Ecclesiastes 4:13 NIV

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 4:13

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king ,.... The wise man proceeds to show the vanity of worldly power and dignity, in the highest instance of it, which is kingly; and, in order to illustrate and exemplify this, he supposes, on the one hand, a person possessed of royal honour; who has long enjoyed it, is settled in his kingdom, and advanced in years; and who otherwise, for his gravity and dignity, would be venerable; but that he is foolish, a person of a mean genius... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:13

Better is a poor and a wise child - The Targum applies this to Abraham. "Abraham was a poor child of only three years of age; but he had the spirit of prophecy, and he refused to worship the idols which the old foolish king - Nimrod - had set up; therefore Nimrod cast him into a furnace of fire. But the Lord worked a miracle and delivered him. Yet here was no knowledge in Nimrod, and he would not be admonished." The Targum proceeds: 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

Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king. The word translated "child" ( yeled ), is used sometimes of one beyond childhood (see Genesis 30:26 ; Genesis 37:30 ; 1 Kings 12:8 ), so here it may be rendered "youth." Misken , πενὴς , pauper (Vulgate), "poor," is found also at Ecclesiastes 9:15 , Ecclesiastes 9:16 , and nowhere else; but the root, with an analogous signification, occurs at Deuteronomy 8:9 and Isaiah 40:20 . The clause says that a... 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

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 4:13-14

Ecclesiastes 4:13-14. He now proceeds to another vanity, even that of honour and power, and the highest places. Better More happy; is a poor and wise child Who is doubly contemptible, both for his age and for his poverty; than an old and foolish king, who, though venerable for his age, and gravity, and royal dignity, yet hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels or admonitions of wiser men, but is foolish, rash, and incorrigible. For out of prison he The poor... 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

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 4:13

poor = straitened in means, not able to profit others. Hebrew. misken. Not the same as in Ecclesiastes 4:14 . Supposed to be a later Hebrew word, but a derivative of it is found in Deuteronomy 8:9 . See App-76 . read more

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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:13

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

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

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 4:13-14

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:4-16

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 4:13

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