Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 10:15
The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses a general audience within a wisdom discourse contrasting the consequences of foolish leadership with national stability. He delivers this observation amid a sequence of warnings about societal decay and poor governance.
The words — עֲמַל ('a.Mal) translates literally as heavy labor or exhaustion, and לֹֽא־יָדַע (lo'- ya.Da') states plainly "he does not know." These terms anchor the verse in the fool's physical depletion and intellectual blindness.
The thread — The text's description of unguided movement parallels Psalms 107:4, which records wanderers finding no path to a city. Both passages link the absence of direction to inevitable exhaustion and failure.
Why it lands — The verse states that ignorance of the correct path guarantees fatigue rather than progress. It requires the reader to treat discernment as a prerequisite for any meaningful effort.
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
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.
- Jeremiah 50:4 “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
- Psalms 107:4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
- Psalms 107:7 He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live.
- Ecclesiastes 10:3 Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.
- Isaiah 35:8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Ecclesiastes 10:10 If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success.
- Isaiah 44:12 The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
- Isaiah 47:12 So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
- Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.