Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning. New Living Translation What sorrow for the land ruled by a servant, the land whose leaders feast in the morning. English Standard Version Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Berean Standard Bible Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning. King James Bible Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! New King James Version Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning! New American Standard Bible Woe to you, land whose king is a boy, and whose princes feast in the morning. NASB 1995 Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning. NASB 1977 Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning. Legacy Standard Bible Woe to you, O land, whose king is a young man and whose princes eat in the morning. Amplified Bible Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning. Christian Standard Bible Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning. Holman Christian Standard Bible Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning. American Standard Version Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Contemporary English Version A country is in for trouble when its ruler is childish, and its leaders party all day long. English Revised Version Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! GOD'S WORD® Translation How horrible it will be for any country where the king used to be a servant and where the high officials throw parties in the morning. Good News Translation A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long. International Standard Version Woe to the land whose king is a youth and whose princes feast in the morning. Majority Standard Bible Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning. NET Bible Woe to you, O land, when your king is childish, and your princes feast in the morning! New Heart English Bible Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning. Webster's Bible Translation Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! World English Bible Woe to you, land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning! Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionWoe to you, O land, when your king [is] a youth, "" And your princes eat in the morning. Young's Literal Translation Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a youth, And thy princes do eat in the morning. Smith's Literal Translation Wo! to thee, O land: thy king a youth, and thy chiefs will eat in the morning. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleWoe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning. Catholic Public Domain Version Woe to you, the land whose king is a boy, and whose princes consume in the morning. New American Bible Woe to you, O land, whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning! New Revised Standard Version Alas for you, O land, when your king is a servant, and your princes feast in the morning! Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleWoe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning! Peshitta Holy Bible Translated Woe to you, oh city, when your King is a boy and your princes eat at dawn! OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a boy, And thy princes feast in the morning! Brenton Septuagint Translation Woe to thee, O city, whose king is young, and thy princes eat in the morning! Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Wisdom and Folly…15The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. 16Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning. 17Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.… Cross References Isaiah 3:4-5 “I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.” / The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. Proverbs 28:16 A leader who lacks judgment is also a great oppressor, but he who hates dishonest profit will prolong his days. Isaiah 3:12 Youths oppress My people, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you; they turn you from your paths. Hosea 13:11 So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. 1 Kings 12:1-19 Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. / When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard about this, he was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon and had been living ever since. / So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel came to Rehoboam and said, ... 2 Chronicles 10:16-19 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So all the Israelites went home, / but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah. / Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem. ... Proverbs 19:10 Luxury is unseemly for a fool—how much worse for a slave to rule over princes! Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine. Isaiah 9:16 For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up. Proverbs 31:4-5 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, / lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice. 1 Kings 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in. 2 Chronicles 13:7 Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young, inexperienced, and unable to resist them. Isaiah 28:7 These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi. Mark 6:21-28 On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. / When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” / And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!” ... Treasury of Scripture Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat in the morning! when 2 Chronicles 13:7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. 