Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
Parallel Translations
-
Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
-
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
-
Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 4:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 25:16 As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.”
- Proverbs 19:1 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
- 2 Chronicles 16:9-10 For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
- Proverbs 28:15-16 As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people. A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.
- 1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”
- Genesis 37:2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.
- Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.
- Ecclesiastes 9:15-16 Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “God says, ‘Why do you disobey Yahweh’s commandments, so that you can’t prosper? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, he has also forsaken you.’ ” They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house. Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May Yahweh look at it, and repay it.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 4:13 Better [is] a poor and a wise…
Ecc 4:13 Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Ver. 13. Better is a poor and wise child.] Such as was Joseph, David, Daniel, and his three comrades, &c.; apt to learn, ready to receive instruction, and as careful to follow it. And well doth the Preacher join poverty with wisdom, for, Nescio quomodo bonae mentis soror est paupertas, saith he in Petronius; and, Paupertas est philosophiae vernacula, - Poverty is the proper language of philosophy, and wisdom is undervalued little and set by. Those wisest of the Greeks were very poor - Aristides, Phocion, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, Socrates, Ephialtes. {a} So were those worthies "of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute." {Heb 11:38} Sweet smelling Smyrna was the poorest of all the seven churches, yet hath the richest price set upon it. {Rev 2:8-11} Lactantius died miserably poor; so did Theodorus Gaza, that learned Greek. Of Archimedes thus sings Silius, -
Read full note →
“Nudus opum, sed cui coelum terraeque patebant.” {b}
But I am fully of Aeneas Sylvius’s judgment, that popular men should esteem wisdom as silver, noblemen as gold, princes as pearls. Of Queen Elizabeth (that peerless princess) it is said that she hated, no less than did Mithridates, such as despised virtue forsaken of fortune. {c}
Than an old and foolish king.] Brabanli quo magis senescunt, eo magis stultescunt. {d} So do many men of quality, monarchs and others, weak, and yet wilful, short witted, and yet self-conceited; such as were Saul, Rehoboam, Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, our Henry III, called Regni dilapidator, destroyer of kingdoms, and that James that reigned in Scotland in our Edward IV’s time, of whom as the story is told that he was so much wedded to his own opinion, that he could not endure any man’s advice (how good soever) that he fancied not. He would seldom ask counsel, but never follow any. {e} Xerxes, in his expedition against Greece, is reported to have called his princes together, and thus to have spoken to them: Lest I should seem to follow mine own counsel, I have assembled you; and now do you remember, that it becomes you rather to obey than to advise. {f}
{a} Aelian, lib. ii.
{b} Sil., lib. xiv.
{c} Camden’s Elisabeth.
{d} Erasm.
{e} Daniel’s History.
{f} Val. Max., lib. ix. cap. 5.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Better; more happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity,…
Better; more happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, even that of honour and power, and of the highest places.
A poor child; who is doubly contemptible, both for his age, and for his poverty.
Read full note →
An old king; venerable both for his age and gravity, and for his royal dignity. So that the comparison is made with the greatest disadvantage that may be.
Who will no more be admonished; who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels or admonitions of wiser men, but is foolish, and wilful, and incorrigible.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be…
Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an uncertain thing; he had before said so (Pro 27:24, The crown doth not endure to every generation), and his son found it so. Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people's love.
I. A king is not happy unless he have wisdom, Ecc 4:13, Ecc 4:14. He that is truly wise, prudent, and pious, though he be poor in the world, and very young, and upon both accounts despised and little taken notice of, is better, more truly valuable and worthy of respect, is likely to do better for himself and to be a greater blessing to his generation, than a king, than an old king, and therefore venerable both for his gravity and for his dignity, if he be foolish, and knows not how to manage public affairs himself nor will be admonished and advised by others - who knows not to be admonished, that is, will not suffer any counsel or admonition to be given him (no one about him dares contradict him) or will not hearken to the counsel and admonition that are given him. It is so far from being any part of the honour of kings that it is the greatest dishonour to them that can be not to be admonished. Folly and wilfulness commonly go together, and those that most need admonition can worst bear it; but neither age nor titles will secure men respect if they have not true wisdom and virtue to recommend them; while wisdom and virtue will gain men honour even under the disadvantages of youth and poverty. To prove the wise child better than the foolish king he shows what each of them comes to, Ecc 4:14. 1. A poor man by his wisdom comes to be preferred, as Joseph, who, when he was but young, was brought out of prison to be the second man in the kingdom, to which story Solomon seems here to refer. Providence sometimes raises the poor out of the dust, to set them among princes, Psa 113:7, Psa 113:8. Wisdom has wrought not only the liberty of men, but their dignity, raised them from the dunghill, from the dungeon, to the throne. 2. A king by his folly and wilfulness comes to be impoverished. Though he was born in his kingdom, came to it by inheritance, though he has lived to be old in it and has had time to fill his treasures, yet if he take ill courses, and will no more be admonished as he has been, thinking, because he is old, he is past it, he becomes poor; his treasure is exhausted, and perhaps he is forced to resign his crown and retire into privacy.
