EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ecclesiastes 10:16
16A country is in terrible trouble if its ruler is young and foolish. If its leaders go to parties all day, a country is in trouble.
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
14But he never stops talking. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. Nobody can tell us what will happen after we die. 15When a fool does any work, he quickly becomes tired. He is so tired that he forgets the way to town. A country is in terrible trouble if its ruler is young and foolish. If its leaders go to parties all day, a country is in trouble. 17But if a country's ruler belongs to a good family, that country will be a happy place. Its leaders only enjoy parties at the proper time. They control themselves and they do not become drunk. 18If a man is too lazy to work on his house, its roof will fall down. Rain will make his rooms wet.
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 13:7He took some wicked useless men to join his group. They made themselves strong against Solomon's son, Rehoboam. Rehoboam was young and he had not been king for very long. So he was not strong enough to stop them.
- 2 Chronicles 33:1Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 55 years.
- 2 Chronicles 36:2Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for three months.
- Isaiah 3:4The Lord says, ‘I will cause boys to become their leaders who will rule them badly.
- Proverbs 20:1If you drink too much wine or strong drink, you do stupid things and you fight. It is not wise to become drunk.
- Isaiah 5:11It will be bad for you people who like to get up early to start drinking. You continue to drink late into the night, until you are very drunk.
- Isaiah 28:7But now wine causes the leaders in Ephraim to become drunk. They cannot walk in a straight line because they drink too much beer. Beer causes the priests and the prophets to fall over. Wine confuses their minds. When they see visions, they cannot understand them. When they judge people, they cannot decide what is right.
- Hosea 7:5On a day when the king has a feast, the leaders drink too much wine. The king and the leaders join with other people to do foolish things.
- Jeremiah 21:12‘Descendants of King David, the Lord says this to you: Every day you must be fair as you judge people. Punish those who rob other people. Punish those who are cruel to other people. Help the people that they have hurt. If you do not do judge in a fair way, I will be very angry. My anger will burn like a hot fire that nobody can stop. It will destroy you because of the evil things that you have done.’ The Lord says:
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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