2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: 2 Chronicles 36:2,5,9,11 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem… and Proverbs 20:1,2 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise… Isaiah 5:11,12 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! … Isaiah 28:7,8 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment… in the Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Jump to Previous Boy Child Eat Feast Feasting Lad Morning Princes Rulers Servant Unhappy Wo Woe YouthJump to Next Boy Child Eat Feast Feasting Lad Morning Princes Rulers Servant Unhappy Wo Woe YouthEcclesiastes 10 1. observations of wisdom and folly7. death in life 9. and the day of judgment in the days of youth, are to be thought on Woe to you The word "woe" is a term of lamentation and warning, often used in the Bible to express sorrow or impending judgment. In Hebrew, it is "הוֹי" (hoy), which conveys a deep sense of grief and foreboding. This expression sets the tone for the verse, indicating that the following conditions are undesirable and lead to negative consequences. It serves as a cautionary note to the reader, urging them to consider the implications of the leadership and governance described. O land whose king is a youth and whose princes feast in the morning A child.--The Hebrew word has a wide range, being constantly translated lad or young man, and applied, for instance, to Solomon (1Chronicles 29:1), to Rehoboam (2Chronicles 13:7), and according to a usage common to many languages (e.g., the Latin puer), it often means a servant (2Samuel 16:1, &c). Some take it in that sense here, contrasting it with the nobly-born king of the next verse. But comp. Isaiah 3:12. . . . Verses 16-20. - Section 15. Koheleth returns to the theme mentioned in vers. 4-7. and speaks of folly in one who holds the position of king, and the need of wisdom and prudence in the subjects of an unworthy ruler. Verse 16. - Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child! "Child" is naar, which term included any age up to manhood. Some interpret the word here, as παῖς in Greek, in the sense of "slave," contrasting it with "the son of nobles" in the following verse. But it can hardly signify more than servitor, attendant; and in ver. 7 the antithesis to "prince" is ebed, not naar. The child in the present case is a youthful, inexperienced ruler, who does not realize his responsibilities, and is the tool of evil advisers. What particular instance, if any, Koheleth had in view it is impossible to say. Of course, many expositors see a reference to Rehoboam. whom, at forty years of age, his own son Abijah calls naar (2 Chronicles 13:7), and who was certainly childish in his conduct (1 Kings 12:1-14). Hitzig connects the passage with the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was but five years old at the death of his father, B.C. 205, the reins of government being assumed by Agathocles and his sister Agathoclea, who occasioned serious disasters to the laud. To support this opinion, the date of our book has to be considerably reduced (see Introduction). It is best to take the gnome as a general expression, like that in Isaiah 3:12, "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them." Thy princes eat in the morning. Eating here implies feasting and banqueting, beginning the day with sensual enjoyment instead of such honest work as attending to state matters, administering justice, etc., as becomes good rulers. None but profligates would thus spend the early morning. "These are not drunken, as ye suppose; seeing it is but the third hour of the day," says St. Peter, repudiating the charge of intoxication (Acts 2:15). "Woe unto them," cries Isaiah (Isaiah 5:11), "that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink!" Even the heathen censured such debauchery. Cicero thus abuses Antonius: "At quam multos dies in ea villa turpissime es per-bacchatus. Ab hora tertia bibebatur, ludebatur, vomebatur" ('Philipp.,' 2:41). Curtius (5. 7. 2) reprehends" de die convivia inire." The Greeks had a proverb to denote abnormal sensuality, Ἀφ ἡμέρας πίνεινParallel Commentaries ... Hebrew Woe to you,אִֽי־ (’î-) Interjection Strong's 337: Alas! O land אֶ֔רֶץ (’e·reṣ) Noun - feminine singular Strong's 776: Earth, land whose king שֶׁמַּלְכֵּ֖ךְ (šem·mal·kêḵ) Pronoun - relative | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular Strong's 4428: A king is a youth, נָ֑עַר (nā·‘ar) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 5288: A boy, lad, youth, retainer and whose princes וְשָׂרַ֖יִךְ (wə·śā·ra·yiḵ) Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person feminine singular Strong's 8269: Chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince feast יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ (yō·ḵê·lū) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 398: To eat in the morning. בַּבֹּ֥קֶר (bab·bō·qer) Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Strong's 1242: Dawn, morning Links Ecclesiastes 10:16 NIVEcclesiastes 10:16 NLT Ecclesiastes 10:16 ESV Ecclesiastes 10:16 NASB Ecclesiastes 10:16 KJV Ecclesiastes 10:16 BibleApps.com Ecclesiastes 10:16 Biblia Paralela Ecclesiastes 10:16 Chinese Bible Ecclesiastes 10:16 French Bible Ecclesiastes 10:16 Catholic Bible OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 10:16 Woe to you land when your king (Ecclesiast. 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