Ecclesiastes 9:14 BSB

Ecclesiastes 9:14

There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.

KJV

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

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Commentary

1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

There was a little city, and few men within it - Here is another proof of the vanity of sublunary things; the ingratitude of men, and the little compensation that genuine merit receives. The little history mentioned here may have either been a fact, or intended as an instructive fable. A little city, with few to defend it, being besieged by a great king and a powerful army, was delivered by the cunning and address on a poor wise man; and afterwards his townsmen forgot their obligation to him.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עִ֣יר	'ir	a city	H5892 →
קְטַנָּ֔ה	ke.ta.Nah	small	H6996 →
וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים	va.'a.na.Shim	and men	H582 →
בָּ֖הּ	bah	in <the> it
מְעָ֑ט	me.'At	[were] few	H4592 →
וּבָֽא־	u.va'-	and he came	H935 →
אֵלֶ֜יהָ	'e.Lei.ha	against it	H413 →
מֶ֤לֶךְ	Me.lekh	a king	H4428 →
גָּדוֹל֙	ga.dOl	great	H1419 →
וְסָבַ֣ב	ve.sa.Vav	and he surrounded	H5437 →
אֹתָ֔הּ	'o.Tah	<obj.> it	H853 →
וּבָנָ֥ה	u.va.Nah	and he built	H1129 →
עָלֶ֖יהָ	'a.Lei.ha	on it	H5921 →
מְצוֹדִ֥ים	me.tzo.Dim	siege works	H4685 →
גְּדֹלִֽים׃	ge.do.Lim	great	H1419 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Kings 6:24
Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria.
leads to
- 1 Kings 20:1
  Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.
- Deuteronomy 28:52
  They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your…
- 1 Kings 22:31
  Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
- 2 Kings 17:5
  Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.
- 2 Kings 18:9
  In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Ecclesiastes 9

Vanity Under the Sun — Ecclesiastes

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About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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01Commentary

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Ecclesiastes

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Ecclesiastes