Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
but a fool’s heart to the left.
Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,
for calmness will lay great offenses to rest.
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.
Comment: Obviously Solomon, assuming he is the author, didn’t sit in front of his computer, as I am, deciding what to say. Maybe the scribes around him wrote down things they heard him say. Possibly, like the king described in Esther, who on a sleepless night would call in a servant and have them write a few more lines for his Opus Magnum!
‘Dead flies in ointment giving a stench’, – why on earth would he start with that? Probably if your body was rubbed in such an ointment, you would stink all day! It is a good introduction comparing the stench caused by the flies/maggots/whatever to the effect of folly on wisdom and honour! Wisdom leads one into the right.The fool can’t hide his foolishness.
Sadly foolishness can enter even the ruling class. The rich can be forced in such a case to be given the low place, even a slave is put on the horse and the princes are made to swap places and trample along in the dust! Sometimes we wonder how leaders get into powerful positions apparently purposing to trample on common sense! Or should I have said ‘I’ and not ‘we’?
Prayer: You are the all wise God, please help me, Your servant to walk wisely.
As I read it! 