Ecclesiastes 7:5-7

⁵ It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.

⁶ For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.

⁷ Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, and a bribe debases the heart.

Fools listen only to what they want to hear, and thus remain foolish (Proverbs 13:1; 17:10; 27:6) — Grace, page 1175.

__________

The way to profit is to be kept by patiently hearing the rebuke of the wise. The pleasing words of the fool are like thorns placed under a kettle. Anticipation may run high as the immediate crackling sound occurs, but little lasting good can come of it. This flash of fire fails to produce any substantial heat. In like manner, the shallow speech and laughter of the fool is never productive of lasting good. — KJV Commentary, page 746.

__________

More alliteration in the Hebrew (v.6): “thorns” is sirim and “pot” is sir.” It has been rendered in English as “crackling nettles under kettles” or “crackling stubble makes the pot bubble.” — Grace, page 1175.

__________

The warning of verse 7 may be that the wise man is in danger of desiring, and being corrupted by, the pleasure which may be obtained by extortion and bribes, but verse 8 directs the attention to the “end” of such pleasures. — Williams, page 444.