Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 10:16
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Foolish rulers, by their weakness, self-indulgence and sloth, bring decay upon the state: nobleness and temperance insure prosperity: yet the subject must not rebel in word or thought against his king.
Ecc 10:16
A child – Rather, young. The word is applied to Rehoboam 2Ch 13:7 at the time of his accession to the throne, when he was 41 years old.
Eat in the morning – A sign of intemperance (compare Isa 5:11).
Ecc 10:17
Son of nobles – i. e., of a noble disposition.
Ecc 10:18
The building or house represents the state. Compare Isa 3:6; Amo 9:10.
Droppeth through – i. e., Lets the rain through the roof.
Ecc 10:19
literally, For merriment they make a feast (bread), and wine gladdens the living, and money supplies all things.
Ecc 10:20
Curse – Compare Ecc 7:21-22.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 10:16
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Wickedness in high places
(with Psa 26:10):–Those two passages are descriptive of wickedness in high places.
The morals of a nation hardly ever rise higher than the virtue of the rulers. Henry VIII. makes impurity national and popular. A William Wilberforce in the Parliament ennobles an empire. Sin, epauletted and bestarred, comes to respect and canonization; vice, elevated, is recommended. Malarias rise from the marsh, float upward and away; but moral distempers descend from the mountain to the plain.
1. In unrolling, then, this scroll of wickedness in high places, the first thing that I mark especially is incompetency for office. If a man seeks for a place and wins it when he is incompetent, he is committing a crime against God and a crime against man. It is not a sin for me to be ignorant of medical science; but if, without medical attainment, I set myself up among professional men, and trifle, in my ignorance, with the lives of those whose confidence I have won, then my charlatanism becomes high-handed knavery. The ignorance that in the one case was innocence, in the other case becomes a crime. It is not a sin for me to be ignorant of machinery; but if I attempt to engineer a steamer across the Atlantic, amid darkness and hurricane, holding the lives of hundreds of people in my grasp, then the blood of all the shipwrecked is on my garment. But what shall we say of men who attempt to engineer our State and national affairs over the rough waters without the first element of qualification?–men not knowing enough to vote aye or no until they have looked for the wink of others of their party?
2. I unroll the scroll a little further and find intemperance and the co-ordinate crimes. Oh! it is a sad thing to have a hand tremulous with intoxication holding the scales of justice, when the lives of men and the destinies of a nation are in the balance; to have a charioteer with unskilful hands on the reins while the swift destinies of governments are harnessed on a road where governments have been dashed to pieces, and empires have gone down in darkness and woe!
3. I unroll the scroll of wickedness in high places still further, and I see the crime of bribery. It was that which corrupted Lord Bacon in his magnificent position–it was that which led Chief Justice Thorpe to the gallows.
There are four things for you to do:–
1. First, stand off from all political office unless your own principles are thoroughly settled. Do not go into the blaze of temptation unless you are fire-proof.
2. The second thing to do is to take the counsel of Paul, and pray for your rulers; pray for all in authority. Do you know that Shadrach and Abednego did not need the Son of God beside them in the fire so much as your rulers do?
3. In the next place, be faithful at the ballot-box. Make up your mind in a Christian way as to who are the best Men for office; then vote for the man who loves God and hates rum, and believes in having the Bible read every day, as long as the world stands, in all our common schools. But I have a better prescription than all.
4. It is the fourth thing that I have to say in the way of counsel, and that is, evangelize the people. Gospelize this country, and you will have pure representatives and pure men everywhere. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child] Minorities are, in general, very prejudicial to a state. Regents either disagree, and foment civil wars; or oppress the people. Various discordant interests are raised up in a state during a minority; and the young king, having been under the tutelage of interested men, acts partially and injuriously to the interests of the people when he comes to the throne; and this produces popular discontent, and a troubled reign.
Thy princes eat in the morning!] They do nothing in order; turn night into day, and day into night; sleep when they should wake, and wake when they should sleep; attending more to chamberings and banquetings, than to the concerns of the state.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A child; either,
1. In age. Or,
2. (which is more agreeable to the following clause) In childish qualities, as ignorance, inexperience, injudiciousness, rashness, frowardness, fickleness, or wilfulness, and the like, in which sense this word is used, 2Ch 13:7, compared with 1Ki 14:21; Isa 3:4,12; 1Co 14:20; Eph 4:14.