Read full note →
II. A king is not likely to continue if he have not a confirmed interest in the affections of the people; this is intimated, but somewhat obscurely, in the last two verses. 1. He that is king must have a successor, a second, a child that shall stand up in his stead, his own, suppose, or perhaps that poor and wise child spoken of, Ecc 4:13. Kings, when they grow old, must have the mortification of seeing those that are to jostle them out and stand up in their stead. 2. It is common with the people to adore the rising sun: All the living who walk under the sun are with the second child, are in his interests, are conversant with him, and make their court to him more than to the father, whom they look upon as going off, and despise because his best days are past. Solomon considered this; he saw this to be the disposition of his own people, which appeared immediately after his death, in their complaints of his government and their affectation of a change. 3. People are never long easy and satisfied: There is no end, no rest, of all the people; they are continually fond of changes, and know not what they would have. 4. This is no new thing, but it has been the way of all that have been before them; there have been instances of this in every age: even Samuel and David could not always please. 5. As it has been, so it is likely to be still: Those that come after will be of the same spirit, and shall not long rejoice in him whom at first they seemed extremely fond of. Today, Hosanna - tomorrow, Crucify. 6. It cannot but be a great grief to princes to see themselves thus slighted by those they have studied to oblige and have depended upon; there is no faith in man, no stedfastness. This is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Better is a poor and a wise child than…
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king,.... The wise man proceeds to show the vanity of worldly power and dignity, in the highest instance of it, which is kingly; and, in order to illustrate and exemplify this, he supposes, on the one hand, a person possessed of royal honour; who has long enjoyed it, is settled in his kingdom, and advanced in years; and who otherwise, for his gravity and dignity, would be venerable; but that he is foolish, a person of a mean genius and small capacity; has but little knowledge of government, or but little versed in the arts of it, though he has held the reins of it long in his hand; and, which is worst of all, is vicious and wicked: on the other hand, he supposes one that is in his tender years, not yet arrived to manhood; and so may be thought to be giddy and inexperienced, and therefore taken but little notice of; and especially being poor, becomes contemptible, as well as labours under the disadvantage of a poor education; his parents poor, and he not able to get books and masters to teach him knowledge; nor to travel abroad to see the world, and make his observations on men and things; and yet being wise, having a good genius, which he improves in the best manner he can, to his own profit, and to make himself useful in the world; and especially if he is wise and knowing in the best things, and fears God, and serves him; he is more happy, in his present state and circumstances, than the king before described is in his, and is fitter to take his place, and be a king, than he is; for though he is young, yet wise, and improving in knowledge, and willing to be advised and counselled by others, older and wiser than himself; he is much to be preferred to one that is old and foolish;
who will no more be admonished; or, "knows not to be admonished any more" (d): he neither knows how to give nor take advice; he is impatient of all counsel; cannot bear any admonition; is stubborn and self-willed, and resolved to take his own way. The Jews, in their Midrash, Jarchi, and others, interpret it, allegorically, of the good and evil imagination in men, the principle of grace, and the corruption of nature; the one is the new man, the other the old man; the new man is better than old Adam: the Targum applies it to Abraham and Nimrod; the former is the poor and wise child, that feared God, and worshipped him early; the latter, the old and foolish king, who was an idolater, and refused to be admonished of his idolatry; and so the Midrash.
Read full note →
(d) "non novit moneri adhuc", Montanus; "nescit admoneri amplius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Rambachius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Better - More happy. Now he proceeds to another…
Better - More happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, That of honour and power. Than a king - Who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels of wiser men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Better is a poor and a wise…
Verse 13. Better 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:
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 4:13-14. He now proceeds to another vanity, even…
Ecc 4:13-14. He now proceeds to another vanity, even that of honour and power, and the highest places. Better — More happy; is a poor and wise child — Who is doubly contemptible, both for his age and for his poverty; than an old and foolish king, who, though venerable for his age, and gravity, and royal dignity, yet hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels or admonitions of wiser men, but is foolish, rash, and incorrigible. For out of prison he — The poor and wise child; cometh to reign — Is ofttimes advanced by his wisdom to the highest power and dignity; which was the case with Joseph, Mordecai, and many others; whereas he that is born in his kingdom — That old king, who was born of the royal race, and had possessed his kingdom for a long time; becometh poor — Is deprived of his kingdom, either by the rebellion of his subjects, provoked by his folly, or by the power of some other and wiser prince.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain These verses set forth the vanity of earthly prosperity…
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 Ecc 4:8 : or as setting forth first the vicissitudes of royal life in two proverbial sayings Ecc 4:13-14, and then Ecc 4:15-16, the vicissitudes or procession of the whole human race, one generation giving place to another, Which in its turn will be forgotten by its successor. On the whole, the first appears to have the better claim.
Ecc 4:13
Read full note →
Child - Rather, young man.
Ecc 4:14
Rather: For out of the house of bondage he goes forth to be a king; although he was born poor in his kingdom, i. e., in the country over which he became king.
Ecc 4:15
I considered ... - literally, I saw “all the population of the young man’s kingdom.”
The second child - This second youth is generally understood to be identical with the one mentioned in Ecc 4:13.
Ecc 4:16
There is - Rather: There was.
That have been before them - Rather, before whom he was, i. e., at the head of whom the young king was. Compare Mic 2:13.
