Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ecclesiastes 5:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse warns worshipers to guard their approach to God's house and prefer listening to a fool's sacrifice.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 5:1-7
Read Ecclesiastes 5:1 with 5:1-7. This verse warns worshipers to guard their approach to God's house and prefer listening to a fool's sacrifice. The full unit establishes this movement: Worship before the God in heaven requires attentive listening, restrained speech, truthful vows, refusal of excuses, and fear of God rather than verbal volume or careless sacrifice.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The first extended imperative section applies human limitation to religious practice: words spoken before God do not create control and can become wrongdoing. Within that movement, this verse warns worshipers to guard their approach to God's house and prefer listening to a fool's sacrifice.
Follow the Context
- Guard the approach to God's house and draw near to hear.
- Few words fit the distance between heaven and earth.
- Busy dreams and many words expose folly.
- Vows must be performed without delay.
- A verbal excuse before the messenger does not erase responsibility.
- Many dreams and words end in hebel; fear God.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“be more ready to hear”
In plain language: Attentive reception before religious performance.
warns worshipers to guard their approach to God's house and prefer listening to a fool's sacrifice. Religious attendance and offering can become evil when they replace attentive obedience.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The command does not silence lament, questions, abuse disclosures, or accessibility needs.
It does not authorize gatekeepers to exclude people arbitrarily from worship.
What Remains True
Religious attendance and offering can become evil when they replace attentive obedience.
How It Can Shape Life
- Enter worship ready to hear truth, including credible reports that challenge the institution.
Teach It Back
Explain Ecclesiastes 5:1's precise role in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7. Include the complete movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 — Listen, Speak Carefully, and Fear GodSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
This is 4:17 in Hebrew numbering; 'guard your foot' concerns conduct, not a ritual disability standard.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 5:1-7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1202-1203, translation and notes on 5:1-7
Open source ↗