Ecclesiastes 4:14 Commentary, explanation, study verse by verse

“ For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. ”

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Arno Geneva Study Bible

For out of (h) prison he cometh to reign; though also [he that is] (i) born in his kingdom becometh poor. (h) That is, from a poor and base estate or out of trouble and prison as Joseph did, ( Genes...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4. A Gloomy Survey. The chapter falls into four parts, which treat respectively of oppression ( Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 ), rivalry ( Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 ), isolation amounting to self-tortur...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

out of prison, &c. Compare Joseph ( Genesis 41:40 ); Daniel ( Daniel 5:29 ; Daniel 6:1-3 ). born, &c. Compare Rehoboam, robbed by Shishak ( 1 Kings 14:25-28 ). poor . needy, in want....
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. For out of prison he cometh to reign - "Then Abraham left the country of the idolaters, where he had...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For out of prison he cometh to reign— Desvoeux connects this with the preceding verse thus; Because he came from among the slaves to be a king, and because he was born poor in the kingdom which be...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. For out of prison he (the poor and wise child) cometh to reign. Solomon uses this phrase of a...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Vicissitudes of Life. 'Oh, the pity of it!' 1-3. The mass of human suffering and the absence of pity are such that better off are the dead and still more the unborn. It is not only through God's...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Becometh. — Instead of this translation, it is better to render, in his kingdom he was even poor; but there is ambiguity in the Hebrew, as in the English, whether the antecedent of the “his” and...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

SECOND SECTION The Quest Of The Chief Good In Devotion To The Affairs Of Business Ecclesiastes 3:1 - Ecclesiastes 5:20 I. IF the true Good is not to be found in the School where Wisdom utter...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

From this general survey the preacher returned to examine the condition of the beings whom he had described as being no better than the beasts. He looked out upon them, and saw them in suffering, and...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. (14) For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor....
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For out of prison he cometh to reign ,.... That is, this is sometimes the case of a poor and wise child; he rises out of a low, mean, abject, obscure state and condition, to the highest dignity; fro...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - John Trapp Complete Commentary

For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor. Ver. 14. For out of prison he cometh to reign. ] As Valentinian the emperor; Sultan Mustapha the...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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 pove...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

The Advantages of Society. 13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be adm...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Out of prison, into which he was cast for his poverty and debt, he, the poor and wise child, cometh to reign; is ofttimes advanced by his wisdom to the highest power and dignity; which was the ca...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Chapter 4 The Dreadfulness of Oppression. Guidance on Living. This chapter begins with considering the dreadfulness of oppression and then continues with thoughts on living, giving both good and b...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.— Ecclesiastes 4:13 . Better is a poor and a wise child.] Not in the moral point of view, but happier—better off. Ecclesiastes 4:14 . For out of prison he cometh to reign.] Re...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Sermon Bible Commentary

Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 A profound gloom rests on the second act or section of this drama. It teaches us that we are helpless in the iron grip of laws which we had no voice in making; that we often lie...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecclesiastes 4:2 . Wherefore I praised the dead more than the living, who are robbed, fleeced, and exposed to incessant afflictions, from oppression and war. Solomon alludes to extreme cases, such...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Biblical Illustrator

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. On the advantages of Christian knowledge to the lower orders of society There is no topic on whic...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Complete Pulpit Commentary

EXPOSITION Ecclesiastes 4:1-21 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 inte...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

Evils of Social and Civil Life
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1 Kings 14:26 ; 1 Kings 14:27 ; 2 Kings 23:31-34 ; 2 Kings 24:1 ; 2 Kings 24:12 ; 2 Kings 24:2 ; 2 Kings 24:6 ; 2 Kings 25:27-30 ; 2 Kings 25:7 ; Daniel 4:31 ; Genesis 41:14 ; Genesis 41:...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

For he — The poor and wise child is often advanced to the highest dignity. Whereas — That old king is deprived of his kingdom.

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Arno Geneva Study Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - John Trapp Complete Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Sermon Bible Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Biblical Illustrator

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 4:14 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes