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.
Bible Commentary
Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
The Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain
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The Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:1-16Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITIONThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:1-16Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 · The Pulpit CommentarySection 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man's inability to be the architect of his own happiness. There are many things which interrupt or destroy it.Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:13-16Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryPeople 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 serv…The Advantages of SocietyEcclesiastes 4:13-16 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleTHE ADVANTAGES OF SOCIETY. 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 h…The Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:13Ecclesiastes 4:13 · The Pulpit CommentaryBetter 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 Genesis 30:26; Genesis 37:30; 1 Kings 12:8), so here it may be rendered "…
commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:1-16EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:1-16Section 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man's inability to be the architect of his own happiness. There are many things which interrupt or destroy it.Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryMatthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:13-16People 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 serv…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Advantages of SocietyTHE ADVANTAGES OF SOCIETY. 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 h…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:13Better 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 Genesis 30:26; Genesis 37:30; 1 Kings 12:8), so here it may be rendered "…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:14For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. The ambiguity of the pronouns has induced different interpretations of this verse. It is plain that the paragraph is inten…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:15I considered all the living which walk under the sun; or, I have seen all the population. The expression is hyperbolical, as Eastern monarchs speak of their dominions as if they comprised the whole world (see Daniel 4:1…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:16There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them. The paragraph plainly is carrying on the description of the popular enthusiasm for the new favorite. The Authorized Version completely obscures…Joseph S. Exell and contributors