Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 4:14
14For he came out of prison to become king—though he was born poor in his kingdom.
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
12Though a man might overpower one, two can stand against him. Moreover a threefold cord cannot be quickly broken. 13Better is a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. For he came out of prison to become king—though he was born poor in his kingdom. 15I considered all the living that walk under the sun as well as the next youth who stands in his place. 16There is no end to all the people—to all who were before him. Also those who will come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this too is meaningless and striving after the wind.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 4Ecclesiastes 4:14 word by word
כִּֽי־מִבֵּ֥ית הָסוּרִ֖ים יָצָ֣א לִמְלֹ֑ךְ כִּ֛י גַּ֥ם בְּמַלְכוּת֖וֹ נוֹלַ֥ד רָֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:14
- Genesis 41:14Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. So they quickly fetched him from the pit. He shaved, changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh.
- Job 5:11Who places the lowly on high and lifts mourners to salvation.
- Psalms 113:7He raises the poor from the dust, lifts up the needy out of the dunghill,
- 1 Kings 14:26He took away the treasures of the House of Adonai and the treasures of the royal palace. He took away everything—even taking all the golden shields that Solomon had made.
- 2 Kings 23:31Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
- 2 Kings 24:1In his days, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded, so Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But he turned and rebelled against him.
- 2 Kings 25:7They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
- Lamentations 4:20The anointed of Adonai, the breath of our nostrils, was captured in their pits, of whom we have said, “Under His shadow we will live among the nations.”
- Daniel 4:31But at the end of the appointed days, I Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes up to heaven and my sanity returned to me. So I blessed the Most High and I praised and honored Him who lives forever. “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation!
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
In the dictionaries
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
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