Thy princes eat; give up themselves to eating and drinking excessively and intemperately, as it is explained in the next verse. In the morning; the fittest time for Gods service, and for the despatch of weighty affairs, and for sitting in judgment, Psa 101:8; Jer 21:12. Which circumstance is added as a plain evidence of men that wholly devote themselves to vanity and luxury; which must needs occasion gross neglect of the great concerns of the kingdom, the oppression of the people to support such extravagancies, and a woeful and general corruption of the people by their example, and otherwise; which makes him say, Woe to that people!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. a childgiven topleasures; behaves with childish levity. Not in years; for anation may be happy under a young prince, as Josiah.
eat in the morningtheusual time for dispensing justice in the East (Jer21:12); here, given to feasting (Isa 5:11;Act 2:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child,…. Not so much in age; though it is sometimes an unhappiness to a nation to be governed by a minor, especially if the young king has not good tutors, guardians, ministers, and counsellors, about him; but, if otherwise, a nation may be very happy under a minority, or the government of a young prince; such were Solomon, Joash, Uzziah, Josiah, and our Edward VI: but it rather respects one that is a child in understanding and judgment, in manners and conduct; that minds his pleasures, as children their play; is fickle and changeable, passionate and self-willed, unskilful in government, and yet will not be advised. The Targum applies this to the land of Israel, and instances in wicked Jeroboam, who made the morning sacrifice to cease; see Isa 3:12. From considering the bad effects of folly in men in general, in private persons and in subjects, the wise man proceeds to observe the ill consequences of it to a nation, in kings and princes, in civil magistrates: Jerom or Bede interprets this allegorically: Woe to the land whose king is the devil, who is always desirous of new things, 2Co 4:4;
and thy princes eat in the morning; as soon as they are up, children like; and not only eat, which may be convenient and lawful to do; but eat to excess, in a riotous and intemperate manner, and so unfit themselves for any service all the day: the “morning” is particularly observed, because the fittest time for consultation about the affairs of government; and was the usual time of sitting in judgment and trying causes, Jer 21:12; and also for acts of religion and devotion. And so the Targum,
“and thy princes eat bread before they offer the daily morning sacrifice.”
Sad is the case of a nation, when not only their king is a minor, or a foolish one; but when his tutors and guardians, or his ministers of state and counsellors, give up themselves to sensual pleasures, and neglect public affairs; and, instead of being in the council chamber, or in a court of judicature, or at their early devotions, are indulging themselves in riotous eating and drinking.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Woe to thee, O land, whose king is a child, and whose princes sit at table in the early morning! Happy art thou, O land, whose king is a noble, and whose princes sit at table at the right time, in manly strength, and not in drunkenness!” Regarding . Instead of , the older language would rather use the phrase ; and instead of na’ar , we might correctly use, after Pro 30:22, ‘eved ; but not as Grtz thinks, who from this verse deduces the reference of the book of Herod (the “slave of the Hasmonean house,” as the Talm. names him), in the same meaning. For na’ar , it is true, sometimes means – e.g., as Ziba’s by-name (2Sa 19:18 [17]) – a servant, but never a slave as such, so that here, in the latter sense, it might be the contrast of ; it is to be understood after Isa 3:12; and Solomon, Bishop of Constance, understood this woe rightly, for he found it fulfilled at the time of the last German Karolingian Ludwig III.
(Note: Cf. Bchmann’s Feglgelte Worte, p. 178, 5th ed. (1868).)
Na’ar is a very extensively applicable word in regard to the age of a person. King Solomon and the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah show that na’ar may be used with reference to one in a high office; but here it is one of few years of age who is meant, who is incapable of ruling, and shows himself as childish in this, that he lets himself be led by bad guides in accordance with their pleasure. In 16 b, the author perhaps thinks of the heads of the aristocracy who have the phantom-king in their power: intending to fatten themselves, they begin their feasting with the break of day. If we translate yocheelu by “they eat,” 16 b sounds as if to breakfast were a sin, – with us such an abbreviation of the thought so open to misconception would be a fault in style, but not so with a Hebrew.
(Note: Vid., Gesch. d. jd. Poesie, p. 188.f.)
(for , Psa 14:4) is here eating for eating’s sake, eating as its own object, eating which, in the morning, comes in the place of fresh activity in one’s calling, consecrated by prayer. Instead of , Ecc 10:17, there ought properly to have been ; but (1) has this peculiarity, to be explained from its interjectional usage, that with the suff. added it remains in the form of the st. constr., for we say e.g., for ; (2) the sing. form , inflected , so substitutes itself that , or, more correctly, , and , Pro 29:19, the latter for , are used ( vid., under Son 2:14).
