Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment Unless it be seasonably prevented by the art and care of the charmer. This is an allusion to the general opinion, then and still prevailing in the eastern countries, that serpents might be charmed so as to be prevented from biting by certain incantations, or by singing and music. See note on Psalms 58:4-5. And a babbler is no better Hebrew, בעל הלשׁון, the master of the tongue; which may be understood either of a rash, loose talker, a mere babbler, or of a backbiter and slanderer. Each of these is in the habit of using his tongue as if he were lord of it, and often does much mischief thereby, especially the latter, who, by his malicious words, bites secretly like a serpent, and gives deadly wounds to the characters of the absent.
Related Commentaries of Ecclesiastes 10:11
Ecclesiastes 10:11
11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babblerd is no better.