13 Better H2896 is a poor H4542 and a wise H2450 child H3206 than an old H2205 and foolish H3684 king, H4428 who will H3045 no more be admonished. H2094
Now there was found H4672 in it a poor H4542 wise H2450 man, H376 and he by his wisdom H2451 delivered H4422 the city; H5892 yet no man H120 remembered H2142 that same poor H4542 man. H376 Then said H559 I, Wisdom H2451 is better H2896 than strength: H1369 nevertheless the poor man's H4542 wisdom H2451 is despised, H959 and his words H1697 are not heard. H8085
These are the generations H8435 of Jacob. H3290 Joseph, H3130 being seventeen H6240 H7651 years H8141 old, H1121 was feeding H7462 the flock H6629 with his brethren; H251 and the lad H5288 was with the sons H1121 of Bilhah, H1090 and with the sons H1121 of Zilpah, H2153 his father's H1 wives: H802 and Joseph H3130 brought H935 unto his father H1 their evil H7451 report. H1681
And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 There is yet one H259 man, H376 Micaiah H4321 the son H1121 of Imlah, H3229 by whom we may enquire H1875 of the LORD: H3068 but I hate H8130 him; for he doth not prophesy H5012 good H2896 concerning me, but evil. H7451 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said, H559 Let not the king H4428 say H559 so.
For the eyes H5869 of the LORD H3068 run to and fro H7751 throughout the whole earth, H776 to shew himself strong H2388 in the behalf of them whose heart H3824 is perfect H8003 toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: H5528 therefore from henceforth H6258 thou shalt have H3426 wars. H4421 Then Asa H609 was wroth H3707 with the seer, H7200 and put H5414 him in a prison H4115 house; H1004 for he was in a rage H2197 with him because of this thing. And Asa H609 oppressed H7533 some of the people H5971 the same time. H6256
And the Spirit H7307 of God H430 came H3847 upon Zechariah H2148 the son H1121 of Jehoiada H3077 the priest, H3548 which stood H5975 above the people, H5971 and said H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 God, H430 Why transgress H5674 ye the commandments H4687 of the LORD, H3068 that ye cannot prosper? H6743 because ye have forsaken H5800 the LORD, H3068 he hath also forsaken H5800 you. And they conspired H7194 against him, and stoned H7275 him with stones H68 at the commandment H4687 of the king H4428 in the court H2691 of the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068 Thus Joash H3101 the king H4428 remembered H2142 not the kindness H2617 which Jehoiada H3077 his father H1 had done H6213 to him, but slew H2026 his son. H1121 And when he died, H4194 he said, H559 The LORD H3068 look H7200 upon it, and require H1875 it.
And it came to pass, as he talked H1696 with him, that the king said H559 unto him, Art thou made H5414 of the king's H4428 counsel? H3289 forbear; H2308 why shouldest thou be smitten? H5221 Then the prophet H5030 forbare, H2308 and said, H559 I know H3045 that God H430 hath determined H3289 to destroy H7843 thee, because thou hast done H6213 this, and hast not hearkened H8085 unto my counsel. H6098
Better H2896 is the poor H7326 that walketh H1980 in his integrity, H8537 than he that is perverse H6141 in his lips, H8193 and is a fool. H3684
Better H2896 is the poor H7326 that walketh H1980 in his uprightness, H8537 than he that is perverse H6141 in his ways, H1870 though he be rich. H6223
As a roaring H5098 lion, H738 and a ranging H8264 bear; H1677 so is a wicked H7563 ruler H4910 over the poor H1800 people. H5971 The prince H5057 that wanteth H2638 understanding H8394 is also a great H7227 oppressor: H4642 but he that hateth H8130 covetousness H1215 shall prolong H748 his days. H3117
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Ec 4:1-16.
1. returned—namely, to the thought set forth (Ec 3:16; Job 35:9).
power—Maurer, not so well, "violence."
no comforter—twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort (Isa 53:7).
2. A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account (Ec 3:17, 19), to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all (Ec 7:1). Job (Job 3:12; 21:7), David (Ps 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (Jer 12:1), Habakkuk (Hab 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" (Ps 73:17; Hab 2:20; 3:17, 18). Then they saw the need of delay, before completely punishing the wicked, to give space for repentance, or else for accumulation of wrath (Ro 2:15); and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation (Ps 92:7-12). Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth.
3. not seen—nor experienced.
4. right—rather, "prosperous" (see on Ec 2:21). Prosperity, which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression (Ec 4:1) and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good.
5. Still the
fool (the wicked oppressor) is not to be envied even in this life, who "folds his hands together" in idleness (Pr 6:10; 24:33), living on the means he wrongfully wrests from others; for such a one
eateth his own flesh—that is, is a self-tormentor, never satisfied, his spirit preying on itself (Isa 9:20; 49:26).
6. Hebrew; "One open hand (palm) full of quietness, than both closed hands full of travail." "Quietness" (mental tranquillity flowing from honest labor), opposed to "eating one's own flesh" (Ec 4:5), also opposed to anxious labor to gain (Ec 4:8; Pr 15:16, 17; 16:8).
7. A vanity described in Ec 4:8.
8. not a second—no partner.
child—"son or brother," put for any heir (De 25:5-10).
eye—(Ec 1:8). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.
9. Two—opposed to "one" (Ec 4:8). Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser (Ge 2:18).
reward—Advantage accrues from their efforts being conjoined. The Talmud says, "A man without a companion is like a left hand without the right.
10. if they fall—if the one or other fall, as may happen to both, namely, into any distress of body, mind, or soul.
11. (See on 1Ki 1:1). The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties (Lu 24:32; Ac 28:15).
12. one—enemy.
threefold cord—proverbial for a combination of many—for example, husband, wife, and children (Pr 11:14); so Christians (Lu 10:1; Col 2:2, 19). Untwist the cord, and the separate threads are easily "broken."
13. The "threefold cord" [Ec 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 (1Ki 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 (1Ki 3:14; 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 (1Ki 11:11-13).
14. out of prison—Solomon uses this phrase of a supposed case; for example, Joseph raised from a dungeon to be lord of Egypt. His words are at the same time so framed by the Holy Ghost that they answer virtually to Jeroboam, who fled to escape a "prison" and death from Solomon, to Shishak of Egypt (1Ki 11:40). This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul (which may have been before Solomon's mind), had so far their counterpart in that of Jeroboam.
whereas … becometh poor—rather, "though he (the youth) was born poor in his kingdom" (in the land where afterwards he was to reign).
15. "I considered all the living," the present generation, in relation to ("with") the "second youth" (the "legitimate successor" of the "old king," as opposed to the "poor youth," the one first spoken of, about to be raised from poverty to a throne), that is, Rehoboam.
in his stead—the old king's.
16. Notwithstanding their now worshipping the rising sun, the heir-apparent, I reflected that "there were no bounds, no stability (2Sa 15:6; 20:1), no check on the love of innovation, of all that have been before them," that is, the past generation; so
also they that come after—that is, the next generation,
shall not rejoice in him—namely, Rehoboam. The parallel, "shall not rejoice," fixes the sense of "no bounds," no permanent adherence, though now men rejoice in him.