Regarding ben – hhorim , the root-word signifies to be white ( vid., under Gen 40:16). A noble is called hhor , Isa 34:12; and one noble by birth, more closely, or also merely descriptively (Gesen. Lehrgeb. p. 649), ben – hhorim , from his purer complexion, by which persons of rank were distinguished from the common people (Lam 4:7). In the passage before us, ben – hhorim is an ethical conception, as e.g., also generosus becomes such, for it connects with the idea of noble by birth that of noble in disposition, and the latter predominates (cf. Son 7:2, nadiv ): it is well with a land whose king is of noble mind, is a man of noble character, or, if we give to ben – hhorim the Mishnic meaning, is truly a free man (cf. Joh 8:36). Of princes after the pattern of such a king, the contrary of what is said 16b is true: they do not eat early in the morning, but ba’et , “at the right time;” everywhere else this is expressed by be’itto (Ecc 3:11); here the expression – corresponding to the Greek , the Lat. in tempore – is perhaps occasioned by the contrast baboqer , “in the morning.” Eating at the right time is more closely characterized by bighvurah velo vashshethi . Jerome, whom Luther follows, translates: ad reficiendum et non ad luxuriam . Hitz., Ginsb., and Zckl., “for strengthening” (obtaining strength), not: “for feasting;” but that beth might introduce the object aimed at (after Hitz., proceeding from the beth of exchange), we have already considered under Ecc 2:4. The author, wishing to say this, ought to have written lshty wl’ lgbwrh. Better, Hahn: “in strength, but not in drunkenness,” – as heroes, but not as drunkards (Isa 5:22). Ewald’s “in virtue, and not in debauchery,” is also thus meant. But what is that: to eat in virtue, i.e., the dignity of a man? The author much rather represents them as eating in manly strength, i.e., as this requires it (cf. the plur. Psa 71:16 and Psa 90:10), only not bashti (“in drunkenness – excess”), so that eating and drinking become objects in themselves. Kleinert, well: as men, and not as gluttons. The Masora makes, under bashti ,’ the note , i.e., has here a meaning which it has not elsewhere, it signifies drunkenness; elsewhere it means the weft of a web. The Targ. gives the word the meaning of weakness ( ), after the Midrash, which explains it by (in weakness); Menahem b. Saruk takes along with it in this sense , Jer 51:30. The Talm. Shabbath 10 a, however, explains it rightly by .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Mutual Duties of Princes and Subjects. | |
16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! 18 By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 19 A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. 20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Solomon here observes,
I. How much the happiness of a land depends upon the character of its rulers; it is well or ill with the people according as the princes are good or bad. 1. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish and voluptuous (v. 16): Woe unto thee, O land! even the land of Canaan itself, though otherwise the glory of all lands, when thy king is a child, not so much in age (Solomon himself was young when his kingdom was happy in him) as in understanding; when the prince is weak and foolish as a child, fickle and fond of changes, fretful and humoursome, easily imposed upon, and hardly brought to business, it is ill with the people. The body staggers if the head be giddy. Perhaps Solomon wrote this with a foresight of his son Rehoboam’s ill conduct (2 Chron. xiii. 7); he was a child all the days of his life and his family and kingdom fared the worse for it. Nor is it much better with a people when their princes eat in the morning, that is, make a god of their belly and make themselves slaves to their appetites. If the king himself be a child, yet if the princes and privy-counsellors are wise and faithful, and apply themselves to business, the land may do the better; but if they addict themselves to their pleasures, and prefer the gratifications of the flesh before the despatch of the public business, which they disfit themselves for by eating and drinking in a morning, when judges are epicures, and do not eat to live, but live to eat, what good can a nation expect! 2. The people cannot but be happy when their rulers are generous and active, sober and temperate, and men of business, v. 17. The land is then blessed, (1.) When the sovereign is governed by principles of honour, when the king is the son of nobles, actuated and animated by a noble spirit, which scorns to do any thing base and unbecoming so high a character, which is solicitous for the public welfare, and prefers that before any private interests. Wisdom, virtue, and the fear of God, beneficence, and a readiness to do good to all mankind, these ennoble the royal blood. 2. When the subordinate magistrates are more in care to discharge their trusts than to gratify their appetites; when they eat in due season (Ps. cxlv. 15); let us not take ours unseasonable, lest we lose the comfort of seeing God give it to us. Magistrates should eat for strength, that their bodies may be fitted to serve their souls in the service of God and their country, and not for drunkenness, to make themselves unfit to do any thing either for God or man, and particularly to sit in judgment, for they will err through wine (Isa. xxviii. 7), will drink and forget the law, Prov. xxxi. 5. It is well with a people when their princes are examples of temperance, when those that have most to spend upon themselves know how to deny themselves.
