Ecclesiastes 4:14
in Ecclesiastes 4For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor.
KJV
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"That from prison and chains sometimes one goes forth to a kingdom": Wisdom ten: "She did not abandon the just man who was sold into bondage, but freed him from sinners, until she brought him the scepter of the kingdom." "And another, born to a …
This site's exposition
a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king
on Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
The chapter's last case sets a poor and wise youth against an old and foolish king who will no longer be admonished, wisdom outweighing both poverty and rank, even here where the fool holds the throne. Verses 14 and 15 trace one such youth rising from prison to reign while a king born to his kingdom ends poor, and a whole people gathering after the new ruler, the reversal Scripture elsewhere records in Joseph's own rise. Yet verse 16 closes the case the way the book closes every case, no end of all the people who came before and none who come after will rejoice in him either, so that even the wisest rise still ends in vanity and vexation of spirit under the sun.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Better is a poor but wise youth, than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take care of himself; because from the prison-house he emerged to reign, while even in his reign he was born poor. I saw all the living that wander beneath the sun throng to the succeeding youth that steps into his place. There is no end to the entire nation, to all that was before them; similarly the ones that come later will not rejoice in him. For this too is futility and a vexation of the spirit."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For he - The poor and wise child is often advanced to the highest dignity. Whereas - That old king is deprived of his kingdom.
For out of prison he cometh to reign,....
Though he was born in his kingdom, came to it by inheritance, though he has lived to be old in it and has had time to fill his treasures, yet if he take ill courses, and will no more be admonished as he has been, thinking, because he is old, he is past it, he becomes poor; his treasure is exhausted, and perhaps he is forced to resign his crown and retire into privacy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For out of prison he cometh to reign - “Then Abraham left the country of the idolaters, where he had been imprisoned, and came and reigned over the land of Canaan; and Nimrod became poor in this world.” This is the fact to which the ancient rabbins supposed Solomon to allude.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul (which may have been before Solomon's mind), had so far their counterpart in that of Jeroboam. whereas . . . becometh poor--rather, "though he (the youth) was born poor in his kingdom" (in the land where afterwards he was to reign).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Better a poor but wise child. This is the good inclination, and why is it called “child”? Because it comes to a person only at the age of thirteen years.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִבֵּ֥ית | mibeit | from [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הָסוּרִ֖ים | hasurim | the prisoners | H631 → | |
| יָצָ֣א | yatza' | he came out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לִמְלֹ֑ךְ | limlokh | to become king | H4427 → | |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גַּ֥ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּמַלְכוּת֖וֹ | bemalkhuto | in own kingdom his | H4438 → | |
| נוֹלַ֥ד | nolad | he had been born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| רָֽשׁ׃ | rash | a poor [person] | H7326 → |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מִבֵּ֥יתfrom [the] house of
mibeitH1004 →2046 times
הָסוּרִ֖יםthe prisoners
hasurimH631 →
יָצָ֣אhe came out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
לִמְלֹ֑ךְto become king
limlokhH4427 →
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גַּ֥םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
בְּמַלְכוּת֖וֹin own kingdom his
bemalkhutoH4438 →
נוֹלַ֥דhe had been born
noladH3205 →496 times
רָֽשׁ׃a poor [person]
rashH7326 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 5:11He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 113:7
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Psalms 107:41
But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.
- Luke 6:21
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
- Luke 1:52–53
He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
Through
Genesis 41:14So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.
it leads to
- Daniel 2:25
Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”
- Psalms 113:7–8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Daniel 2:25
Through
2 Kings 24:12Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 24:1
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to…
- Jeremiah 24:1
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.