Ecclesiastes 4:13

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

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 foolish king.

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 king; venerable both for his age and gravity, and for his royal dignity. So that the comparison is made with the greatest disadvantage that may be. Who will no more be admonished; who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels or admonitions of wiser men, but is foolish, and wilful, and incorrigible.

Ecclesiastes 4:13 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 comrades, &c.; apt to learn, ready to receive instruction, and as careful to follow it. And well doth the Preacher join poverty with wisdom, for, Nescio quomodo bonae mentis soror est paupertas, saith he in Petronius; and, Paupertas est philosophiae vernacula, - Poverty is the proper language of philosophy, and wisdom is undervalued little and set by. Those wisest of the Greeks were very poor - Aristides, Phocion, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, Socrates, Ephialtes. So were those worthies "of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute." Sweet smelling Smyrna was the poorest of all the seven churches, yet hath the richest price set upon it. Lactantius died miserably poor; so did Theodorus Gaza, that learned Greek. Of Archimedes thus sings Silius, - “ Nudus opum, sed cui coelum terraeque patebant.” But I am fully of Aeneas Sylvius’ s judgment, that popular men should esteem wisdom as silver, noblemen as gold, princes as pearls. Of Queen Elizabeth (that peerless princess) it is said that she hated, no less than did Mithridates, such as despised virtue forsaken of fortune. Than an old and foolish king.] Brabanli quo magis senescunt, eo magis stultescunt. So do many men of quality, monarchs and others, weak, and yet wilful, short witted, and yet self-conceited; such as were Saul, Rehoboam, Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, our Henry III, called Regni dilapidator, destroyer of kingdoms, and that James that reigned in Scotland in our Edward IV’ s time, of whom as the story is told that he was so much wedded to his own opinion, that he could not endure any man’ s advice (how good soever) that he fancied not. He would seldom ask counsel, but never follow any. Xerxes, in his expedition against Greece, is reported to have called his princes together, and thus to have spoken to them: Lest I should seem to follow mine own counsel, I have assembled you; and now do you remember, that it becomes you rather to obey than to advise. Aelian, lib. ii. Sil., lib. xiv. Camden’ s Elisabeth. Erasm. Daniel’ s History. Val. Max., lib. ix. cap. 5.

(13) 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 subject is introduced. Poor.—The word occurs again in this book (Ecclesiastes 9:15-16), but not elsewhere in the Old Testament: kindred words occur in Deuteronomy 8:9; Isaiah 40:20. No confidence can be placed in the attempts made to find a definite historical reference in this verse and the next.

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 worship the idols which the old foolish king - Nimrod - had set up; therefore Nimrod cast him into a furnace of fire. But the Lord worked a miracle and delivered him. Yet here was no knowledge in Nimrod, and he would not be admonished." The Targum proceeds:

13. 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 theories as to his date, may have had in his thoughts. Such, e.g. as Abraham and Nimrod, Joseph and Pharaoh, David and Saul (all these are named in the Midrash Koheleth, see Introduction, ch. vi.), Joash and Amaziah, Cyrus and Astyages, the high priest Onias and his nephew Joseph (circ. b.c. 246–221, see Joseph. Ant. xii. 4, and Note on next verse), or Herod and his son Alexander. None of these identifications are altogether satisfactory, and it is quite possible that the writer may simply have uttered a general statement or may have had in view some events of which we have no record. In Wis 4:8-9 we have a more eloquent utterance of the same thought, “Honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time or that is measured by number of years, but wisdom is the grey hair unto men and unspotted life is old age.” The word for “child” is used of Joseph at the age of 17 (Genesis 37:30; Genesis 42:20) and even of the companions of Rehoboam when the latter was over 40 (1 Kings 12:8).

These verses set forth the vanity of earthly prosperity even on a throne.

13. Better is… a wise child — This would be better rendered youth, as the word is often used even of those near manhood.