II. Of what ill consequence slothfulness is both to private and public affairs (v. 18): By much slothfulness and idleness of the hands, the neglect of business, and the love of ease and pleasure, the building decays, drops through first, and by degrees drops down. If it be not kept well covered, and care be not taken to repair the breaches, as any happen, it will rain in, and the timber will rot, and the house will become unfit to dwell in. It is so with the family and the affairs of it; if men cannot find in their hearts to take pains in their callings, to tend their shops and look after their own business, they will soon run in debt and go behind-hand, and, instead of making what they have more for their children, will make it less. It is so with the public; if the king be a child and will take no care, if the princes eat in the morning and will take no pains, the affairs of the nation suffer loss, and its interests are prejudiced, its honour is sullied, its power is weakened, its borders are encroached upon, the course of justice is obstructed, the treasure is exhausted, and all its foundations are out of course, and all this through the slothfulness of self-seeking of those that should be the repairers of its breaches and the restorers of paths to dwell in, Isa. lviii. 12.
III. How industrious generally all are, both princes and people, to get money, because that serves for all purposes, v. 19. He seems to prefer money before mirth: A feast is made for laughter, not merely for eating, but chiefly for pleasant conversation and the society of friends, not the laughter of the fool, which is madness, but that of wise men, by which they fit themselves for business and severe studies. Spiritual feasts are made for spiritual laughter, holy joy in God. Wine makes merry, makes glad the life, but money is the measure of all things and answers all things. Pecuni obediunt omnia–Money commands all things. Though wine make merry, it will not be a house for us, nor a bed, nor clothing, nor provisions and portions for children; but money, if men have enough of it, will be all these. The feast cannot be made without money, and, though men have wine, they are not so much disposed to be merry unless they have money for the necessary supports of life. Money of itself answers nothing; it will neither feed nor clothe; but, as it is the instrument of commerce, it answers all the occasions of this present life. What is to be had may be had for money. But it answers nothing to the soul; it will not procure the pardon of sin, the favour of God, the peace of conscience; the soul, as it is not redeemed, so it is not maintained, with corruptible things as silver and gold. Some refer this to rulers; it is ill with the people when they give up themselves to luxury and riot, feasting and making merry, not only because their business is neglected, but because money must be had to answer all these things, and, in order to that, the people squeezed by heavy taxes.
IV. How cautious subjects have need to be that they harbour not any disloyal purposes in their minds, nor keep up any factious cabals or consultations against the government, because it is ten to one that they are discovered and brought to light, v. 20. “Though rulers should be guilty of some errors, yet be not, upon all occasions, arraigning their administration and running them down, but make the best of them.” Here, 1. The command teaches us our duty “Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, do not wish ill to the government in thy mind.” All sin begins there, and therefore the first risings of it must be curbed and suppressed, and particularly that of treason and sedition. “Curse not the rich, the princes and governors, in thy bed-chamber, in a conclave or club of persons disaffected to the government; associate not with such; come not into their secret; join not with them in speaking ill of the government or plotting against it.” 2. The reason consults our safety. “Though the design be carried on ever so closely, a bird of the air shall carry the voice to the king, who has more spies about than thou art aware of, and that which has wings shall tell the matter, to thy confusion and ruin.” God sees what men do, and hears what they say, in secret; and, when he pleases, he can bring it to light by strange and unsuspected ways. Wouldst thou then not be hurt by the powers that be, nor be afraid of them? Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same; but, if thou do that which is evil, be afraid,Rom 13:3; Rom 13:4.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
THE NATIONAL IMPACT OF FOLLY
Verse 16 affirms that woe or ill consequences follow when the king is immature and princes regard carnal indulgence as more important than state responsibility, Isa 3:1-5; 2Ch 13:7.
Verse 17 declares that a nation will be blessed when its ruler is mature and the princes eat and drink for strength, not for drunkenness, Pro 20:1; Pro 31:4-5; Isa 5:11; Isa 28:1.
Verse 18 affirms that slothfulness, which ignores decay, eventually results in collapse of the building. The principle is also true of disregard of decay in the moral structure of nations, Pro 24:30-34; Jer 16:12-17; Eze 16:46-54; Hos 13:1-3.
Verse 19 appears to reflect the distorted view of the slothful (Vs 18) that laughter, wine, and money supplies all need, Ecc 5:10; Deu 8:11-14; Jos 7:21; 1Ti 6:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Ecc. 10:16. When thy king is a child.] Not in age, but in understandingwanting in all the qualities of a vigorous manhood. And thy princes eat in the morning.] They employ in self-indulgence the time which ought to be devoted to serious business.
Ecc. 10:18. By much slothfulness the building decayeth.] The building is the edifice of the state, which is brought to ruin by the indolence of the rulers.
Ecc. 10:20. The rich.] Those of high rank and station, such as the nobles and princesthe counsellors of the king. A bird of the air shall carry thy voice.] In some unknown manner the secret will come out, as if suddenly picked up and borne off by a bird.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Ecc. 10:16-20
THE TRUE LIFE OF THE STATE
As in individuals, so in states, there is a certain standard of health. There are conditions of vigour and decay. They cannot long hold any life or prosperity which is not founded upon moral goodness. The true life of the state may be considered,
I. As to the Sources by which it is Nourished: All life must draw support, and materials for repair and development, from something beyond itself. No creature can live upon its own blood. Nations can only maintain their true life and prosperity by due supplies of the proper nourishment of that life. It is especially necessary that those who govern should possess the highest excellenciesmoralintellectualsocial.