They also that ... him - i. e., The next generation shall forget this chosen king.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Foolish. Great wisdom and prudence is required of kings;…
Foolish. Great wisdom and prudence is required of kings; who, like others, are exposed to many vicissitudes.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The "threefold cord" [Ecc 4:12] of social ties suggests…
The "threefold cord" [Ecc 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 (Kg1 11:26-40) appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. The "old and foolish king" answers to Solomon himself, who had lost his wisdom, when, in defiance of two warnings of God (Kg1 3:14; Kg1 9:2-9), he forsook God.
will no more be admonished--knows not yet how to take warning (see Margin) God had by Ahijah already intimated the judgment coming on Solomon (Kg1 11:11-13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Better is… a wise child — This would…
13. Better is… a wise child — This would be better rendered youth, as the word is often used even of those near manhood.
An old and foolish king — Age and royalty have always been objects of veneration in the East; but an aged “king” who has been so foolish as to alienate all his counsellors, and come to later years without their support, is here put as inferior to a poor youth who is still teachable.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. Better is a poor and a wise child]…
13. Better is a poor and a wise child] Better, young man. The words are general enough but the ingenuity of commentators has sought for examples in history, which the writer, according to the varying theories as to his date, may have had in his thoughts. Such, e.g. as Abraham and Nimrod, Joseph and Pharaoh, David and Saul (all these are named in the Midrash Koheleth, see Introduction, ch. vi.), Joash and Amaziah, Cyrus and Astyages, the high priest Onias and his nephew Joseph (circ. b.c. 246–221, see Joseph. Ant. xii. 4, and Note on next verse), or Herod and his son Alexander. None of these identifications are altogether satisfactory, and it is quite possible that the writer may simply have uttered a general statement or may have had in view some events of which we have no record. In Wis_4:8-9 we have a more eloquent utterance of the same thought, “Honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time or that is measured by number of years, but wisdom is the grey hair unto men and unspotted life is old age.” The word for “child” is used of Joseph at the age of 17 (Gen_37:30; Gen_42:20) and even of the companions of Rehoboam when the latter was over 40 (1Ki_12:8).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) The section commencing here presents great difficulties of…
(13) The section commencing here presents great difficulties of interpretation, in overcoming which we have little help from the context, on account of the abruptness with which, in this verse, a new subject is introduced.
Poor.—The word occurs again in this book (Ecc_9:15-16), but not elsewhere in the Old Testament: kindred words occur in Deu_8:9; Isa_40:20. No confidence can be placed in the attempts made to find a definite historical reference in this verse and the next.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 13-16. High place offers no assurance of security.…
Vers. 13-16. High place offers no assurance of security. A king"s popularity is never permanent; he is supplanted by some clever young aspirant for a time, whose influence in turn soon evaporates, and the subject-people reap no benefit from the change.
Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king. The word translated "child" (yeled), is used sometimes of one beyond childhood. (see Gen_30:26 Gen_37:30; 1Ki_12:8) so here it may be rendered "youth." Misken, penhv (Septuagint), pauper (Vulgate), "poor," is found also at Ecc_9:15, Ecc_9:16, and nowhere else; but the root, with an analogous signification, occurs at Deu_8:9 and Isa_40:20. The clause says that a youthwho is clever and adroit, though sprung from a sordid origin, is better off than a king who has not learned wisdom with his years, and who, it is afterwards implied, is dethroned by this young man. Who will no more be admonished; better, as in the Revised Version, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. Age has only fossilized his self-will and obstinacy; and though he was once open to advice and hearkened to reproof, he now bears no contradiction and takes no counsel. Septuagint, Ov oujk egnw tou proecein eti, "Who knows not how to take heed any longer;" which is perhaps similar to the Vulgate, Qui nescit praevidere in posterum, "Who knows not how to look forward to the future." The words will bear this translation, and it accords with one view of the author"s meaning (see below); but that given above is more suitable to the interpretation of the paragraph which approves itself to us. The sentence is of general import, and may be illustrated by a passage from the Book of Wisdom (4. 8, 9), "Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by length of years. But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age." So Cicero, "De Senect.," 18:62, "Non cant nee rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt, sod honeste acta superior aetas fructus capit aactoritatis extremes." Some have thought that Solomon is here speaking of himself, avowing his folly and expressing his contrition, in view of his knowledge of Jeroboam"s delegation to the kingdom the crafty youth of poor estate, (1Ki_11:26, etc.) whom the Prophet Ahijah had warned of approaching greatness. But there is nothing in the recorded history of Solomon to make probable such expression of self-abasement, and our author could never have so completely misrepresented him. Here, too, is another proof that Ecclesiastes is not written by Solomon himself.
Read full note →
Vers. 13-16.
The vicissitudes of royalty; or, the experience of a king.
I WELCOMED IN YOUTH. The picture sketched that of a political revolution. "An old and foolish king, no longer understanding how to be warned," who has fallen out of touch with the times, and neither himself discerns the governmental changes demanded by the exigencies of the hour, nor is willing to be guided by his state councilors, is deposed in favor of a youthful hero who has caught the popular imagination, perceived the necessities of the situation, learnt how to humor the fickle crowd, contrived to install himself in their affections, and succeeded in promoting himself to be their ruler.
1. Climbing the ladder. Originally a poor man"s son, he had raised himself to be a leader of his countrymen, perhaps as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, did in the days of Rehoboam, (1Ki_11:26-28) interesting himself in the social and political condition of his fellow-subjects, sympathizing with their grievances, probably acting as their spokesman in laying these before the aged sovereign; and, when their demands were unheeded, possibly fanning their discontent, and even helping them to plot insurrection for which, having been detected, he was cast into prison. Nevertheless, neither his humble birth nor his forcible incarceration had been sufficient to degrade him in the people"s eyes.
