Amplified Bible
Ecclesiastes 10:16
16Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.
Ecclesiastes 10:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
- New International Version (NIV)Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!
- New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning!
Context of Ecclesiastes 10:16
14Yet the fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after he is gone? 15The labor of a fool so wearies him [because he is ignorant] that he does not even know how to go to a city. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning. 17Blessed [prosperous and admired] are you, O land, when your king is a man of noble birth, and your princes and officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness. 18Through laziness the rafters [of state affairs] decay and the roof sags, and through idleness [the roof of] the house leaks.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 10Ecclesiastes 10:16 word by word
אִֽי־לָ֣ךְ אֶ֔רֶץ שֶׁמַּלְכֵּ֖ךְ נָ֑עַר וְשָׂרַ֖יִךְ בַּבֹּ֥קֶר יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 10:16
- 2 Chronicles 13:7and worthless (unprincipled, unethical) men gathered around him, useless and wicked men, who proved too strong for Rehoboam the son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and timid, and could not assert himself against them.
- 2 Chronicles 33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 36:2Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned [only] three months in Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 3:4And I will make mere boys their princes, And capricious (impulsive, unpredictable) children will rule over them.
- Proverbs 20:1Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler; And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
- Isaiah 5:11Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
- Isaiah 28:7But even these reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while seeing visions, They stagger when pronouncing judgment.
- Hosea 7:5On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine; The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).
- Jeremiah 21:12O house of David, thus says the Lord: “Administer justice in the morning, And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor, That My wrath will not roar up like fire And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child - Minorities are, in general, very prejudicial to a state. Regents either disagree, and foment civil wars; or oppress the people. Various discordant interests are raised up in a state during a minority; and the young king, having been under the tutelage of interested men, acts partially and injuriously to the interests of the people when he comes to the throne; and this produces popular discontent, and a…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16-20Verses 16-20 Foolish rulers, by their weakness, self-indulgence and sloth, bring decay upon the state: nobleness and temperance insure prosperity: yet the subject must not rebel in word or thought against his king. Ecclesiastes 10:16 A child - Rather, young. The word is applied to Rehoboam 2 Chronicles 13:7 at the time of his accession to the throne, when he was 41 years old. Eat in the morning - A sign of intemperance (compare Isaiah 5:11). Ecclesiastes…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-20Verses 16-20 The happiness of a land depends on the character of its rulers. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish, and lovers of pleasure. Slothfulness is of ill consequence both to private and public affairs. Money, of itself, will neither feed nor clothe, though it answers the occasions of this present life, as what is to be had, may generally be had for money. But the soul, as it is not redeemed, so it is not maintained with…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-17A servant does not have leadership skills. feast at the proper time: Wise leaders relax only after completing their work, not in the morning before starting. Lazy leaders weaken a society or organization.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. a child--given to pleasures; behaves with childish levity. Not in years; for a nation may be happy under a young prince, as Josiah. eat in the morning--the usual time for dispensing justice in the East (Jr 21:12); here, given to feasting (Is 5:11; Ac 2:15).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 10:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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