Ecclesiastes 7 · Verse 6

Ecclesiastes 7:6

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 7:6, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 7:6 in other translations

BSBFor like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
WEBFor as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
ASVFor as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
YLTFor as the noise of thorns under the pot, So is the laughter of a fool, even this is vanity.
DARBYFor as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
BBELike the cracking of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh of a foolish man; and this again is to no purpose.
WebsterFor as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

What does Ecclesiastes 7:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. crackling--answers to the loud merriment of fools. It is the very fire consuming them which produces the seeming merry noise (Joe 2:5). Their light soon goes out in the black darkness. There is a paronomasia in the Hebrew, Sirim ("thorns"), Sir ("pot"). The wicked are often compared to "thorns" (2Sa 23:6; Na 1:10). Dried cow-dung was the common fuel in Palestine; its slowness in burning makes the quickness of a fire of thorns the more graphic, as an image of the sudden end of fools (Psa 118:12).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 For as the crackling of thorns - They make a great noise, a great blaze; and are extinguished in a few moments. Such indeed, comparatively, are the joys of life; they are noisy, flashy, and transitory.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:1-6

The benefit of a good name; of death above life; of sorrow above vain mirth. (Eccl. 7:1-6) Concerning oppression, anger, and discontent. (Eccl. 7:7-10) Advantages of wisdom. (Eccl. 7:11-22) Experience of the evil of sin. (Eccl. 7:23-29) Verses 1-6 Reputation for piety and honesty is more desirable than all the wealth and pleasure in this world. It will do more good to go to a funeral than to a feast. We may lawfully…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 →

Ecclesiastes 7:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֣יkiforH3588
כְק֤וֹלkhe.Kollike [the] sound ofH6963
הַסִּירִים֙ha.si.Rim<the> thornsH5518
תַּ֣חַתTa.chatunderH8478
הַסִּ֔ירha.Sirthe potH5518
כֵּ֖ןkensoH3651
שְׂחֹ֣קse.Chok[the] laughter ofH7814
הַכְּסִ֑ילha.ke.Silthe foolH3684
וְגַם\־ve.gam-and alsoH1571
זֶ֖הzehthisH2088
הָֽבֶל\׃Ha.vel[is] futilityH1892

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 7:6

  • Psalms 58:9

    Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

  • Psalms 118:12

    They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

  • Ecclesiastes 2:2

    I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

  • Luke 6:25

    Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

  • Jude 1:12-13

    These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

  • Isaiah 65:13-15

    Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

  • Amos 8:10

    And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

  • Proverbs 29:9

    If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.

  • 2 Peter 2:13-17

    And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. …

  • Luke 16:25

    But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
as.
2:2; Ps 58:9; 118:12; Isa 65:13-15; Am 8:10; Lu 6:25; 16:25
2Pe 2:13-17; Jude 1:12,13
crackling. Heb. sound. the laughter.
Pr 29:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ecclesiastes 7:5

    It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

  • Ecclesiastes 7:6

    For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.

  • Ecclesiastes 7:7

    Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque la risa del necio es como el estrépito de las espinas debajo de la olla. Y también esto es vanidad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car comme le bruit des épines sous la marmite, ainsi est le rire du sot. Cela aussi est vanité.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn wie das Geknister der Dornen unter dem Topfe, so das Lachen des Toren. Auch das ist Eitelkeit.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Melius est a sapiente corripi, quam stultorum adulatione decipi;