What Does Ecclesiastes 10:5 Mean in the King James?
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A ruler’s inadvertence does not stay small: what goes out from authority becomes an evil under the sun.
THE MEANING
The verse places a ruler’s error beside the evil visible in the world, showing how a misstep at the seat of authority can become a public wrong. The word for error carries the shade of inadvertence: even a lapse can travel outward when it comes from someone who rules.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a ruler’s mistake is only a private lapse dissolves here; an error from authority can reach far beyond its source.
THE ROOT
שְׁגָגָה
shegagah
GROWS FROM
שגג
to err or act inadvertently
The verse calls the evil a שְׁגָגָה (shegagah), a lapse or inadvertent error. The same root that names an individual’s misstep here describes one issuing from a ruler, where its reach can become public.
ALSO GROWS
shagag: to err or act inadvertently
שָׁגַג
This is the verb behind the noun in the verse, showing the action carried by the word “error.”
shogeg: one who errs inadvertently
שֹׁגֵג
This form carries the same root into the person making the misstep; here, the source is a ruler.
יוֹצֵאָה
yotze’ah
GROWS FROM
יצא
to go out or emerge
“proceedeth” in this verse is yotze’ah. The Hebrew pictures the error going out from before the ruler. This movement makes its source and direction visible: what arises at the center of authority passes outward into the world under the sun.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: to go out, emerge, or depart
יָצָא
This verb expresses the outward movement of the error in the verse.
yetzi’ah: an exit or going out
יְצִיאָה
This noun carries the same root into the act of going out, echoing the error’s movement from the ruler into public life.
THE PATTERN
When those who lead lose their way, their misdirection reaches the people who follow them.
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?THE THREAD
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:The Hebrew behind “through ignorance” is בִּשְׁגָגָה (bishgagah), from the same root שגג as the “error” in Ecclesiastes. Leviticus uses it for an inadvertent misstep by a person; Ecclesiastes shows the same kind of error coming from a ruler, where authority gives it wider reach.
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