Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Better (in respect to condition; not moral character) (is) a poor and a wise child that an old and foolish king. The "threefold cord" of social ties suggests the subject of civil government. In this case, too, he concludes that kingly power confers no lasting happiness. The "wise" child, though a supposed case of Solomon, answers, in the event foreseen by the Holy Spirit, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon and (1 Kings 11:26-40) appointed by God, through the prophet Ahijah, to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. The "old and foolish king" answers to Solomon himself, who had lost his wisdom, when, in defiance of two warnings of God (1 Kings 3:14; 1 Kings 9:2-9), he forsook God.
Who will no more be admonished - knows not yet how to take warning, (see margin.) God had by Ahijah already intimated the judgment coming on Solomon (1 Kings 11:11-13).