What Does Ecclesiastes 5:1 Mean?
Guard your foot as you walk to the house of God. Draw near to hear and respond rather than give the slaughter-offering of the thick-headed, for they do not know how to do harm.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.THE KEY
The verse places the real approach to God in what you are willing to hear, because a sacred offering can coexist with harm you have not recognized.
THE MEANING
Your approach to God begins with guarded steps and readiness to hear. An offering can stand beside wrongdoing you do not recognize. The verse gives priority to hearing that lets truth land over a religious act that leaves your actions unseen.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a religious act can certify your approach to God while you remain unaware of the wrong in your own conduct.
THE ROOT
לִשְׁמֹעַ
lishmoa
GROWS FROM
שׁמע
Hear, listen; when a response is implied, hear and respond.
“hear and respond” in this verse is lishmoa. Here, hearing is more than receiving sound: it carries the possibility of answering what is heard. That same root is rendered “obey” in 1 Samuel 15:22, opening the contrast between responsive hearing and an offering that can coexist with unrecognized wrongdoing.
ALSO GROWS
shama: To hear or listen; in a context calling for response, to heed.
שָׁמַע
It shows how hearing can reach beyond the ears to shape a response.
shomea: One who hears or listens.
שֹׁמֵעַ
It keeps the focus on the person receiving what is said, rather than on the performance of an offering.
זֶבַח
zevach
GROWS FROM
זבח
Slaughter or sacrifice.
“slaughter-offering” in this verse is zevach. The root names the act behind the offering, making the passage’s contrast concrete: an outward act at the altar can leave the offerer unaware of the wrong in their own conduct. The verse exposes the gap between performing a sacred act and being ready to hear.
ALSO GROWS
zavach: To slaughter or sacrifice.
זָבַח
This is the action contained in the noun “sacrifice,” bringing its physical act into view.
mizbeach: Altar.
מִזְבֵּחַ
The altar is the place associated with the sacrifice, sharpening the contrast between ritual action and attentive hearing.
שְׁמֹר
shmor
GROWS FROM
שמר
Guard, watch, keep.
“guard” in this verse is shmor. The root makes the approach physical: the foot is guarded as you enter, before any offering is given. The verse begins with attentiveness in how you move toward the house of God.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Keeper or guardian.
שֹׁמֵר
The keeper’s role carries the same watchful attention the verse asks of your approach.
mishmeret: Charge, watch, or guard duty.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch shows keeping as ongoing care, not a single gesture.
THE PATTERN
Responsive hearing and just action reveal reverence more clearly than offerings that can coexist with wrongdoing.
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.Doing alignment and judgment is more chosen by the LORD than the slain offering.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.The word rendered “obey” and Ecclesiastes’ “hear” share the root שׁמע (shama), meaning to hear and, where response is implied, to heed. The shared root makes the contrast precise: sacrifice without responsive hearing is religious action severed from what has been heard.
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