Ecclesiastes 10:7

New Living Translation

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

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

New King James Version
I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground 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 your boss is angry at you, don't quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes. ⁵ There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake ⁶ when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. ⁷ I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants! ⁸ When you dig a well, you might fall in. When you demolish an old wall, you could be bitten by a snake. ⁹ When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you. When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax. ¹⁰ Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed. ¹¹ If a snake bites before you charm it, what's the use of being a snake charmer?

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 first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.

1 Kings 10:1
When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord , she came to test him with hard questions.

Psalms 72:10
The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts.

Isaiah 21:13
This message came to me concerning Arabia: O caravans from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.

Ezekiel 27:15
Merchants came to you from Dedan. Numerous coastlands were your captive markets; they brought payment in ivory tusks and ebony wood.

Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah came with all kinds of spices, jewels, and gold in exchange for your wares.

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.