Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ecclesiastes 10:9

Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith The words are referred by some commentators to an act like that of the previous verse, by others to hewing stone in the quarry. In the former case, however, we get but a tame repetition, in the latter there is nothing in the act that deserves retribution. We get a more natural meaning, if we think of the curse pronounced on him who "removes his neighbour's landmark" (Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17). Such landmarks often consisted of cairns or heaps of stones, as in Genesis 31:46-48, or a pillar, and the act of removing it would be one of wrongful aggression. For the stone to fall on a man so acting would be once more an instance of the Nemesis which is presented in these similitudes.

he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby Better, "he that cleaveth trees or logs," as in Genesis 1:11; Genesis 2:16; Genesis 23:16; Isaiah 40:20, and elsewhere. Here again the proverb seems to have a double edge. (1) On the one hand it might seem that an act of unjust aggression is contemplated. The special sacredness of trees as standing above most other forms of property is recognised in Deuteronomy 20:19-20, and the frequency of accidents in the process was provided for by the special legislation (Deuteronomy 19:5), which exempted from penalty one who in this way was the involuntary cause of his neighbour's death. The primary thought in the saying, so taken, is, as before, that retribution comes on the evil-doer out of the very deed of evil. Out of our "pleasant vices" the gods "make whips to scourge us." The attack on sacred and time-honoured institutions is not without peril. (2) On the other hand, eastern as well as western thought recognises in decayed trees the types of corrupt institutions that need to be reformed, and, as in the last proverb, the work of the reformer is not always a safe or easy one. Popular political rhetoric has made us familiar both with the appeal to "spare the tree" under the shadow of whose branches our fathers lived, and with that which bids men lop branch after branch from the "deadly Upas" of oppression and iniquity, especially of corrupt kingdoms (Isaiah 14:8; Jeremiah 51:15; Ezekiel 34:3; Daniel 9:10; Daniel 9:14; Matthew 3:10; Luke 13:7; Luke 13:9).

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ecclesiastes 10:9

Old Testament

New Testament