Ecclesiastes 4:13

A young man who is poor but wise is a better person than a foolish old king who refuses to pay attention when people try to give him good advice.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.

In Context

12Someone who is alone can easily be attacked and defeated by another person, but two people can help each other and ◄resist/defend themselves against► someone who attacks them. Three people can defend themselves even more easily, like a rope that is made from three cords is harder to break than a rope made from two cords.

14It is possible for a young man like that to succeed and some day become king, even if his parents were poor or even if he was in prison some of the time.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

1 Kings 22:8The King of Israel replied, “There is one man we can talk to. We can ask him if he can find out what Yahweh wants. His name is Micaiah; he is the son of Imlah. But I hate him, because when he ◄prophesies/tells what God says to him► he never says that anything good will happen to me. He always predicts that bad things will happen to me.” Jehoshaphat replied, “King Ahab, you should not say that!”

2 Chronicles 24:20Then God’s Spirit came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the Supreme Priest. He stood up front of the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you disobeying what I, Yahweh, have commanded? You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you.’”

Proverbs 19:1Conducting our lives as we should even though we are poor is better than being foolish and telling lies.

Proverbs 28:15Wicked people who mistreat poor people whom they rule are as dangerous to them as [SIM] a lion roaring at them or a bear springing up to attack them.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:8-13

The Vanity of Human Wishes. 7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is… Read the whole commentary →

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