2. Standing on the summit. Accordingly, when the tide of discontent had risen so high that they could no longer tolerate their senile and imbecile monarch, and their courage had waxed so valiant as to enable them successfully to carry through his deposition, they bethought themselves of the imprisoned hero who had espoused and was then suffering for their cause, and having fetched him forth from confinement, proceeded with him to the then deserted palace, where they placed upon his head the crown, amid shouts of jubilant enthusiasm, crying, "God save the king!" It is doubtless an ideal picture, which in its several details has often been realized; as, e.g., when Joseph was fetched from the round house of Heliopolis, and seated on the second throne of Egypt; (Gen_41:14, Gen_41:40) as when David was crowned at Hebron on Saul"s death by the men of, (2Sa_2:4) and Jeroboam at Shechem by the tribes of Israel; (1Ki_12:20) as when Athaliah was deposed, and the boy Joash made king in her stead. (2Ki_11:12)
3. Surveying his fortune. So far as the new-made king was concerned, the commencement of his reign was auspicious. It doubtless never occurred to him that the sun of his royal person would ever know decline, or that he would ever experience the fate of his predecessor. It was with him the dawn of rosy-fingered morn; how the day would develop was not foreseen, least of all was it discerned how the night should fall!
II HONORED IN MANHOOD.
1. Extending his renown. Seated on his throne, he wields the scepter of irresponsible authority for a long series of years. As the drama of his life unfolds, he grows in the affections of his people. With every revolution of the sun his popularity increases. The affairs of his kingdom prosper. The extent of his dominions widens. All the kingdoms of the earth come to place themselves beneath his rule. Like another Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Xerxes, Alexander, Caesar, he is a world-governing autocrat. "All the living who walk under the sun" are on the side of the man who had been born poor, and had once languished in a prison; neither is there any end to all the people at whose head he is.
2. Enjoying his felicity. One would say, as perhaps in the heyday of his prosperity he said to himself, the cup of his soul"s happiness was full. He had obtained all the world could bestow of earthly glory, power the most exalted, influence the most extended, riches the most abundant, fame the most renowned, popularity the most secure! What could he wish else? The sun of his royal highness was shining in meridian splendor, and prostrate nations were adoring him as a god. No one surely would venture to suggest that the orb of his majestical divinity might one day suffer an eclipse. We shall see! Strange things have happened on this much-agitated planet.
III DESPISED IN AGE.
1. The shadows gathering. The brightest earthly glory is liable to fade. One who has reached the topmost pinnacle of tame, and is the object of admiration to millions of his fellows, may yet sink so low that men shall say of him, as Mark Antony said of the fallen Caesar
Now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence.
The idol of one age may become an object of execration to the next. As in ancient Egypt another king arose who knew not Joseph, so in the picture of the Preacher grew to manhood another generation which knew not the poor wise youth who had been his country"s deliverer. He of whom it had once been said
All tongues speak of him, and the bleared sights Are spectacled to see him and such a pother made about him, As if that whatsoever God who leads him Were slyly crept into his human powers, And gave him graceful posture ("Coriolanus," act 2. se. 1. )
lived to be an object of derision to his subjects.
2. The night descending. In the irony of history, the same (or a similar) fate overtook him as had devoured his predecessor. As the men and women of a past age had counted his predecessor an imbecile and a fool, so were the men and women of the present age disposed to look on him. If they did not depose him, they did not "rejoice in him," as their fathers had done when they hailed him as their country"s savior; they simply suffered him to drop into ignominious contempt, and perhaps well-merited oblivion. Such spectacles of the vanity of kingly state had been witnessed before the Preacher"s day, and have been not unknown since. So fared it with the boy-prince Joash (2Ki_11:12; 2Ch_24:25) and with Richard II, whose subjects cried "All hail!" to him in the day of his popularity, but to whom, when he put off his regal dignity,
No man cried, "God save him!" No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home, But dust was thrown upon his sacred head. ("King Richard II," Ac 5. sc. 2. )
Learn:
1. The vanity of earthly glory.
2. The fickleness of popular renown.
3. The ingratitude of men.
Vers. 13, 14.
Folly a worse evil than poverty.
This is no doubt a paradox. For one man who seeks to become wise, there are a hundred who desire and strive for riches. For one man who desires the friendship of the thoughtful and prudent, there are ten who cultivate the intimacy of the prosperous and luxurious. Still, men"s judgment is fallible and often erroneous; and it is so in this particular.
I WISDOM ENNOBLES YOUTH AND POVERTY. Age does not always bring wisdom, which is the gift of God, sometimes as in the case of Solomon conferred in early life. True excellence and honor are not attached to age and station. Wisdom, modesty, and trustworthiness may be found in lowly abodes and in youthful years. Character is the supreme test of what is admirable and good. A young man may be wise in the conduct of his own life, in the use of his own gifts and opportunities, in the choice of his own friends; he may be wise in his counsel offered to others, in the influence he exerts over others. And his wisdom may be shown in his contented acquiescence in the poverty of his condition and the obscurity of his station. He will not forget that the Lord of all, for our sakes, became poor, dwelt in a lowly home, wrought at a manual occupation, enjoyed few advantages of human education or of companionship with the great.
