Ecclesiastes 4:14

Ecclesiastes 4:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
• New International Version (NIV)The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For he comes out of prison to be king, Although he was born poor in his kingdom.

Context of Ecclesiastes 4:14

12A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. 13It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice. Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed. He might even become king, though he has been in prison. 15But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him. 16Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him, too. So it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:14 word by word

כִּֽי־מִבֵּ֥ית הָסוּרִ֖ים יָצָ֣א לִמְלֹ֑ךְ כִּ֛י גַּ֥ם בְּמַלְכוּת֖וֹ נוֹלַ֥ד רָֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For out of prisonבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• For out of prisonאָסַר'âsar · to bindH631
• he comethיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• to reignמָלַךְmâlak · to reignH4427
• bornיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• in his kingdomמַלְכוּתmalkûth malkûth malkûyâh · royaltyH4438
• becometh poorרוּשׁrûsh · be poorH7326

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:14

• Genesis 41:14Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh.
• Job 5:11He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer.
• Psalms 113:7He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.
• 1 Kings 14:26He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.
• 2 Kings 23:31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
• 2 Kings 24:1During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled.
• 2 Kings 25:7They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.
• Lamentations 4:20Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation— was caught in their snares. We had thought that his shadow would protect us against any nation on earth!
• Daniel 4:31“While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14For out of prison he cometh to reign - "Then Abraham left the country of the idolaters, where he had been imprisoned, and came and reigned over the land of Canaan; and Nimrod became poor in this world." This is the fact to which the ancient rabbins supposed Solomon to allude.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. 1414. out of prison--Solomon uses this phrase of a supposed case; for example, Joseph raised from a dungeon to be lord of Egypt. His words are at the same time so framed by the Holy Ghost that they answer virtually to Jeroboam, who fled to escape a "prison" and death from Solomon, to Shishak of Egypt (1Ki 11:40). This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 4:14

• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Prison
• Threefold
• Poor
• Prison; Prisoner
• Synagogue, the Great

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