Guard your steps
The phrase "Guard your steps" is a call to mindfulness and reverence. The Hebrew word for "guard" is "shamar," which means to keep, watch, or preserve. This implies a conscious effort to approach God with respect and awareness. In ancient Israel, the temple was the physical manifestation of God's presence, and approaching it required a heart prepared for worship. This phrase reminds believers to approach God with intentionality, ensuring that their actions and thoughts align with His holiness.

when you go to the house of God
The "house of God" refers to the temple in Jerusalem, a central place of worship for the Israelites. In the broader biblical context, it symbolizes any place where God's presence dwells. Historically, the temple was a place of sacrifice, prayer, and divine encounter. For Christians, this can also be seen as a metaphor for the church or any gathering of believers. The emphasis is on the sacredness of the space and the need for reverence when entering into God's presence.

Draw near to listen
"Draw near to listen" highlights the importance of approaching God with a posture of humility and receptivity. The Hebrew word "shama" means to hear or listen, but it also implies obedience. Listening in this context is not passive but active, requiring a readiness to respond to God's voice. This phrase encourages believers to prioritize hearing God's word and wisdom over merely performing religious rituals.

rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools
The "sacrifice of fools" refers to offerings made without understanding or sincerity. In ancient times, sacrifices were a central part of worship, but they were meaningless if not accompanied by genuine devotion. The "fools" are those who perform religious acts without true reverence or awareness of their significance. This serves as a warning against empty rituals and encourages believers to ensure their worship is heartfelt and informed by a true understanding of God's will.

for they do not know that they do wrong
This phrase underscores the danger of ignorance in worship. The "fools" are unaware of their wrongdoing because they lack insight and discernment. In the biblical context, knowledge of God and His commandments is crucial for righteous living. This serves as a reminder that true worship requires both knowledge and sincerity. It calls believers to seek wisdom and understanding, ensuring that their actions align with God's truth and righteousness.

V.

(1) In the Hebrew division this is the last verse of the preceding chapter; but clearly here a new section begins, containing proverbs in the second person singular, which has not hitherto been used. There is no obvious connection with what has gone before; possibly the precepts here introduced were traditionally known to have been part of Solomon's teaching.

They consider not.--The most natural translation of this clause would be, "They know not how to do evil," i.e., are incapable of doing evil. This would force us to understand the subject of the clause to be, not the fools, but those who are ready to hear. The Authorised Version exhibits one of the expedients resorted to in order to get a better meaning. Another is, "They are without knowledge, so that they do evil."

Verses 1-7. - Section 6. Man's outward and secular life being unable to secure happiness and satisfaction, can these be found in popular religion? Religious exercises need the observation of strict rules, which are far from meeting with general attention. Koheleth proceeds to give instruction, in the form of maxims, concerning public worship, prayer, and vows. Verse 1. - This verse, in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, forms the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 4, and is taken independently; but the division in our version is more natural, and the connection of this with the following verses is obvious. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, Some read "feet" instead of "foot," but the singular and plural numbers are both found in this signification (comp. Psalm 119:59, 105; Proverbs 1:15; Proverbs 4:26, 27). To "keep the foot" is to be careful of the conduct, to remember what you are about, whither you are going. There is no allusion to the sacerdotal rite of washing the feet before entering the holy place (Exodus 30:18, 19), nor to the custom of removing the shoes on entering a consecrated building, which was a symbol of reverential awe and obedient service. The expression is simply a term connected with man's ordinary life transferred to his moral and religious life. The house of God is the temple. The tabernacle is called "the house of Jehovah" (1 Samuel 1:7; 2 Samuel 12:20), and this name is commonly applied to the temple; e.g., 1 Kings 3:1; 2 Chronicles 8:16; Ezra 3:11. But "house of God" is applied also to the temple (2 Chronicles 5:14; Ezra 5:8, 15, etc.), so that we need not, with Bullock, suppose that Koheleth avoids the name of the Lord of the covenant as "a natural sign of the writer's humiliation after his fall into idolatry, and an acknowledgment of his unworthiness of the privileges of a son of the covenant." It is probable that the expression here is meant to include synagogues as well as the great temple at Jerusalem, since the following clause seems to imply that exhortation would be heard there, which formed no part of the temple service. The verse has furnished a text on the subject of the reverence due to God's house and service from Chrysostom downwards. And be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools. Various are the renderings of this clause. Wright, "For to draw near to hear is (better) than the fools offering sacrifices." (So virtually Knobel, Ewald, etc.) Ginsburg, "For it is nearer to obey than to offer the sacrifice of the disobedient;" i.e. it is the straighter, truer way to take when you obey God than when you merely perform outward service. The Vulgate takes the infinitive verb as equivalent to the imperative, as the Authorized Version, Appropinqua ut audias; but it is best to regard it as pure infinitive, and to translate, "To approach in order to hear is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools." The sentiment is the same as that in 1 Samuel 15:22, 'Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." The same thought occurs in Proverbs 21:3; Psalm 50:7-15; and continually in the prophets; e.g., Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Hosea 6:6, etc. It is the reaction against the mere ceremonialism which marked the popular religion. Koheleth had seen and deplored this at Jerusalem and elsewhere, and he enunciates the great troth that it is more acceptable to God that one should go to his house to hear the Law read and taught and expounded, than to offer a formal sacrifice, which, as being the offering of a godless man is called in proverbial language "the sacrifice of fools" (Proverbs 21:27). The verb used here, "give" (nathan), is not the usual expression for offering sacrifice, and may possibly refer to the feast which accompanied such sacrifices, and which often degenerated into excess (Delitzsch). That the verb rendered "to hear" does not mean merely "to obey" is plain from its reference to conduct in the house of God. The reading of the Law, and probably of the prophets, formed a feature of the temple service in Koheleth's day; the expounding of the same in public was confined to the synagogues, which seem to have originated in the time of the exile, though there were doubtless before that time some regular occasions of assembling together (see 2 Kings 4:23). For they consider not that they do evil; Ὅι οὐκ εἰσὶν εἰδότες τοῦ ποιῆσαι κακόν (Septuagint); Qui nesciunt quid faciunt mali (Vulgate); "They are without knowledge, so that they do evil" (Delitzsch, Knobel, etc.); "As they (who obey) know not to do evil" (Gins-burg). The words can scarcely mean, "They know not that they do evil;" nor, as Hitzig has, "They know not how to be sorrowful." There is much difficulty in understanding the passage according to the received reading, and Nowack, with others, deems the text corrupt. If we accept what we now find, it is best to translate, "They know not, so that they do evil;" i.e. their ignorance predisposes them to err in this matter. The persons meant are the "fools" who offer unacceptable sacrifices. These know not how to worship God heartily and properly, and, thinking to please him with their formal acts of devotion, fall into a grievous sin.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Guard
שְׁמֹ֣ר (šə·mōr)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

your steps
רַגְלְךָ֗ (raḡ·lə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7272: A foot, a step, the pudenda

when
כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you go
תֵּלֵךְ֙ (tê·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the house
בֵּ֣ית (bêṯ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

of God.
הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

Draw near
וְקָר֣וֹב (wə·qā·rō·wḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 7138: Near

to listen
לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ (liš·mō·a‘)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

rather than to offer
מִתֵּ֥ת (mit·têṯ)
Preposition-m | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

the sacrifice
זָ֑בַח (zā·ḇaḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2077: A slaughter, the flesh of an animal, a sacrifice

of fools,
הַכְּסִילִ֖ים (hak·kə·sî·lîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3684: Stupid fellow, dullard, fool

who
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

do not
אֵינָ֥ם (’ê·nām)
Adverb | third person masculine plural
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

know that
יוֹדְעִ֖ים (yō·wḏ·‘îm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 3045: To know

they do
לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת (la·‘ă·śō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 6213: To do, make

wrong.
רָֽע׃ (rā‘)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)