1. They should have superior endowments of mind and heart. (Ecc. 10:17.) They should be sons of nobles, not only by derivation and rank, but nobles in reality; men who are distinguished by that elevation of mind, those qualities of heart and temper, and that dignified bearing by which they are fitted for the difficult and responsible work of government.
2. They should be diligent in duty. Rulers have certain duties arising from the relations in which they stand to those over whom they are placed. Hence they need not only ability, but also zeal and diligence in their calling. They should be distinguished by industry, two main channels of which are indicated here.
(1) They should maintain the efficiency of what is good. The edifice of state, like a house, is exposed to constant wear, and the slow decays of time. The beauty and use of it must be preserved by repair and renovation. The inherent goodness of institutions will not save them from destruction. They must be maintained in efficiency by constant diligence and care. (Ecc. 10:18.)
(2) Necessary improvements and reforms should be made. Time reveals what is weak, or no longer potent. Hence wise legislators will study the peculiar necessities of the age; and upon a wider basis of facts and experience, will endeavour to carry the science of government to greater perfection. All human institutions need reform. They have no natural immortality, and only maintain their potency by renewal of life.
(3) They should exercise moral control. (Ecc. 10:16-17.) It is necessary in those who presume to lead mankind that the faculty of reason should be strong and clear, the judgment ready to decide with firmness whatever that reason approves. But this excellence of mind cannot be attained except by the mastery of the appetites and passions. When princes begin the day in rioting and excess, the animal surmounts the rational, justice and judgment fail, and the land fares ill. When moral control is exercised by those who rule, when they eat for strength, and not for drunkenness, their powers and energies of mind and heart are most effective for their high duties. Such men renew the life of the state. They are fitted to receive and exercise that wisdom which is profitable to direct, alike in the most retired as well as in the most public ways of life.
II. The Causes of its Decline. There are several forms of folly which, in the course of time, must wear out the life of states and bring them to the condition of dead empires.
1. Intellectual and moral imbecility in their rulers. (Ecc. 10:16.) When the king is a child in mind and in character, inexperienced and thoughtless, having no manly vigour, no stable virtue, the nation he rules over is exposed to the worst fate. The more absolute the authority, the greater the ills which follow when those who wield it have not reached maturity of wisdom and skill. There are child-like qualities, beautiful in their own order and circumstance, but beyond these, intolerable and disastrous. A child must not hold the helm of the state.
2. Habits of luxury and dissipation. (Ecc. 10:7; Ecc. 10:19.) When kings give way to gluttony and intemperance, their moral influence must decline, they are rendered insensible to the real evils around them, and powerless to contend against those dangers by which the State is threatened. The contagion of their example is likely to spread rapidly through their subjects, and, as history has often witnessed, the nation unconquerable by the foe has become weakened by luxury, and rendered an easy prey to the invader. But such habits in rulers are marked by a deeper shade of guilt when they are defended by a shameless boldness and bravado. Evil men, on the seat of authority, are not ashamed to avow a vicious code of duty, to utter some miserable dictum with the vain conceit of appearing smart. Such an attempt to justify excess and riot is described in Ecc. 10:19.
(1) They plead the abundant provisions of nature for self-indulgence. There is the feastwhy should they not carouse, and enjoy to the full? There is the winewhy should they not be merry? Were not these things made for the use of man, and do they not confer with appetite to urge him to the highest enjoyment? Thus far can folly render men insensible to the delicacies and moralities of speech.
(2) They assert the omnipotence of gold. Money answereth all things. They are insensible to the noblest influences and powers, and imagine that money can achieve every purpose, and satisfy every desire; that gold is an apology for every crime, and answers all charges. Thus folly attains to the bad eminence of the utmost heights of impertinence.
III. The Cautions which even Wise Men must Observe who Desire its Welfare. The moral and intellectual faculties of such men are not impaired by vicious indulgence, but enhanced by careful culture and soberness of life. By their talents and virtue they contribute to the strength and preservation of the State. They are an influence for good, a standing rebuke to evil, the promoters of wise reforms. Such men might be tempted to impatience under the evils depicted here, and in the greatness of their zeal for the cause of justice, commit themselves to violent measures for reformation. Therefore prudence is necessary.
