-
Recent Articles
- Endless Trials: Exploring the Hebrew of Job 10:17
- “I Have Sinned”: The Grammar of Urgency and Confession in Exodus 10:16
- Order in Motion: Nethanʾel son of Tsuʿar and the March of Issachar
- The Grammar of Vision: Enumerative Syntax and Symbolic Order in Ezekiel 10:14
- The Grammar of Divine Meteorology: Syntax and Pragmatic Force in Jeremiah 10:13
- When the Sun Stood Still: Syntax and Command in Joshua 10:12
- Woven with Wonder: Syntax and Embodied Imagery in Job 10:11
- The Wink and the Wound: Syntax, Parallelism, and Irony in Proverbs 10:10
- The Grammar of Surprise: The Wayyiqtol Chain and Temporal Progression in Joshua 10:9
- The Birth of Power: The Grammar of Beginning and Becoming in Genesis 10:8
- Genealogical Syntax and the Grammar of Nations in Genesis 10:7
- Do Not Mourn as Others Do: Restraint and Reverence in the Aftermath of Fire
Categories
Archives
Tag Archives: Ecclesiastes 10:1
“Dead Flies in the Perfume”: The Disruptive Power of Minimal Folly in Ecclesiastes 10:1
זְב֣וּבֵי מָ֔וֶת יַבְאִ֥ישׁ יַבִּ֖יעַ שֶׁ֣מֶן רֹוקֵ֑חַ יָקָ֛ר מֵחָכְמָ֥ה מִכָּבֹ֖וד סִכְל֥וּת מְעָֽט׃
(Ecclesiastes 10:1)
Dead flies cause the perfumer’s oil to stink and ferment; a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Wisdom Spoiled by a Whisper of Folly
This verse opens the tenth chapter of Ecclesiastes with a powerful metaphor: זְב֣וּבֵי מָ֔וֶת יַבְאִ֥ישׁ יַבִּ֖יעַ שֶׁ֣מֶן רֹוקֵ֑חַ—“Dead flies make the perfumer’s oil stink.” What follows is a moral insight: a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. The contrast is stark and deliberate: tiny elements, when misplaced, can destroy that which is refined and valuable.… Learn Hebrew
Posted in Grammar
Tagged Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 10:1
Comments Off on “Dead Flies in the Perfume”: The Disruptive Power of Minimal Folly in Ecclesiastes 10:1