Wesley's Explanatory Notes
Ecclesiastes 4:13
Better — More happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, That of honour and power. Than a king — Who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels of wiser men.
Better — More happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, That of honour and power. Than a king — Who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels of wiser men.
Verse 13. _BETTER_ IS _A POOR AND A WISE CHILD_] The _Targum_ applies this to _Abraham_. "Abraham was a _poor child_ of only _three_ years of age; but he had the spirit of prophecy, and he refused to...
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...
POOR. straitened in means, not able to profit others. Hebrew. _misken._ Not the same as in Ecclesiastes 4:14. Supposed to be. later Hebrew word, but. derivative of it is found in Deuteronomy 8:9. See...
_Better is a poor and a wise child_ Better, YOUNG MAN. The words are general enough but the ingenuity of commentators has sought for examples in history, which the writer, according to the varying the...
BETTER IS A POOR AND A WISE CHILD, &C.— _Better is the experienced and wise son, than the old,_ &c. Desvoeux; who has shewn, that the word מסכן _misken,_ from the root סכן _saken,_ properly signifies...
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...
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. BETTER (IN RESPECT TO CONDITION; NOT MORAL CHARACTER) (IS) A POOR AND A WISE CHILD THAT AN OLD AND FO...
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...
CHILD] RV 'youth.'...
A man may rise from the lowest to the highest station by wisdom; yet even so there is no permanence....
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-...
The section commencing here presents great difficulties of interpretation, in overcoming which we have little help from the context, on account of the abruptness with which, in this verse, a new subje...
טֹ֛וב יֶ֥לֶד מִסְכֵּ֖ן וְ חָכָ֑ם מִ מֶּ֤לֶךְ
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...
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...
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...
_Foolish. Great wisdom and prudence is required of kings; who, like others, are exposed to many vicissitudes._...
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...
BETTER [IS] A POOR AND A WISE CHILD THAN AN OLD AND FOOLISH KING,.... The wise man proceeds to show the vanity of worldly power and dignity, in the highest instance of it, which is kingly; and, in ord...
Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. Ver. 13. _Better is a poor and wise child._] Such as was Joseph, David, Daniel, and his three comrade...
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...
Better is a poor and a wise child, one which, although in the depths of poverty, yet uses proper knowledge and circumspection and is willing to be guided by proper counsel, THAN AN OLD AND FOOLISH KIN...
WHO WILL NO MORE BE ADMONISHED: _ Heb._ who knoweth not to be admonished...
"A POOR, YET WISE LAD IS BETTER THAN AN OLD AND FOOLISH KING WHO NO LONGER KNOWS HOW TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION." Points To Note: 1 In addition to wealth, high place and fame doesn't offer any real secur...
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...
BETTER; more happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, even that of honour and power, and of the highest places. A POOR CHILD; who is doubly contemptible, both for his age, and for his poverty. AN OLD...
Ecclesiastes 4:13 Better H2896 poor H4542 wise H2450 youth H3206 old H2205 foolish H3684 king H4428 will H3045
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 22:8; 2 Chronicles 16:10; 2 Chronicles 16:9; 2 Chronicles 24:20;...