Ecclesiastes 5:9
in Ecclesiastes 5The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
KJV
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseMoreover, the profit of the earth is for all,.... Or, "the excellency of the earth in" or "above all things is this" (y); that God most high rules over all the earth, and is higher than the kings of it, and all oppressors in it; or in all respects there is a preference, a superior excellency in the country as opposed to the city, especially in this, that there are not so many tumults, riots, and oppressions there; though this is mostly understood of the preference and superior excellency of agriculture, or tillage of the earth.
This site's exposition
If you see the oppression of the poor
on Ecclesiastes 5:8-9
The Teacher tells the reader who sees the oppression of the poor do not be astonished at the matter. Corruption has a chain of accountability: one official is watched by a superior, and others higher are over them. Verse 9 adds a fact, the king himself profits from the fields.
This site's exposition
The produce of the earth
Barnes makes the king himself dependent on the field, so an official who crushes the poor with oppression cuts off his own produce. Clarke joins the worker and the king in one bond. Gill records a reading that sets God higher than every king and official of the earth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Regarding the literal interpretation: No one is lord, owner and ruler over a field that lies fallow where thorns and thistles grow; but the field that is well tilled has a king. Thereby the owner is called a king.…When the defenders of the teaching that …
"A lover of money will never be satisfied with money; a lover of abundance has no wheat. This too, is futility! As goods increase, so do those who consume them; what advantage, then, has the owner except what hi eyes see?" Wherever we read 'silver', according to the ambiguity of the Greek term, it can be translated as 'money', since each has the meaning of the Greek "argurion.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"And moreover the king of all the earth commands one who serves him:" although therefore they do not serve one another and are not ordered through themselves, they are nevertheless ordered by God, who knows how to use evils well: in Genesis forty-one it is …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
5 ); and that it has so, and that a barren land is not made his dwelling (as he has deserved for being rebellious, Ps. lxviii. 6 ), is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is profit to be got out of the earth, and it is for all; all need it; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
For all - Necessary and beneficial to all men. The wise man, after some interruption, returns to his former subject, the vanity of riches, one evidence whereof he mentions in this verse, that the poor labourer enjoys the fruits of the earth as well as the greatest monarch. Is served - Is supported by the fruits of the field.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The king himself is served by the field - Rather, the king is subject to the field, i. e., is dependent on its cultivation. The higher ranks, if they oppress the lower, lose thereby their own means of subsistence.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"The profit (produce) of the earth is (ordained) for (the common good of) all: even the king himself is served by (the fruits of) the field" (2Ch 26:10).
The profit of the earth is for all - The earth, if properly cultivated, is capable of producing food for every living creature; and without cultivation none has a right to expect bread. The king himself is served by the field - Without the field he cannot have supplies for his own house; and, unless agriculture flourish, the necessary expenses of the state cannot be defrayed. Thus, God joins the head and feet together; for while the peasant is protected by the king as executor of the laws, the king himself is dependent on the peasant; as the wealth of the nation is the fruit of the laborer’s toil.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
As goods increase. When the [Bnei] Yisroel improve their deeds.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
When good is multiplied in the world, the children of men who eat it are also multiplied; and what advantage is there to the owner who gathers it unless he does good with it, that he may see in the world to come the reward given with his eyes.
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.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִתְר֥וֹן | veyitron | and [the] profit of | H3504 → | 10 times |
| אֶ֖רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בַּכֹּ֣ל | bakol | [is] in <the> everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| ה֑וּא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לְשָׂדֶ֖ה | lesadeh | to a field | H7704 → | |
| נֶעֱבָֽד׃ | neevad | he has been served | H5647 → |
וְיִתְר֥וֹןand [the] profit of
veyitronH3504 →10 times
אֶ֖רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
בַּכֹּ֣ל[is] in <the> everything
bakolH3605 →5413 times
ה֑וּאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
מֶ֥לֶךְa king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
לְשָׂדֶ֖הto a field
lesadehH7704 →
נֶעֱבָֽד׃he has been served
neevadH5647 →
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
Psalms 115:16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
it leads to
- Psalms 8:6
You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:
- Psalms 89:11
The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
- Genesis 1:28–30
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
- Jeremiah 27:5–6
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Genesis 9:1–3
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Psalms 8:6
Through
Proverbs 13:23Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but without justice it is swept away.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:11
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
- Proverbs 28:19
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- Psalms 112:5
It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.
- Proverbs 12:11
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 145:2; 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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.