Ecclesiastes 4:16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an uncertain thing; he had before said so (Prov. 27:24; The crown doth not endure to every generation), and his son found it so. Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people's love. I. A king is not happy unless he have wisdom, Eccl. 4:13, 14. He that is truly wise, prudent, and pious,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:16

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them ,.... Before the present generation, the living that walked under the sun; a vast number they were that lived before them, and they were of the same restless temper and disposition; changeable in their affection and behaviour towards their governors; no end of their number, nor any stable affection for, nor settled satisfaction in, their rulers; but this itch of novelty, of having new princes over them, went from... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:16

There is no end of all the people - This is supposed to refer to the multitudes of people who hail the advent and accession of a new sovereign; for, as Suetonius remarks, A plerisque adorari solem orientem, "Most people adore the rising sun." But when the new king becomes old, very few regard him; and perhaps he lives long enough to be as much despised by the very persons who before were ready to worship him. This is also a miserable vanity. Thus the blooming heir: - "Shall feel the sad... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

Section 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man ' s inability to be the architect of his own happiness . There are many things which interrupt or destroy it. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

High place offers no assurance of security. A king's popularity is never permanent; he is supplanted by some clever young aspirant for a time, whose influence in turn soon evaporates, and the subject-people reap no benefit from the change. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:16

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. The paragraph plainly is carrying on the description of the popular enthusiasm for the new favorite. The Authorized Version completely obscures this meaning. It is better to translate, Numberless were the people , all , at whose head he stood . Koheleth places himself in the position of a spectator, and marks how numerous are the adherents who flock around the youthful aspirant. "Nullus finis omni populo,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

These verses set forth the vanity of earthly prosperity even on a throne. Opinion as to their application is chiefly divided between considering them a parable or fiction like that of the childless man in Ecclesiastes 4:8 : or as setting forth first the vicissitudes of royal life in two proverbial sayings Ecclesiastes 4:13-14, and then Ecclesiastes 4:15-16, the vicissitudes or procession of the whole human race, one generation giving place to another, Which in its turn will be forgotten by its... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 4:16

Ecclesiastes 4:16. There is no end of the people The sense seems to be, either, 1st, The people who have this humour are without end, or innumerable: or, 2d, This humour of the common people hath no end, but passes from one generation to another: they ever were, and are, and will be, unstable and restless, and given to change: which sense the following words favour: Even of all that have been before them Before the present generation of subjects, who earnestly desired and promoted the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:4-16

The uselessness of achievement (4:4-16)Several examples illustrate how useless much human activity is. Some people drive themselves in their work but can never relax and enjoy it, because they are always worrying about being ahead of everyone else. Others do not work at all and so ruin themselves. Both extremes should be avoided. People should work for a living and enjoy it, but they should not be so ambitious that they create trouble for themselves (4-6).Other unhappy people are those who... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:15-16

Ecclesiastes 4:15-16. I considered all the living— I saw all the living eager to walk under the sun, with the second son who should succeed him.—Ver. 16. No end of all the people! of all that resorted to them! Yet they who shall come after will have no reason to be glad of that successor. I do not find, says Desvoeux, that the interpreters have taken any notice of the phrase, walking under the sun with a man in power, as of a figurative expression. Nay, our version turns it so as to make it a... read more

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