George Haydock's Catholic Commentary
Ecclesiastes 4:14
Prison. The exaltation of Joseph, Mardochai, and Daniel, was remarkable. (Calmet) --- Si fortuna volet, fies de Rhetore Consul. (Juvenal, Sat. vii.)
Prison. The exaltation of Joseph, Mardochai, and Daniel, was remarkable. (Calmet) --- Si fortuna volet, fies de Rhetore Consul. (Juvenal, Sat. vii.)
Verse 14. _FOR OUT OF PRISON HE COMETH TO REIGN_] "Then Abraham left the country of the idolaters, where he had been _imprisoned_, and came and _reigned_ over the land of Canaan; and Nimrod became _po...
These verses set forth the vanity of earthly prosperity even on a throne. Opinion as to their application is chiefly divided between considering them a parable or fiction like that of the childless ma...
CHAPTER 4 OBSERVATIONS OF DIFFERENT WRONGS _ 1. Concerning oppressions (Ecclesiastes 4:1)_ 2. Concerning envy of fools and the rich (Ecclesiastes 4:4) 3. Concerning the miser (Ecclesiast
ECCLESIASTES 4. A GLOOMY SURVEY. The chapter falls into four parts, which treat respectively of oppression (Ecclesiastes 4:1), rivalry (Ecclesiastes 4:4), isolation amounting to self-torture (Ecclesia...
OUT OF PRISON, &C. Compare Joseph (Genesis 41:40); Daniel (Daniel 5:29; Daniel 6:1). BORN, &C. Compare Rehoboam, robbed by Shishak ...
_For out of prison he cometh to reign_ The pronouns are ambiguous in the Hebrew as in English, and the clauses have consequently been taken in very different ways, as referring to one and the same per...
FOR OUT OF PRISON HE COMETH TO REIGN— Desvoeux connects this with the preceding verse thus; _Because he came from among the slaves to be a king, and because he was born poor in the kingdom which becam...
4. Keep in mind that prestigious positions will soon be forgotten. Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 TEXT 4:13-16 13 A poor, yet wise lad is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receiv...
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. FOR OUT OF PRISON HE (THE POOR AND WISE CHILD) COMETH TO REIGN. Solomon uses this phrase of a suppos...
VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 'OH, THE PITY OF IT!' 1-3. The mass of human suffering and the absence of pity are such that better off are the dead and still more the unborn. It is not only through God's ord...
A man may rise from the lowest to the highest station by wisdom; yet even so there is no permanence....
HE COMETH] i.e. the poor and wise youth. WHEREAS ALSO.. POOR] RV 'yea, even in his kingdom he (the child) was born poor.' Thus in RV the subject of the whole v. is the youth, whereas in AV two persons...
THE TEACHER SEARCHES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES _HILDA BRIGHT AND KITTY PRIDE_ CHAPTER 4 This chapter contains several subjects. 1. PEOPLE WHO SUFFER – ECCLESIASTES 4:1-...
BECOMETH. — Instead of this translation, it is better to render, _in his kingdom he was even poor;_ but there is ambiguity in the Hebrew, as in the English, whether the antecedent of the “his” and the...
כִּֽי ־מִ בֵּ֥ית הָ סוּרִ֖ים יָצָ֣א לִ
AND BY HUMAN INJUSTICE AND PERVERSITY. Ecclesiastes 3:16; Ecclesiastes 4:1 But not only are our endeavours to find the "good" of our labours thwarted by the gracious, inflexible laws of the just God...
YET THESE ARE CAPABLE OF A NOBLER MOTIVE AND MODE. Ecclesiastes 4:9 Now a jealous rivalry culminating in mere avarice, -that surely is not the wisest or noblest spirit of which those are capable who...
SECOND SECTION The Quest Of The Chief Good In Devotion To The Affairs Of Business Ecclesiastes 3:1 - Ecclesiastes 5:20 I. IF the true Good is not to be found in the School where Wisdom utters her vo...
From this general survey the preacher returned to examine the condition of the beings whom he had described as being no better than the beasts. He looked out upon them, and saw them in suffering, and...
For out of (h) prison he cometh to reign; though also [he that is] (i) born in his kingdom becometh poor. (h) That is, from a poor and base estate or out of trouble and prison as Joseph did, (Genesis...
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. Th...
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 1 THROUGH 12. The Book of Ecclesiastes is, up to a certain point, the converse of the Book of Proverbs. (see NOTE TO PROVERBS below) It is the experience of a...
FOR OUT OF PRISON HE COMETH TO REIGN,.... That is, this is sometimes the case of a poor and wise child; he rises out of a low, mean, abject, obscure state and condition, to the highest dignity; from a...
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor. Ver. 14. _For out of prison he cometh to reign._] As Valentinian the emperor; Sultan Mustapha the gr...
He now proceeds to another vanity, even that of honour and power, and the highest places. _Better_ More happy; _is a poor and wise child_ Who is doubly contemptible, both for his age and for his pover...
EVILS OF SOCIAL AND CIVIL LIFE...
For out of prison he cometh to reign, that is, some person in the very lowest station is elevated to the highest position of authority in the land; WHEREAS ALSO HE THAT IS BORN IN HIS KINGDOM, a princ...
"FOR HE HAS COME OUT OF PRISON TO BECOME KING, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS BORN POOR IN HIS KINGDOM."HE" -There is some disagreement as to whether the individual here is the old and foolish king or the youth w...
13-16 People 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 spi...
OUT OF PRISON, into which he was cast for his poverty and debt, he, the poor and wise child, COMETH TO REIGN; is ofttimes advanced by his wisdom to the highest power and dignity; which was the case of...
Ecclesiastes 4:14 comes H3318 (H8804) prison H631 (H8803) H1004 king H4427 (H8800) born H3205 ...
THE YOUNG MEN AND THE FOOLISH KING. We are now provided with a further example of folly, the folly of seeking a position of power and authority which will only in the end result in disappointment. (B...
CHAPTER 4 THE DREADFULNESS OF OPPRESSION. GUIDANCE ON LIVING. This chapter begins with considering the dreadfulness of oppression and then continues with thoughts on living, giving both good and bad...
Ecclesiastes 3:1 A profound gloom rests on the second act or section of this drama. It teaches us that we are helpless in the iron grip of laws which we had no voice in making; that we often lie at th...
CONTENTS: Discontent and impatience because of the oppressions and iniquities of life. CHARACTERS: Solomon. CONCLUSION: The world is full of trouble. By reason of man's perversity, he is ever distur...
Ecclesiastes 4:2. _Wherefore I praised the dead more than the living,_ who are robbed, fleeced, and exposed to incessant afflictions, from oppression and war. Solomon alludes to extreme cases, such as...
_Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished._ ON THE ADVANTAGES OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE TO THE LOWER ORDERS OF SOCIETY There is no topic on which th...
ECCLESIASTES—NOTE ON ECCLESIASTES 4:13 The Preacher recalls an example of the temporary results of wisdom. In contrast to AN OLD AND FOOLISH KING, there once was A POOR AND WISE YOUTH who managed to r...
CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 4:13. BETTER IS A POOR AND A WISE CHILD.] Not in the moral point of view, but happier—better off. ECCLESIASTES 4:14. FOR OUT OF PRISON HE COMETH TO REIGN.] Reference is...
EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 4:1 Section 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 des...
So I returned, and I considered all of the oppressions that are done under the sun: and the tears of those that are oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was...
1 Kings 14:26; 1 Kings 14:27; 2 Kings 23:31; 2 Kings 24:1; 2
For he — The poor and wise child is often advanced to the highest dignity. Whereas — That old king is deprived of his kingdom....