Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Dead flies - literally, flies of death.
The ointment - a costly and precious ointment. The more excellent is the ointment, the sadder it is that so little a thing as dead flies should be allowed to spoil it. Sin begins with little things. Little inconsistencies, if not checked at the beginning, undermine the whole character. Following up Ecclesiastes 9:18.
Him that is in reputation - e.g., David (2 Samuel 12:14); Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-43); Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 18:1-34; 2 Chronicles 19:2); Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:22). The more delicate the perfume, the more easily spoiled is the ointment. Common oil is not so liable to injury. So the higher a man's religious character is, the more hurt is caused by a sinful folly in him. Bad savour is endurable in oil, but not in what professes to be, and is compounded by the perfumer ("apothecary") for fragrance. "Flies," being, small in appearance, answer to "a little folly" (sin) (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9): also "Beelzebub," the parent of sin, means prince of flies. "Ointment" answers to "reputation" (Ecclesiastes 7:1; Genesis 34:30).
To send forth a stinking savour - literally, 'cause to stink (and) to putrefy;' i:e., cause to stink through putrefaction. The verbs are singular, the noun plural, implying that each of the flies causes the stinking savour.