Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version If a snake bites before it is charmed, the charmer receives no fee. New Living Translation If a snake bites before you charm it, what’s the use of being a snake charmer? English Standard Version If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. Berean Standard Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. King James Bible Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. New King James Version A serpent may bite when it is not charmed; The babbler is no different. New American Standard Bible If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no benefit for the charmer. NASB 1995 If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. NASB 1977 If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. Legacy Standard Bible If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no advantage for the charmer. Amplified Bible If the serpent bites before being charmed, then there is no profit for the charmer. Christian Standard Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage for the charmer. Holman Christian Standard Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage for the charmer. American Standard Version If the serpent bite before it is charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer. Aramaic Bible in Plain English And if a snake will bite without a charm, there is no profit in a charmer Brenton Septuagint Translation If a serpent bite when there is no charmer's whisper, then there is no advantage to the charmer. Contemporary English Version The power to charm a snake does you no good if it bites you anyway. Douay-Rheims Bible If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly. English Revised Version If the serpent bite before it be charmed, then is there no advantage in the charmer. GOD'S WORD® Translation If a snake bites before it has been charmed, then there is no advantage in being a snake charmer. Good News Translation Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first. International Standard Version If a serpent strikes despite being charmed, there's no point in being a snake charmer. JPS Tanakh 1917 If the serpent bite before it is charmed, Then the charmer hath no advantage. Literal Standard Version If the serpent bites without enchantment, | Then there is no advantage to a master of the tongue. Majority Standard Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. New American Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage in a charmer. NET Bible If the snake should bite before it is charmed, the snake charmer is in trouble. New Revised Standard Version If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage in a charmer. New Heart English Bible If the serpent bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer's tongue. Webster's Bible Translation Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. World English Bible If the snake bites before it is charmed, then is there no profit for the charmer’s tongue. Young's Literal Translation If the serpent biteth without enchantment, Then there is no advantage to a master of the tongue. Additional Translations ... Context Wisdom and Folly…10If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success. 11If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer. 12The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.… Cross References James 3:8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. Psalm 58:4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears, Psalm 58:5 refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell. Ecclesiastes 10:10 If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success. Jeremiah 8:17 "For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you," declares the LORD. Treasury of Scripture Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. the serpent Psalm 58:4,5 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; … Jeremiah 8:17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD. babbler Psalm 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully. Psalm 64:3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Jump to Previous Advantage Babbler Better Bite Bites Biteth Charmed Charmer Enchantment Gives Longer Power Profit Serpent Snake Surely Tongue Use WordJump to Next Advantage Babbler Better Bite Bites Biteth Charmed Charmer Enchantment Gives Longer Power Profit Serpent Snake Surely Tongue Use WordEcclesiastes 10 1. observations of wisdom and folly7. death in life 9. and the day of judgment in the days of youth, are to be thought on (11) This also is a difficult verse. Literally translated it is, If the serpent bite for lack of enchantment, there is no advantage to the master of the tongue. It seems best to follow the LXX. and other interpreters, and take the "master of the tongue" to mean the snake charmer, who possesses the "voice of the charmer" (Psalm 58:5). The whisperings of the snake charmer, so often described by Eastern travellers, are referred to also in Jeremiah 8:17, and in a passage, probably founded on the present text (Ecclesiasticus 12:13), "Who will pity a charmer that is bitten with a serpent?" The mention of the serpent in Ecclesiastes 10:8 seems to have suggested another illustration of the advantage of wisdom in the different effects of snake-charming, as used by the expert or the unskilful. The phrase, "master of the tongue," seems to have been chosen in order to lead on to the following verses, which speak of the different use of the tongue by the wise man and the fool. Enchantment.--According to the primary meaning "whispering" (2Samuel 12:19; Isaiah 26:16). . . . Verse 11. - The last proverb of this little series shows the necessity of seizing the right opportunity. Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment. The Authorized Version is not quite correct. The particle אם, with which the verse begins, is here conditional, and the rendering should be, If the serpent bite, etc.; the apodosis comes in the next clause. The idea is taken up from ver. 8. If one handles a serpent without due precaution or without knowing the secret of charming it, one will suffer for it. The taming and charming of poisonous snakes is still, as heretofore, practiced in Egypt and the East. What the secret of this power is has not been accurately determined; whether it belongs especially to persons of a certain idiosyncrasy, whether it is connected with certain words or intonations of the voice or musical sounds, we do not know. Of the existence of the power from remote antiquity there can be no question. Allusions to it in Scripture are common enough (see Exodus 7:11; Psalm 58:5; Jeremiah 8:17; Ecclus. 12:13). If a serpent before it is charmed is dangerous, what then? The Authorized Version affords no sensible apodosis: And a babbler is no better. The words rendered "babbler" (baul hallashon) are literally "master of the tongue," and by them is meant the ἐπαοιδός, "the serpent-charmer." The clause should run, Then there is no use in the charmer. If the man is bitten before he has time to use his charm, it is no profit to him that he has the secret, it is too late to employ it when the mischief is done. This is to shut the stable door after the steed is stolen. The maxim enforces the warning against being too late; the greatest skill is useless unless applied at the right moment. The Septuagint translates virtually as above, "If a serpent bites when not charmed (ἐν οὐ ψιθυρισμῷ), then there is no advantage to the charmer (τῷ ἐπᾴδοντι)." The Vulgate departs from the context, rendering, Si mordeat serpens in silentio (i.e. probably "uncharmed"), nihil eo minus habet qui occulte detrahit, "He is nothing better who slanders secretly," which St. Jerome thus explains: the serpent and the slanderer are alike, for as the serpent stealthily infuses its poison, so the secret slanderer pours his venom into another's breast.Parallel Commentaries ... Hebrew Ifאִם־ (’im-) Conjunction Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not the snake הַנָּחָ֖שׁ (han·nā·ḥāš) Article | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 5175: A serpent bites יִשֹּׁ֥ךְ (yiš·šōḵ) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 5391: To strike with a, sting, to oppress with usury before בְּלוֹא־ (bə·lō·w-) Preposition-b | Adverb - Negative particle Strong's 3808: Not, no it is charmed, לָ֑חַשׁ (lā·ḥaš) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 3908: A whisper, a private prayer, an incantation, an amulet there is no וְאֵ֣ין (wə·’ên) Conjunctive waw | Adverb Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle profit יִתְר֔וֹן (yiṯ·rō·wn) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 3504: Preeminence, gain for the charmer. לְבַ֖עַל (lə·ḇa·‘al) Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct Strong's 1167: A master, a husband, owner Links Ecclesiastes 10:11 NIVEcclesiastes 10:11 NLT Ecclesiastes 10:11 ESV Ecclesiastes 10:11 NASB Ecclesiastes 10:11 KJV Ecclesiastes 10:11 BibleApps.com Ecclesiastes 10:11 Biblia Paralela Ecclesiastes 10:11 Chinese Bible Ecclesiastes 10:11 French Bible Ecclesiastes 10:11 Catholic Bible OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 10:11 If the snake bites before it (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.) |
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