1. They must avoid too hasty an expression of feeling. (Ecc. 10:20.) The king, and the councillors who are associated with him in the government, may be corrupt in their administration. This is a sore trial for men of delicate moral sense and high convictions of justice. Yet the wise man must restrain his feelings, and forbear to curse such rulers, even in his thought. The sense of indignation, though justly roused, might lead such to hasty action, and cause a righteous struggle to end in defeat.
2. They have to consider that the injudicious promotion of a good cause may lead to serious evils. It is not expedient to speak out every conviction of the mind. The wise will learn to maintain a judicious reserve. Mere fragments of speech may be taken up by tale-bearers, and so combined and distributed as greatly to distort and misrepresent what was spoken. Hence, in a world like this, prudence in every course of conduct is necessary; for without it, virtue itself is but a weak and insufficient defence.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc. 10:16. Read in the light of this contrast, child must obviously mean a child in capacitya silly Absalom, or a self-willed Rehoboama man destitute of the gravity, and intelligence, and experience, and still more destitute of the high sense of responsibility and duty, which true wisdom inspires; a man more taken up about his own amusements and pleasures than with the affairs and interests of his kingdom. In such hands everything must speedily fall into inevitable disorder. The courtiers would be sure, with their customary servility, to copy the idleness and loose living of the king. It is this, no doubt, that is pointed at by the princes eatingthat is, feastingin the morning. The morning in all countries, and especially in the East, was devoted by princes to public affairs. Then it was that, as judges, they sat in the gate, to hear and determine the causes and questions which the people might have to bring before them; or that they assembled in the council chambers to deliberate on the great matters of the state [Buchanan].
Ill fares the land when the king is intellectually weak, luxurious, and depraved. His administration is likely to be defective, and even vicious; his exalted position renders his example the more dangerous.
Good and wise institutions cannot preserve a nation from destruction, unless they are administered by good and wise men.
Illustrious names should be supported by illustrious virtues and capacities.
Ecc. 10:17. A king, the son of nobles, is one possessing true nobility of mind. To be merely of high lineage would, of itself, be no security for the possession of those qualities of which Solomon here evidently intends to speak. Neither virtue nor wisdom is the necessary accompaniment of high birth. In all periods of the worlds history, from Solomons time until now, it has been a thing only too common to find far-descended princes who had nothing else but their pedigree of which to boastwhose personal qualities were as low and base as their ancestry was illustrious and exalted. Wisdom is not hereditaryit does not run in the bloodas Solomons own son sufficiently proved [Buchanan].
The senses and appetites, when they are under the control of wisdom, may be made the servants of virtue.
When the indulgence of appetites, lawful in themselves, is carried to excess, or pursued for its own sake, it is a proof that the animal man sinks both the rational and the spiritual. Nations must seek those things which are above, if they would prosper.
Ecc. 10:18. A house requires not only to be built, but to be kept up. If a man, from laziness, after having got his habitation reared, will not be at the trouble of necessary repairs, a damage that is at first trifling will imperceptibly increase, and will be followed by others till the building comes to be in danger: Day after day, as the time for purposed or half-purposed exertion comes round, the sluggard yawns out to himself the same convenient assurance, that a few hours can make no difference, till by daily procrastination the repair becomes impracticable, and the decayed and shattered tenement falls through [Wardlaw].
There are three great fellowships of men, the Family, the State, the Church, which are so many buildings of God. In each of these, slothfulness is an evil fraught with the utmost danger.
No institution can live merely upon the history of the past. The skill and activity of the living present must constantly repair the wrongs of time. It does not suffice even for Christianity itself that it has a firm historical basis. It needs also a living and ever-active Director.
Slothfulness, whether in the things of man or God, is the forerunner of a gradual, yet sure decay.
Ecc. 10:19. Mens lusts are very expensive, they will not get their slothfulness and excess maintained without much money; the consideration whereof should make them more sober and diligent. For their words import that sensual rulers must have money, and may be looked upon as including an argument to dissuade them from laziness and excess taken from the effect thereof, which is the poverty of the people, who must give to them that money which answereth all things [Nisbet].
As men yield to the allurements of evil, the power and delicacy of the mind and conscience become impaired. Such are satisfied and lulled by the meanest excuses.
When we consider the power and influence which are secured by gold, we do not wonder that it has turned the heads of some. They have accepted the worship of it as a religiona sure refuge from every evila means of justification.
Ecc. 10:20. A righteous man may be so provoked by existing evils, that he cannot prevent the sense of indignation from rising in his breast. Yet the duty of restraining his feelings by a sober and calculating prudence is laid upon him by the constitution of society, and it is part of his trial here.
There is a respect due to office and authority, as such, independently of their moral character. Every ordinance of God may become corrupt by human vices, yet the fact of their Divine appointment remains.
When once thought is uttered in speech, it is often like a stone flung from the hand; we have no further power over it, and know not where it will light or with what results.
