Translation
The fool is placed in many high places,
Go to footnote numberand the rich sit in low places.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Long-held social norms have been turned on their heads, and standard precautions have been abandoned e.g.
fools are sometimes placed in positions of dignity even though they themselves have no dignity and they have not proved themselves capable to carry out that position’s responsibilities, also, men of wealth who represent upstanding family lines, and who have proven themselves by their decisions to be capable of leading many people and carrying out complex endeavors sometimes end up being disrespected, disparaged, and suppressed.
Footnotes
1
The emphasis here is that the fool has not earned that position with hard work and preparation and is not capable of carrying out the responsibilities inherent in that position. Such men were and still are placed in those positions due primarily to favors being granted by someone in power. This happens all over the world even today and the general public is not served well by this granting of favors to friends and relatives.
An example in Scripture would be Haman, who, in the book of Esther, lived for one thing only and that was the total destruction of the Jews. From the best we can tell, his people had been destroyed by king Saul at the Lord’s command, but it appears that Haman’s ancestor had escaped. Haman had grown up with a vendetta against all Jews. For a reason that we are not told, Haman was elevated to a position above all the other nobles in the land of Persia. He turned out to be a poor leader because he was focused on using his power and position to accomplish only his own personal goals.
2: “the rich”
Here Solomon is bemoaning the reality that sometimes those who have outstanding resumes, solid family backgrounds, and exceptional experience are overlooked for various positions in favor of someone else, usually due to the granting of a favor to a friend. From the other things he has said in this book, we can surmise that by “the rich” Solomon is not talking about people who inherit lots of money and have never learned how to do any leading or managing; all they have is money. The structure of society in the Old Testament was one that was very interconnected, not “every-man-for-himself” as our culture is. Therefore, there were fewer wealthy people with zero leadership experience; most people with money had to manage and lead; free-loading wasn’t allowed (although there are always a few exceptions).