II FOLLY DEGRADES AGE AND ROYALTY. In the natural order of things, knowledge and prudence should accompany advancing age. It is "years that bring the philosophic mind." In the natural order of thins, high station should call out the exercise of statesmanship, thoughtful wisdom, mature and weighty counsel. Where all these are absent, there may be outward greatness, splendor, luxury, empire, but true kingship there is not. There is no fool so conspicuously and pitiably foolish as the aged monarch who can neither give counsel himself nor accept it from the experienced and trustworthy. And the case is worse when his folly is apparent in the mismanagement of his own life. It may be questioned whether Solomon, in his youth, receiving in answer to prayer the gift of wisdom, and using it with serious sobriety, was not more to be admired than when, as a splendid but disappointed voluptuary, he enjoyed the revenues of provinces, dwelt in sumptuous palaces, and received the homage of distant potentates, but yet was corrupted by his own weaknesses into connivance at idolatry, and was unfaithful to the Lord to whose bounty he was indebted for all he possessed.
APPLICATION. This is a word of encouragement to thoughtful, pure-minded, and religious youth. The judgment of inspiration commends those who, in the flower of their age, by God"s grace rise above the temptations to which they are exposed, and cherish that reverence toward the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. T.
Vers. 13-16.
Circumstance and character.
This very obscure passage is thus rendered by Cox ("The Quest of the Chief Good"): "Happier is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who even yet has not learned to be admonished. For a prisoner may go from a prison to a throne, whilst a king may become a beggar in his own kingdom. I see all the living who walk under the sun flocking to the sociable youth who standeth up in his place; there is no end to the multitude of the people over whom he ruleth. Nevertheless, those who live after him will not rejoice in him; for even this is vanity and vexation of spirit." Thus read, we have a very clear meaning, and we are reminded of a very valuable lesson. We may learn
I THE VANITY OF TRUSTING IN CIRCUMSTANCE APART FROM CHARACTER. It is well enough to bear a royal name, to have a royal retinue, to move among royal surroundings. Old age may forget its infirmities in the midst of its rank, its honors, its luxuries. But when royalty is dissevered from wisdom, when it has not learned by experience, but has grown downwards rather than upwards, the outlook is poor enough. The foolish king is likely enough to be dethroned, and to "become a beggar in his own kingdom." An exalted position makes a man"s follies seem larger than they are; and as they injuriously affect every one, they are likely to lead to universal condemnation and to painful penalty. It is of little use to be enjoying an enviable position if we have not character to maintain and ability to adorn it. The wheel of fortune will soon take to the bottom the man who is now rejoicing on the top of it.
II THE NEEDLESSNESS OF DESPAIR IN THE DEPTH OF MISFORTUNE. Whilst the old and foolish king may decline and fall, the wise youth, who has been disregarded, will move on and up to honor and to power, and even the condemned prisoner may mount the throne. The history of men and of nations proves that nothing is impossible in the way of recovery and elevation. Man may "hope to rise" from the bottom, as he should "fear to fall" from the top of the scale. Let those who are honestly and conscientiously striving, though it may be with small recognition or recompense, hope to attain to the honor and the reward which are their due. Let those who have suffered saddest disappointment and defeat remember that men may rise from the very lowest estate even to the highest.
III THE ONE UNFAILING SOURCE OF SATISFACTION. The old and foolish king may deserve to be dethroned, but he may retain his position until he dies; the wise youth may fail to reach the honors to which he is entitled; the innocent prisoner may languish in his dungeon even until death opens the door and releases him. There is no certainty in this world, where fortune is so fickle, and circumstance cannot be counted upon even by the most sagacious. But there is one thing on which we may reckon, and in which we may take refuge. To be upright in our heart, to be sound in our character, to be true and faithful in life this is to be what is good; it is to enjoy that which is best the favor of God and our own self-respect; it is to move toward that which is blessed a heavily future. C.
Vers. 13-16.
Mortifications of royalty.
Yet another set of instances of folly and disappointment occurs to our author"s mind; they are drawn from the history of the strange vicissitudes through which many of those who have sat upon thrones have passed. His references are vague and general, and no success has attended the attempts of those who have endeavored to find historical examples answering exactly to the circumstances he here describes. But the truthfulness of his generalizations can be abundantly illustrated out of the records of history, both sacred and profane. The reason why he adds these instances of failure and misfortune to his list is pretty evident. He would have us understand that no condition of human life is exempt from the common lot; that though kings are raised above their fellows, and are apparently able to control circumstances rather than to be controlled by them, as a matter of fact as surprising examples of mutability are to be found in their history as in that of the humbler ranks of men. He sets before us
I The image of "AN OLD AND FOOLISH KING, WHO WILL NO MORE BE ADMONISHED;" who, though "born in his kingdom, becometh poor." He is debauched by long tenure of power, and scorns good advice and warning. "We see him driven from his throne, stripped of his riches, and becoming in his old age a beggar." His want of wisdom undermines the stability of his position. Though he has in the regular course inherited his kingdom, and has an indefeasible right to the crown he wears though for many years his people have patiently endured his misgovernment his tenure of office becomes more and more uncertain. A time comes when it is a question whether the nation is to be ruined, or a wiser and more trustworthy ruler put in his place. He is compelled to abdicate, or is forcibly deposed or driven from his kingdom by an invader, whose power he is unable to resist. His noble birth, his legal fights as a sovereign, his gray hairs, the amiability of his private character, do not avail to secure for him the loyal support of a people whom his folly has alienated from him. The same idea of folly vitiating, the dignity of old age is found in RAPC Wis 4:8:9, "Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. But wisdom is the grey hair unto men, and unspotted life is old age." The biographies of Charles I and James II of England, and of Napoleon III, furnish examples of kings who learned nothing from experience, and scorned all warnings brought upon themselves misery like that hinted at by Solomon. The first of them met his death at the hands of his exasperated subjects, and the other two, after deep humiliations, died in exile.
