Ecclesiastes 10:7

The NET Bible®

I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have seen slaves on horses,but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

Hebrew Names Version
I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the eretz.

King James Version
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

English Standard Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.

New American Standard Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

New Century Version
I have seen servants ride horses while princes walk like servants on foot.

Amplified Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground.

World English Bible
I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the earth.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue seene seruants on horses, and princes walking as seruants on the ground.

Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Berean Standard Bible
I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.

Contemporary English Version
they let slaves ride on horses, but force slave owners to walk.

Complete Jewish Bible
I have seen servants riding horses, while princes walk on foot like slaves.

Darby Translation
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Easy-to-Read Version
I have seen servants riding on horses, while rulers were walking beside them like slaves.

George Lamsa Translation
I have seen servants riding upon horses, and princes walking like servants on the ground.

Good News Translation
I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.

Lexham English Bible
I have even seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the earth!

Literal Translation
I have seen slaves on horses, and rulers walking as slaves on the earth.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I se seruauntes ryde vpon horses, & prynces goinge vpon their fete as it were seruauntes.

American Standard Version
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.

Bible in Basic English
I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

King James Version (1611)
I haue seene seruants vpon horses, and princes walking as seruants vpon the earth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue seene seruauntes ride vpon horses, and princes goyng vpon their feete as it were seruauntes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants on the earth.

English Revised Version
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I siy seruauntis on horsis, and princes as seruauntis goynge on the erthe.

Update Bible Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

New King James Version
I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants.

New Living Translation
I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!

New Life Bible
I have seen servants riding on horses, and princes walking like servants on the land.

New Revised Standard
I have seen slaves on horseback, and princes walking on foot like slaves.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I had seen, servants, upon horses, - and, rulers, walking like servants, on the ground.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.

Revised Standard Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on foot like slaves.

Young's Literal Translation
I have seen servants on horses, And princes walking as servants on the earth.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Contextual Overview

⁴ If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position, for a calm response can undo great offenses. ⁵ I have seen another misfortune on the earth: It is an error a ruler makes. ⁶ Fools are placed in many positions of authority, while wealthy men sit in lowly positions. ⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves. ⁸ One who digs a pit may fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ⁹ One who quarries stones may be injured by them; one who splits logs may be endangered by them. ¹⁰ If an iron axhead is blunt and a workman does not sharpen its edge, he must exert a great deal of effort; so wisdom has the advantage of giving success. ¹¹ If the snake should bite before it is charmed, the snake charmer is in trouble.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 19:10, Proverbs 30:22

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:17 - went forth Nehemiah 2:10 - the servant Ecclesiastes 10:17 - when Isaiah 23:7 - her own 2 Peter 2:10 - to speak

Cross-References

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

1 Kings 10:1
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions.

Psalms 72:10
The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute.

Isaiah 21:13
Here is a message about Arabia: In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night, you Dedanite caravans.

Ezekiel 27:15
The Dedanites were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.

Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah engaged in trade with you; they traded the best kinds of spices along with precious stones and gold for your products.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have seen servants upon horses,.... Which being scarce in Judea, were only rode upon by princes and great personages, or such as were in affluent circumstances; and therefore it was an unusual and disagreeable sight to see servants upon them, which was a token of their being advanced upon the ruin and destruction of their masters; a reigning servant is not only uncomely, but one of the things by which the earth is disquieted, and it cannot bear, Proverbs 30:21; the Parthians and Persians distinguished their nobles and the vulgar, freemen and servants, by this; the servants went on foot, and the freemen rode on horses r;

and princes walking as servants upon the earth; degraded from their honour; banished from their thrones and palaces, or obliged to leave them, and reduced to the lowest state and condition: so David, when his son rebelled against him, and he was forced to flee from him, and walk on foot, 2 Samuel 15:30; Alshech thinks it may be a prophecy of the captivity of Israel, when they walked as servants on the earth, and the Gentiles rode on horses.

r Justin. e Trogo, l. 41. c. 3. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 19.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “evil” of Ecclesiastes 10:5 is here specified as that caprice of a king by which an unworthy favorite of low origin is promoted to successive dignities, while a noble person is degraded or neglected.