Ecclesiastes 4:13

Ecclesiastes 4:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
• New International Version (NIV)Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Better a poor and wise youth Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

Context of Ecclesiastes 4:13

11Also, if two people sleep together, they help each other to be warm. But if you sleep alone, it is difficult to be warm. 12If you are alone, one person might attack you and hurt you. But two people together can help each other to win the fight. If you use three strings to make a rope, it is difficult for anyone to break it. A young man may be very poor. But if he is wise, he is better than a king who is foolish. When the king is old, he may not listen to his friends' advice. 14A young man who is wise may even become king himself one day. He may have been in prison. He may have been born in a poor family in that kingdom. But he may later rule there as king. 15I thought about all the people who live on the earth. I realized that one of them would also become king one day. He would rule instead of the other young man who became king.

Ecclesiastes 4:13 word by word

ט֛וֹב יֶ֥לֶד מִסְכֵּ֖ן וְחָכָ֑ם מִמֶּ֤לֶךְ זָקֵן֙ וּכְסִ֔יל אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־יָדַ֥ע לְהִזָּהֵ֖ר עֽוֹד׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• a poorמִסְכֵּןmiskên · poorH4542
• and a wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• childיֶ֫לֶדyeled · youthH3206
• than an oldזָקֵןzâqên · oldH2205
• and foolishכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684
• kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• who willיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• no more be admonishedזָהַרzâhar · to warnH2094

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:13

• Ecclesiastes 9:15There was a man who lived in the city. He was poor but he was also wise. Because he was wise, he knew how to save the city. But after he saved it, nobody remembered that poor man.
• Genesis 37:2This is the report about Jacob and his family. Joseph was Jacob's son. When he was 17 years old, he took care of his father's sheep and goats. He did this together with his brothers. These were the sons of his father's wives, Bilhah and Zilpah. Sometimes Joseph told his father bad things about his brothers.
• Proverbs 19:1It is better to be poor and honest, than to be a fool who speaks lies.
• Proverbs 28:6It is better to be poor and live in an honest way than to be a rich hypocrite.
• 1 Kings 22:8The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man. We could ask him what the Lord wants us to do. But I do not like him, because he never says that anything good will happen to me. He only says that I will have trouble. He is Imlah's son, Micaiah.’ Jehoshaphat said, ‘The king should not talk like that.’
• 2 Chronicles 16:9The Lord carefully watches over the whole earth. If people serve him faithfully, he makes them strong. But you have done a foolish thing. As a result, you will now always be fighting wars.’
• 2 Chronicles 24:20Then God's Spirit came to Jehoiada's son Zechariah with power. Zechariah stood in front of the people and he said, ‘This is what God says: “You are not obeying the Lord's commands. So nothing will go well for you. You have turned away from the Lord, so now he has turned away from you!” ’
• 2 Chronicles 25:16While the prophet was still speaking, the king said to him, ‘We did not choose you to be the king's advisor! If you do not stop speaking, my men will kill you.’ So the prophet stopped. But then he said, ‘I know what God has decided to do. He will destroy you because you have done these bad things and you have not listened to my advice.’

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Better is a poor and a wise child - The Targum applies this to Abraham. "Abraham was a poor child of only three years of age; but he had the spirit of prophecy, and he refused to worship the idols which the old foolish king - Nimrod - had set up; therefore Nimrod cast him into a furnace of fire. But the Lord worked a miracle and delivered him. Yet here was no knowledge in Nimrod, and he would not be admonished." The Targum proceeds:Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13-16Verses 13-16 These verses set forth the vanity of earthly prosperity even on a throne. Opinion as to their application is chiefly divided between considering them a parable or fiction like that of the childless man in Ecclesiastes 4:8: or as setting forth first the vicissitudes of royal life in two proverbial sayings Ecclesiastes 4:13-14, and then Ecclesiastes 4:15-16, the vicissitudes or procession of the whole human race, one generation giving place to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-16Verses 13-16 People are never long easy and satisfied; they are fond of changes. This is no new thing. Princes see themselves slighted by those they have studied to oblige; this is vanity and vexation of spirit. But the willing servants of the Lord Jesus, our King, rejoice in him alone, and they will love Him more and more to all eternity.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14Better is a...wise youth: Wisdom is valuable because it helps in real-life situations.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. The "threefold cord" [Ec 4:12] 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 Ghost, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon, and (1Ki 11:26-40) appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 4:13

• Children
• Poor
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Prison
• Threefold
• Poor
• Synagogue, the Great
• Wisdom

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings