SUMMARY
Speaking rashly to or before God is a hallmark of fools.
ANALYSIS
Ecclesiastes is fond of several tropes from WisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... literature (e.g., the book of Proverbs), and perhaps chief among them is the importance of “frugal speech” (to borrow a phrase from Emily Dickinson). To put it colloquially, the Teacher is not a fan of folks who run their mouths. In this passage, that concern is couched in a cultic (i.e., religious) context: worship at the Jerusalem TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged..., including making vows before God. It will come up again at 10:12-15, this time in a more everyday context.
