Ecclesiastes 10:16
Unhappy is the land whose king is a boy, and whose rulers are feasting in the morning.
Bible in Basic English
In The King James Version
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
In Context
Cross References
1 Kings 12:11If my father put a hard yoke on you, I will make it harder: my father gave you punishment with whips, but I will give you blows with snakes.
2 Chronicles 33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was ruling for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for eleven years, and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 36:11Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king; he was ruling in Jerusalem for eleven years.
Isaiah 3:4And I will make children their chiefs, and foolish ones will have rule over them.
Isaiah 5:11Cursed are those who get up early in the morning to give themselves up to strong drink; who keep on drinking far into the night till they are heated with wine!
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 10:13-16
The Contemptibleness of Folly. 12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. Solomon, having shown the benefit of wisdom, and of what great… Read the whole commentary →