II The second instance of strange vicissitude is that of ONE WHO STEPS FROM A DUNGEON TO A THRONE. It is by his wisdom that he raises himself to the place of ruler over the neglected community. From obscurity he attains in a moment to the height of popular favor; thousands flock to do him homage (vers. 15, 16a, "I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was," Revised Version). The scene depicted of the ignominy into which the worthless old king falls, and the enthusiasm with which the new one is greeted, reminds one of Carlyle"s vivid description of the death of Louis XV and the accession of his grandson. The courtiers wait with impatiencefor the passing away of the king whose life had been so corrupt and vile; he dies unpitied upon his loathsome sick-bed. "In the remote apartments, dauphin and dauphiness stand road-ready waiting for some signal to escape the house of pestilence. And, hark! across the (Eil-de-Boeuf, what sound is that sound" terrible and absolutely like thunder"? It is the rush of the whole court, rushing as in wager, to salute the new sovereigns: "Hail to your Majesties! The body of the dead king is unceremoniously committed to the grave. "Him they crush down and huddle underground; him and his era of sin and tyranny and shame; for behold! a New Era is come; the future all the brighter that the past was base" ("French Revolution," vol. 1: Ec 4). The same kind of picture has been drawn by Shakespeare, in "Richard II," Ac 5. sc. 2, where he describes the popularity of Bolingbroke, and the contempt into which the king he displaced had sunk. Yet, according to the Preacher, the breeze of popular favor soon dies away, and the hero is soon forgotten. "They also that come after him shall not rejoice in him." The dark cloud of oblivion comes down and envelops in its shade both those who deserve to be remembered, and those who have been unworthy of even the brief popularity they enjoyed in their lifetime. "Who knows," says Sir Thos. Browne, "whether the best of men be known, or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot than any that stand remembered on the known account of time?" ("Urnburial").
The fickle and short-lived character of all earthly fame should convince us of the futility of making the desire of the applause of men the ruling motive of our lives; it should lead us to do that which is good because it is good, and not in order "to be seen of men," and because we are responsible to God, in whose book all our deeds are written, whether they be good or whether they be evil. The sense of disappointment at the vanity of human fame should dispose our hearts to find satisfaction in the favor of God, by whom all our good deeds will be remembered and rewarded J.W. (Psa_37:5, Psa_37:6; Gal_6:9; Mat_25:21)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Better is a poor and a wise child than…
Ecc_4:13-16
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Read full note →
On the advantages of Christian knowledge to the lower orders of society
There is no topic on which the Bible maintains a more lucid and entire consistency of sentiment than the superiority of moral over all physical and all external distinctions. One very animating inference to be drawn from our text is, how much may be made of humanity. Did a king come to take up his residence amongst us--did he shed a grandeur over our city by the presence of his court, and give the impulse of his expenditure to the trade of its population--it were not easy to rate the value and the magnitude which such an event would have on the estimation of a common understanding, or the degree of personal importance which would attach to him who stood a lofty object in the eye of admiring townsmen. And yet it is possible, out of the raw and ragged materials of an obscurest lane, to rear an individual of more inherent worth than him who thus draws the gaze of the world upon his person. By the act of training in wisdoms ways the most tattered and neglected boy who runs upon our pavements do we present the community with that which, in wisdoms estimation, is of greater price than this gorgeous inhabitant of a palace. Even without looking beyond the confines of our present world, the virtue of humble life will bear to be advantageously contrasted with all the pride and glory of an elevated condition. The man who, though among the poorest of them all, has a wisdom and a weight of character which makes him the oracle of his neighbourhood--the man who, vested with no other authority than the meek authority of worth, carries in his presence a power to shame and to overawe the profligacy that is around him--the venerable father, from whoso lowly tenement the voice of psalms is heard to ascend with the offering up of every evening sacrifice--the Christian sage, who, exercised among lifes severest hardships, looks calmly onward to heaven, and trains the footsteps of his children in the way that leads to it--the eldest of a well-ordered family, bearing their duteous and honourable part in the contest with its difficulties and its trials--all these offer to our notice such elements of moral respectability as do exist among the lowest orders of human society, and elements, too, which admit of being multiplied far beyond the reach of any present calculation. But, to attain a just estimate of the superiority of the poor man who has wisdom, over the rich man who has it not, we must enter into the calculation of eternity--we must look to wisdom in its true essence, as consisting of religion, as having the fear of God for its beginning, and the rule of God for its way, and the favour of God for its full and satisfying termination--we must compute how speedily it is, that, on the wings of time, the season of every paltry distinction between them must at length pass away; how soon death will strip the one of hie rags, and the other of his pageantry, and send them in utter nakedness to the dust; how soon judgment will summon them from their graves, and place them in outward equality before the Great Disposer of their future lot, and their future place, through ages which never end; how in that situation the accidental distinctions of life will be rendered void, and personal distinctions will be all that shall avail them; how, when examined by the secrets of the inner man, and the deeds done in their body, the treasure of heaven shall be adjudged only to him whose heart was set upon it in this world; and how tremendously the account between them will be turned, when it shall be found of the one, that he must perish for lack of knowledge, and of the other, that he has the wisdom which is unto salvation. And let me just state that the great instrument for thus elevating the poor is that Gospel of Jesus Christ, which may be preached unto the poor. It is the doctrine of His Cross finding an easier admission into their hearts than it does through those barriers of human pride and human resistance, which are often reared on the basis of literature. Let the testimony of God be simply taken in, that on His own Son He has laid the iniquities of us all--and from this point does the humble scholar of Christianity pass into light, and enlargement, and progressive holiness. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
