Ecclesiastes 10:5
“There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.”
What does Ecclesiastes 10:5 mean?
The writer of Ecclesiastes is pointing out something he's observed in real life: when leaders make poor decisions or act foolishly, the damage ripples out to everyone around them. A ruler's mistakes aren't like ordinary errors because their power means those mistakes affect many people. He's not saying leadership itself is evil, but rather that incompetent or misguided authority creates real suffering in a community. If you've ever felt frustrated by decisions made at work or in your organization that didn't make sense, you're experiencing exactly what he's describing here.