Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 10:11
If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Teacher addresses readers in a wisdom context, placing this proverb between observations on the futility of dull tools and the self-destructive nature of foolish speech.
The words — The phrase יִשֹּׁ֥ךְ (yi.Shokh) and נָחָשׁ (na.Chash) denote a snake that bites, paired with לָ֑חַשׁ (La.chash) for the act of charming or soothing.
The thread — The imagery of an uncharmed serpent appears in Jeremiah 8:17 and Psalms 58:4, where the creature refuses the charmer’s influence.
Why it lands — The text states that a delayed response yields no advantage for the practitioner, which requires readers to value promptness over delay.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
Cross-references
- Psalms 58:4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
- Jeremiah 8:17 “For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 52:2 Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
- Psalms 64:3 who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,
- Proverbs 18:21 Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
- James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.