The old king and the youth
It has been thought that Ecclesiastes must here be referring to some well-known event of his own times: but, if this be the case, the event has not yet been identified. Perhaps he is simply presenting an imaginary but possible case, for which there had been quite sufficient basis in many a political revolution. In those old kingdoms and empires it was always possible that even a beggar or prisoner might rise to the throne, whilst the monarch who had been born to the crown might, in his old age, perhaps through his own folly, become a poor man in his own kingdom. Such was the instability of the most exalted of earthly positions. And Ecclesiastes sketches the picture of the young upstart--a usurper wise and skilful enough to make himself the leader of a successful revolution, and to place himself in the stead of the old monarch. So great is the popularity of this usurper that he becomes the idol of the hour: millions flock around his standard, and place him on the throne. But even this popularity is, in turn, an evanescent thing; those who come after him (the people of a younger generation) shall not rejoice in him. He, too, has only his day. It may be that, even during his lifetime, he loses the popular favour: and, at the best, he soon passes away in death, and is speedily forgotten. Thus the glory and fame even of monarchy itself is also vanity and feeding on wind. It would not be difficult to find many a historical parallel to this picture. One of the most striking has occurred within the memory of some of us. When Louis Philippe, the aged King of France, who would not be admonished by the signs of the times, had at length to flee from his own kingdom in 1848, Louis Napoleon, who, not long before, had been for five years a prisoner in the fortress of Ham, appeared in Paris, and, throwing himself into the midst of political affairs, gradually became more and more popular, until in due time he became President of the Republic, and ultimately Emperor of France. We know how he was worshipped by the masses of the French people, how there was no end of all the people who flocked around him in their enthusiasm. And we know how, after many years of royal splendour, the collapse came suddenly at last, and how, after the defeat at Sedan, the nation, almost as one man, turned round and kicked the idol they had worshipped. Even one of our own poets had hailed him as Emperor evermore! But where is all his glory now? Surely vanity of vanities might well be inscribed on the tomb of Napoleon
III. And, indeed, the career of many a man who has been borne along into high position on the wave of popular enthusiasm furnishes a most salutary lesson as to the real value of mere earthly fame and greatness. (T. C. Finlayson.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Ecc_4:13. Better is a poor and a wise child.]…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_4:13. Better is a poor and a wise child.] Not in the moral point of view, but happier—better off.
Read full note →
Ecc_4:14. For out of prison he cometh to reign.] Reference is made to the youth mentioned in the previous verse. The writer may have had the history of Joseph in his mind. Born in his kingdom becometh poor. Came to the possession of his kingly dignity by birth. His dethronement is the condition of the sudden elevation of this youth.
Ecc_4:15. All the living which walk under the sun, with the second child.] The great number of the adherents of this upstart who has seized the throne.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_4:13-16
THE INSTABILITY OF THE HIGHEST DIGNITIES
I. They are subject to the saddest reverses. The most favoured pets of fortune are not spared the common burden of human sorrow. Placed on a lofty eminence, there is below them a depth into which they might, at any time, fall: The pen of history has often described how the mighty have been pushed down from their seats. Here we have the picture of a dethroned king. (Ecc_4:14.) We cannot expect otherwise than that such reverses will occur in the course of human affairs.
1. Great principles must be vindicated against the mere assertion of rank and authority. When the king is foolish, and will no more be admonished (Ecc_4:13), he cannot wonder that his subjects will endure him no longer. The patience of nations is not infinite. Long oppression exhausts it. The time arrives when great principles must be upheld as of superior importance to rank and authority.
2. It is often necessary to secure the public good even at any cost to individuals. The great and the powerful have often been robbed of their dignity in order to save the state. The public good must be secured against the selfishness and tyranny of Kings.
3. The season comes when it is expedient to render worth and wisdom a well-deserved honour. (Ecc_4:14.) There are men, now living in obscurity, who by their talents and wisdom are fitted to govern empires. The hour comes when these royal minds must have a true place and honour. Hence many born to the kingdom have been thrust down from their thrones to give place to those to whom nature has given greater fitness for empire and command.
4. Kings may be the victims of popular fury. They may come upon an evil time, and, through no fault of their own, be the victims of conspiracy and rebellion.
II. The most fortunate have often but a brief triumph. The able and deserving man, when the world acknowledges his merit, and the time is ripe, sometimes rises from a humble sphere to sit upon a throne. Such extraordinary changes of condition are not unknown to history. He who attains to this splendid gift of fortune, awakens the enthusiasm of the multitude, who are ever prone to idolize success. Such a case is described. (Ecc_4:16.)
