Ecclesiastes 5:2

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God,.... In private conversation care should be taken that no rash and unadvised words be spoken in haste, as

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

Be not rash with thy mouth; speak not without good understanding and due consideration. Let not thine heart be hasty; do not give way to every sudden motion of thine heart, nor suffer it to break out of thy lips till thou hast well weighed it. To utter any thing before God; either, 1. In prayers directed to him. Or, 2. In solemn vows and promises made in God’ s presence; which were very much in use in those times, and of which he speaks in the following verses, where he presseth us to pay our vows when we have made them, as here he seems to caution us in making them. God is in heaven; is a God of infinite majesty, not to be despised or abused; of infinite holiness, not to be polluted or offended; of infinite knowledge. observing all our words and carriages, not to be deceived. Thou upon earth; thou art a poor earth-worm, infinitely below him, and therefore shouldst stand in awe of him, and fear to offend him. Let thy words be few; either 1. In prayer. Use not vain repetitions nor multitude of words in prayer, as if they were necessary to inform God of thy state, or to prevail with God to grant thy requests, or as if thou shouldst certainly be heard upon that very account, as Christ also cautions us, . For otherwise it is not unlawful, nay, sometimes it is a duty, to use long prayers, and consequently many words, and to repeat the same words in prayer, as is manifest from ,19 Matthew 26:44 , and many other places. Or, 2. In vowing. Be not too prodigal in making more vows and promises than thou art either able or willing and resolved to perform, remembering that God looks down from heaven, and heareth all thy vows, and expects a punctual accomplishment of them. See Poole "".

Ecclesiastes 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter [any] thing before God: for God [is] in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.Ver. 2. Be not rash with thy mouth.] From hearing, the Preacher proceeds to give directions for speaking, whether it be of God or to him. For the first, the very heathens could say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine, We may not speak of God without a light - i.e., without a deliberate premeditation and well advised consideration. In speaking of God, saith one, our best eloquence is our silence. And if we speak at all on this subject, saith another, no words will so well become us as those, quae ignorantiam nostram praetendunt, that most discover our small knowledge of him. "How little a portion or pittance is heard of him," saith holy Job; the Hebrew word signifies a little bit or particle - nay, a little piece of a word, such as an echo resoundeth, "But the thunder of his power who can understand?" it is ineffable, because inconceivable. Here, if ever, “ Claudicat ingenium, delirat linguaque mensque.” - Lucret. But although Jerome thinks it best to understand the Preacher here of a speaking of God, yet others, and for better reason, conceive his meaning to be rather of a speaking to God by prayer, and particularly by a vow, which implies a prayer, as the Greek words ευχη and προσευχη import. Here then, Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything.] Heb., Let not thine heart through haste be so troubled or disturbed, as to tumble over, and throw out words without wisdom, in a confused manner, in a slubbering sort. But as there was "half an hour’ s silence in heaven" when the seventh seal was opened, and or ever the seven trumpets sounded, so should there be a sad and serious weighing of our petitions before we utter them. Nescit poenitenda loqui, qui proferenda prius suo tradidit examini, He repents not of his requests who first duly deliberates what to request. Whereas he that blurts out whatsoever lies uppermost - as some good men have done in their haste and heat of passion (as Job, Job 6:5; David, Psalms 116:11; Jeremiah, Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 15:18; Jonah, Jonah 4:1-3, who brawled with God instead of praying to him) - displeaseth God no less than the Muscovy ministers do their hearers if they mispronounce but any syllable in their whole liturgy. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth.] He is the "high and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity," and thou art E palude sua procedens et repens vilis ranuncula, as Bernard hath it, a base toad creeping or crawling out of a ditch: there is an infinite distance and disproportion between him and thee; therefore see to it that thou come to him with all possible reverence, humility, and self-abasement. See Job 42:6 1 Kings 18:42 Matthew 26:38.

(2) Few.—Sir 7:14; Sir 18:22.

Verse 2. Be not rash with thy mouth] Do not hasten with thy mouth; weigh thy words, feel deeply, think much, speak little. "When ye approach his altar, on your lips Set strictest guard; and let your thoughts be pure, Fervent, and recollected. Thus prepared, Send up the silent breathings of your souls, Submissive to his will." C.

2. Be not rash with thy mouth] The rule follows the worshipper from the threshold into the Temple-court and tells him how he is to act there. We are reminded of our Lord’s warning against “vain repetitions,” after the manner of the heathen (Matthew 6:7). The second clause, though parallel to the first, carries the thought further. The “heart” or mind of the worshipper also is to be calm and deliberate. We are not to turn every hasty wish into a prayer, but to ask ourselves whether it is one of the things for which we ought to pray. Here also the precept has its analogies in the counsels of the wise of heart outside the covenant of Israel. See especially Juven. Sat. x. therefore let thy words be few] The Son of Sirach gives the same rule for our speech when in the presence of the “great men” of earth (Sir 32:9), and à fortiori the reverence due to God should shew itself in the same form as our reverence for them. In a Talmudic precept we find the rule in nearly the same words, “the words of a man should always be few in the presence of God” (Berachoth, 61 a, quoted by Ginsburg). Comp. also Hooker E. P. 1. 2. § 3.

2. The Hebrew expositors preferred that chapter v should begin with this verse, regarding the previous verse as an admonition better fitted to close chap. 4. Really, the natural division is the one given in our English version.