Ecclesiastes 4:14
For from a house of prisoners he has come out to reign, for even in his own kingdom he has been poor.
Literal Standard Version
In The King James Version
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
In Context
Cross References
Genesis 41:14And Pharaoh sends and calls Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaves, and changes his garments, and comes to Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:41And Pharaoh says to Joseph, “See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt.”
1 Samuel 2:8He raises the poor from the dust, || He lifts up the needy from a dunghill, || To cause [them] to sit with nobles, || Indeed, He causes them to inherit a throne of glory, || For the fixtures of earth [are] of YHWH, || And He sets the habitable world on them.
2 Kings 23:31Jehoahaz [is] a son of twenty-three years in his reigning, and he has reigned three months in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah,
2 Kings 24:6And Jehoiakim lies with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigns in his stead.
2 Kings 25:7And they have slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he has blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and binds him with bronze chains, and they bring him to Babylon.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:14-16
The Advantages of Society. 13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. 14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16 There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.… Read the whole commentary →