1. He has a crowd of adherents. Such men are endowed with great power to influence and command others. Multitudes give a momentum to feeling—followers increase. Mankind are easily led in droves. His dominion is very wide. (Ecc_4:15.)
2. He is exposed to the most disastrous changes of popular feeling and opinion. The time comes when the favourite is rejected. The people no longer rejoice in him. (Ecc_4:16.) Popular feeling is not to be trusted. The hero of to-day may be the victim of to-morrow. He who has risen to the throne by real merit, may become corrupted by success, and give way to deeds of folly and misrule. The injured feeling of the nation at length recoils upon him with terrible retribution.
III. Earthly Dignities, in their changes, furnish a picture of human life. Kings in their brief reign, and uncertain tenure of state and grandeur, are but a picture of the life of humanity through the ages.
1. Each generation witnesses great changes. The outward conditions of life are changed—new inventions multiply comforts, and give man a more complete dominion over nature. Nations frame new laws, and repeal old ones. The mechanism of Government is remodelled till the old order passes away.
2. Each generation has a marked character. Each is informed by the reigning spirit of society. The one idea which occupies the mind of the individual man, and fires his passion, is but a picture of the prevailing spirit of the age. Generations have a distinct character. In one the spirit of belief prevails; in another, doubt and scepticism. Now, there is almost an idolatrous reverence for authority; and, again, we fall upon an age of self-will and lawlessness. Every age has its own fashion of thought and feeling.
3. Each generation appears upon the scene of life but for a short time. Thrones have many succeeding occupants, and in “the hollow crown, that rounds the mortal temples of a King, death holds his court.” So generations, who have wielded a power through their little day, are soon gone. Nothing continues at one stay—“there is no end of all the people.”
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_4:13. Neither length of days nor exalted station can, of necessity, confer wisdom. A man may continue a fool with all the appliances of knowledge about him, and all the lessons of time spread before him.
The occupants of thrones do not always possess regal minds. Illustrious station only serves to make great faults the more conspicuous.
The greatness of life depends upon what we put into it, and not upon age, or outward conditions. A poor youth with the spirit of wisdom may have more real nobility than an old king.
Wisdom can irradiate poverty, and reveal the emptiness of mere earthly glory.
Rejecting admonition is often the forerunner to certain ruin.
To refuse admonition is in none a greater folly than in a king, because in none it is more pernicious, to none more dangerous; but to be grown old in wilful stubbornness, and self-conceited perverseness, as well as in years, and not only not to follow admonition, but not to hear it; as it is the extremity of folly, so it is the shame of honour, and maketh a poor wise child better worthy of it [Jermin].
Ecc_4:14. Providence sometimes asserts the right of the wise alone to bear the rule.
We may well take Joseph to be this poor wise child; for that he was a wise child his father’s love shewed, who therein may seem not so much as a father to have preferred his son before his other brethren, as a prophet rather to have preferred a mystery, in respect of that to which he foresaw the wisdom of his son would bring himself. But that he was also a poor child, the malice of his brethren who sold him for a captive made to be true. The rest God performed for him, and out of prison brought him to be the next in greatness in the kingdom. Yea, while he was in prison, what was he but even then a king? [Jermin].
There is no height of worldly grandeur so great but that Providence can fetch a man down from thence.
Through oppression, regal minds have sometimes languished in a prison. Some few have stepped from thence to a throne. Providence thus shows, that in the future kingdom, the wise shall bear the rule.
Even the glory of birth and station fails to lend a lustre to folly, or to save the foolish from a degrading fall.
Ecc_4:15. While men in power and authority have the people flocking about them, honouring and acknowledging them, they should be taken up with the thought of a change, and consider the people as walking with the man that shall come up in their stead, courting him; and themselves as shortly to fall one way or other [Nisbet].
The power of the future overshadows the present.
As the powerful, the aged, and the wise pass away, Providence raises up others to take their place.
How soon the splendour of the mighty grows pale. New candidates for popular applause arise, and the once-renowned hero finds to his sorrow that he survives his fame.
The future has an element of oppression as well as the past. These two gulfs overwhelm the mind. We can only find peace by commending our soul to that Infinite love which reigns over all.
Ecc_4:16. The most ardent worldly ambition must, sooner or later, receive a check from the hard facts of life.
The temper of future generations is but a reflection of that of the past. The facts of human nature remaining, the future can only repeat the old story of life, with all its changes, uncertainties, and reverses. Thus mankind is driven from age to age in the horse-mill round of vanity.
He who assumes the constancy of popular favour may have long leisure to repent his folly.
Every man advanced to eminency, power, or esteem among men, should look upon himself as standing upon a very slippery foundation, and particularly upon worldly applause, as a flower that will soon wither and become unsavoury. They should resolve to see their own applause die before themselves [Nisbet].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 wise youth
wise youth
"wise young man"
Read full note →
who no longer knows how
Here knowing represents willingness. AT: "who is no longer willing" (See: Metonymy)
from prison
"after being in prison"
he was born poor in his kingdom
This means that he had poor parents. AT: "he was born to poor parents who lived in the land that he will someday rule" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
wise
fool
king
know
true
prison
kingdom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:13-14 It is better to be . . .…
4:13-14 It is better to be . . . wise: Wisdom is valuable for its practical benefits.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.