Christian Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 10:16
16Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your 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. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him? 15The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city. Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning. 17Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time — for strength and not for drunkenness. 18Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of negligent hands 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 13:7Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young, inexperienced, and unable to assert himself against them.
- 2 Chronicles 33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 36:2Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 3:4“I will make youths their leaders, and unstable rulers will govern them.”
- Proverbs 20:1Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.
- Isaiah 5:11Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.
- Isaiah 28:7Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: Priest and prophet stagger because of beer. They are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer. They are muddled in their visions. They stumble in their judgments.
- Hosea 7:5On the day of our king, the princes are sick with the heat of wine — there is a conspiracy with traitors.
- Jeremiah 21:12House of David, this is what the Lord says: Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor, or my anger will flare up like fire and burn unquenchably because of your evil 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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