature appear when a
man wearies himself inwardly as well as outwardly by the labours of the day, so, with the same
inward necessity, where many words are spoken folly makes its appearance. Hitzig renders ‫,כסיל‬
in the connection ְⅴ ‫,קוֹל‬ as adj.; but, like ‫יל‬ִ‫ו‬ ֱ‫א‬ (which forms an adj. ěvīlī), ‫כסיל‬ is always a
subst., or, more correctly, it is a name occurring always only of a living being, never of a
thing. There is sound without any solid content, mere blustering bawling without sense
and intelligence. The talking of a fool is in itself of this kind (Ecc_10:14); but if one who is
not just a fool falls into much talk, it is scarcely possible but that in this flow of words empty
bombast should appear.
Another rule regarding the worship of God refers to vowing.
STEDMAN, “
The Searcher continues, Verse 2:
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for
God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes
with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. {Eccl 5:2-3 RSV}
Almost everybody takes the phrase, "God is in heaven." to mean that God is off
somewhere, high above the universe, watching the affairs of men, while we insignificant
pygmies struggle along down here. But that is not what this is saying at all. Heaven is not
some distant place. In the Bible, heaven always means the invisible world of reality, what
is going on that we cannot see but yet is really there. God is in that realm, and that is why
he sees much more than we do.
As I look out on this congregation this morning I see your bodies. They reveal certain
things -- some of you are interested, some of you are asleep. If I were to pray for you,