Better is a poor and a wise child, &c.— Better is the experienced and wise son, than the old, &c. Desvoeux; who has shewn, that the word מסכן misken, from the root סכן saken, properly signifies experienced; and by this interpretation the passage appears with new beauties; for what can be more striking than the title which the wise son, the young prince here spoken of, has to the preference given him above his father, when he is represented as possessed in his youth of those very qualifications, experience and wisdom, which are generally looked upon as the properties of old age? And what could make his worth more conspicuous than the opposition of the old king's faults in those very respects? See chap. Ecclesiastes 10:6; Ecclesiastes 7:16-17.
Related Commentaries of Ecclesiastes 4:13
Ecclesiastes 4:13
13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.