Passage
Ecclesiastes 4.13-16
13. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. 14. For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor. 15. I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were... (ASV)Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
11. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? 12. And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. 14. For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor. 15. I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. 16. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:11-16, ASV)
WEB
11. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone? 12. If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more. 14. For out of prison he came out to be king; yes, even in his kingdom he was born poor. 15. I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him. 16. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was, yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:11-16, WEB)
KJV
11. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13. Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. who: Heb. who knoweth not to be admonished 14. For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 4:11-16, KJV)
YLT
11. Also, if two lie down, then they have heat, but how hath one heat? 12. And if the one strengthen himself, the two stand against him; and the threefold cord is not hastily broken.
13. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who hath not known to be warned any more. 14. For from a house of prisoners he hath come out to reign, for even in his own kingdom he hath been poor. 15. I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place; 16. there is no end to all the people, to all who were before them; also, the latter rejoice not in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 4:11-16, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: TBD
- Audience: TBD
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- Time period: TBD
Theological reading
Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.
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Notes
Your annotations.
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.