Ecclesiastes 4:16
Verse 16 of 16. The 4th of 12 chapters in Ecclesiastes, in Poetry and Wisdom.
12And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
14For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
15I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
16There 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.
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Ecclesiastes 4:16 in the World English Bible
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.Read Ecclesiastes 4:16 in the WEB
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:16
Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an uncertain thing; he had before said so (Prov. xxvii. 24, The crown doth not endure to every generation), and his son found it so. Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people's love.
Read Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:13–16: The Advantages of Society.
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King James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.