This is a strong proverbial form of speech, expressive of the strange and unaccountable way in which such matters are frequently detected. They come to lightnobody knows how. The course they have followed leaves no traces by which it can be searched out. It is as if a bird of the air had carried the voice. You are as much at a loss as the Syrian monarch was, when Elisha the prophet told the king of Israel the words that he spoke in his bed-chamber [Wardlaw].
The earth is not a place of secrecy. It is scarcely in the power of earthly frailty to keep anything secret and concealed. Wherefore St. Paul was taken up to the third heaven, when he heard things that might not be uttered: according as St. Ambrose noteth upon it, who saith, Paul heard some secrets of wisdom which he was forbidden to make known to others, and therefore he was taken up into Paradise [Jermin].
There is a Heavenly King who has immediate note of the most secret suggestions of the mind, and to whose ears are borne even the whispers of rebellion.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
2. Rulers Ecc. 10:16-17
TEXT 10:1617
16
Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.
17
Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate timefor strength and not for drunkeness.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 10:1617
388.
Why is it a dangerous thing to have rulers who feast in the morning?
389.
Why were they eating at this time (Ecc. 10:17)?
390.
A land is blessed when a king eats for what purpose?
PARAPHRASE 10:1617
A country is in great trouble when the king behaves as a youth, and the princes frolic and feast in the morning hours! A country is rich whose king is concerned more with justice than he is with jesting, and eats to gain strength in order to carry out his labors rather than participating in drunkeness.
COMMENT 10:1617
Ecc. 10:16 The land is impoverished when the ruler behaves as a child. It does not mean that a young king would be a curse to a land. Josiah proved a blessing to Israel and became king when he was but eight years of age. Rehoboam is an illustration of the intent of the verse, when at forty-one years, he behaved with childish thoughts and in childish ways (2Ch. 13:7). Compare with this Isa. 3:12 where corrupted rulers are described as women and children. (Cf. 1Co. 14:20) The irresponsible behavior of childish kings carries over to the princes who start the day frolicking in intoxication and sensual enjoyment. They should have attended to honest work and important matters of state (Jer. 21:12). Isaiah also spoke of similar circumstances in Ecc. 5:11-12 : Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink; who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! And their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord. Nor do they consider the work of His hands. The lesson is clear: When wisdom is disregarded by the rulers of the land, the people will have to endure injustices and uncommon trials. The woe that comes upon them is the inescapable sorrow which results from the land being controlled by fools.
Ecc. 10:17 In this verse the opposite picture is presented. The king is not only mature in his behavior, he is also of noble birth. Noble not only in blood, but also in virtuous behavior. No longer is the true prince walking upon the ground while the fool triumphs on horseback. Wisdom reigns. The Jews assign to the word noble the idea of freeborn. This suggests a greater opportunity for one to enjoy learning and the employment of wisdom. Such men would be a blessing rather than a curse to the land. Such wise men will eat for strength and not for sensual enjoyment. They will judge wisely in the morning hours rather than selfishly pursue the pleasures of the flesh. Instead of harsh judgments and sorrow falling upon the land, the land is blessed and happy. (Cf. Isa. 32:8; Isa. 31:4)
FACT QUESTIONS 10:1617
515.
How do irresponsible, childish kings start their days?
516.
What is the woe experienced by such a country?
517.
Describe the conditions in the land where wisdom reigns.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) Woe.See Note on Ecc. 4:10.
A child.The Hebrew word has a wide range, being constantly translated lad or young man, and applied, for instance, to Solomon (1Ch. 29:1), to Rehoboam (2Ch. 13:7), and according to a usage common to many languages (e.g., the Latin puer), it often means a servant (2Sa. 16:1, &c). Some take it in that sense here, contrasting it with the nobly-born king of the next verse. But comp. Isa. 3:12.
In the morning.Isa. 5:11; Act. 2:15.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Woe to thee, O land Having shown the true policy of the subject under an unwise ruler, Koheleth rebukes the bad rulers for their folly, artfully couching his reproof in an address to the “land.” Eat in the morning, is here expressive of dissipation and intemperance. Thus, Peter intimates that it was absurd to think that the disciples were so dissolute as to be drunk at the third hour of the day, that is, at nine o’clock in the “morning.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 10:16. Woe to thee, O land, &c. Woe to thee, O land, whose king was born to be a servant, and whose princes eat early in the morning! The propriety of this version is best seen by its opposition to the subsequent verses.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! (17) Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Similar observations to what were made in the preceding verses, will be found applicable here. As in a moral sense, temperance and moderation will tend to keep the faculties clear, and in vigour for national government and rule: so in a spiritual sense, there must be blessedness, when the inability of grace, and a ripeness in wisdom, in things pertaining to Jesus, bring a train of covenant mercies, like the land of Judea, upon the Zion of God.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
Ver. 16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, ] s.c. , In understanding, though not in years, such as was Shechem, Gen 34:19 , Neque distulit puer and Rehoboam. 1Ki 14:21 2Ch 13:7 Solomon was a child king; so was Josiah, Uzziah, our Edward VI; and yet it was well with the land in their days.
