The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails firmly fixed by the masters of assemblies, which are given by one shepherd.
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 12:11 Go To Ecclesiastes 12
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Therefore let your sermons be flowing, let them be clear and lucid so that by suitable disputation you may pour sweetness into the ears of the people and by the grace of your words may persuade the crowd to follow willingly where you lead. But if in the people, or in some persons, there is any stubbornness or any fault, let your sermons be such as to goad the listener, to sting the person with a guilty conscience. “The words of the wise are as goads.” Even the Lord Jesus goaded Saul when he was a persecutor. Consider how salutary was the goad that made of a persecutor an apostle, saying, “It is hard for you to kick against the goad.” Letter , To Constantius.
