Ecclesiastes 4:16

The NET Bible®

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Contextual Overview

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

no end: 2 Samuel 15:12, 2 Samuel 15:13, 1 Kings 1:5-7, 1 Kings 1:40, 1 Kings 12:10-16

they also: Judges 9:19, Judges 9:20, 2 Samuel 18:7, 2 Samuel 18:8, 2 Samuel 19:9

this: Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:17, Ecclesiastes 2:26

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 1:2 - General Ecclesiastes 4:4 - This is Ecclesiastes 5:10 - this Ecclesiastes 6:11 - General Ecclesiastes 11:8 - All that

Cross-References

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Gill's Notes on the Bible

[There is] no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them,.... Before the present generation, the living that walked under the sun; a vast number they were that lived before them, and they were of the same restless temper and disposition; changeable in their affection and behaviour towards their governors; no end of their number, nor any stable affection for, nor settled satisfaction in, their rulers; but this itch of novelty, of having new princes over them, went from age to age, from generation to generation. Some understand this of the king and his son, the predecessor and successor, and of those that went before them; and of their behaviour to the kings that reigned before them; the people have not their end or satisfaction in their governors, but are restless: which comes to the same sense;

they also that come after shall not rejoice in him; that come after the present generation, and after both the reigning prince, and even after his successor; they will not rejoice long in him that shall be upon the throne after them, any more than the present subjects of the old king, or those that now pay their court to the heir apparent; they will be so far from rejoicing in him, that they will loath and despise him, and wish him dead or dethroned, and another in his room.

Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit; to a king, to see himself thus used by his subjects; for a short time extolled and praised, and then despised and forsaken.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 man in Ecclesiastes 4:8 : or as setting forth first the vicissitudes of royal life in two proverbial sayings Ecclesiastes 4:13-14, and then Ecclesiastes 4:15-16, the vicissitudes or procession of the whole human race, one generation giving place to another, Which in its turn will be forgotten by its successor. On the whole, the first appears to have the better claim.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

Child - Rather, young man.

Ecclesiastes 4:14

Rather: For out of the house of bondage he goes forth to be a king; although he was born poor in his kingdom, i. e., in the country over which he became king.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

I considered ... - literally, I saw “all the population of the young man’s kingdom.”

The second child - This second youth is generally understood to be identical with the one mentioned in Ecclesiastes 4:13.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

There is - Rather: There was.

That have been before them - Rather, before whom he was, i. e., at the head of whom the young king was. Compare Micah 2:13.

They also that ... him - i. e., The next generation shall forget this chosen king.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 4:16. There is no end of all the people — This is supposed to refer to the multitudes of people who hail the advent and accession of a new sovereign; for, as Suetonius remarks, A plerisque adorari solem orientem, "Most people adore the rising sun." But when the new king becomes old, very few regard him; and perhaps he lives long enough to be as much despised by the very persons who before were ready to worship him. This is also a miserable vanity. Thus the blooming heir -

"Shall feel the sad reverse: honoured awhile;

Then, like his sire, contemn'd, abhorr'd, forgot."

C.