“ Hic regum decus et iuvenum flos, spesque honorum,
Deliciae saecli, et gloria gentis erat. ”
As Cardan sings of King Edward in his epitaph, a
And the princes eat in the morning.
a Acts and Mon
b Lib. vii. cap. 1.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 10:16
Ecc 10:16
“Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning.”
“A country is in trouble when its king is a youth, and its leaders feast all night long.
Ecc 10:16 The land is impoverished when the ruler behaves as a child. It does not mean that a young king would be a curse to a land. Josiah proved a blessing to Israel and became king when he was but eight years of age. Rehoboam is an illustration of the intent of the verse, when at forty-one years, he behaved with childish thoughts and in childish ways (2Ch 13:7). Compare with this Isa 3:12 where corrupted rulers are described as women and children. (Cf. 1Co 14:20) The irresponsible behavior of childish kings carries over to the princes who start the day frolicking in intoxication and sensual enjoyment. They should have attended to honest work and important matters of state (Jer 21:12). Isaiah also spoke of similar circumstances in Ecc 5:11-12 : Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink; who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! And their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; but they do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord. Nor do they consider the work of His hands. The lesson is clear: When wisdom is disregarded by the rulers of the land, the people will have to endure injustices and uncommon trials. The woe that comes upon them is the inescapable sorrow which results from the land being controlled by fools.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
when: 2Ch 13:7, 2Ch 33:1-20, 2Ch 36:2, 2Ch 36:5, 2Ch 36:9, 2Ch 36:11, Isa 3:4, Isa 3:5, Isa 3:12
and: Pro 20:1, Pro 20:2, Isa 5:11, Isa 5:12, Isa 28:7, Isa 28:8, Hos 7:5-7
in the: Jer 21:12
Reciprocal: 1Ki 3:7 – a little 1Ki 20:16 – Benhadad 2Ki 22:1 – eight years old 2Ch 10:8 – he forsook 2Ch 10:14 – My father Pro 28:12 – but Isa 34:12 – call Jer 52:3 – through Act 24:25 – temperance
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ecc 10:16-17. Wo to thee, O land, when thy king is a child Either in age or childish qualities; and thy princes eat in the morning Give themselves up to eating and drinking at that time of the day which is most fit for Gods service, for the despatch of weighty affairs, and for sitting in judgment. Blessed art thou when thy king is the son of the nobles Not so much by birth, as even the worst of kings commonly are, and have been, as by their noble and worthy dispositions and endowments, for such a one is opposed to the child in the former verse; and thy princes eat in due season So as may further and not hinder their main business; for strength, and not for drunkenness To refresh and strengthen their bodies, that they may be fit to perform the duties of their station, and not to please their palates, and indulge themselves in sensuality.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 10:16-20. Reflections on Government.These verses are in the strain of Ecc 10:4-7.
Ecc 10:16. whose king is a child: e.g. like Ptolemy Epiphanes, who became king of Egypt (205 B.C.) at the age of five. Such a one is often in the hands of unworthy regents. The word may be also translated servant (contrast Ecc 10:17) or even young man; hence some see a reference to Herod the Great, who was of ignoble birth, or to Alexander Balas (1Ma 10:47). Feasting in the morning is a sure sign of decadence (cf. Isa 5:11, Act 2:15).
Ecc 10:17. It is just possible that Qoheleth is eulogising Antiochus III, whose accession in 198 B.C. was well received by the Jews (p. 62).
Ecc 10:18 is the writers way of saying that when the rulers of a state do not attend to business the structure of government falls to pieces. Feasting means revelry instead of serious attention to state affairsthose who indulge in it have only to spend money, perhaps from the public funds (Ecc 10:19).
Ecc 10:20 recalls Ecc 10:4 f.; the courtiers must be cautious, walls have ears. Kings and lords get to hear things in mysterious ways.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king [is] a {h} child, and thy princes {i} eat in the morning!
(h) That is, without wisdom and counsel.
(i) Are given to their lusts and pleasures.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
These proverbs show what bad effects can come from unqualified, irresponsible leadership (cf. Isa 5:11; Act 2:15). Ecc 10:19 reflects the bad attitudes of the profligate leaders.
". . . the point is not that every man has his price but that every gift has its use-and silver, in the form of money, is the most versatile of all." [Note: Kidner, p. 95.]