Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 4:13
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses readers in a wisdom discourse, positioning this proverb between a maxim on mutual defense and a narrative about a prisoner ascending to the throne.
The words — The Hebrew tov [good/better] establishes a comparative standard, while u./khe.Sil [and a fool] defines the king’s fatal flaw as moral and intellectual bankruptcy.
The thread — This contrast echoes Proverbs 19:1, which ranks a poor man of integrity above a perverse fool, and aligns with 2 Chronicles 25:16, where a ruler’s rejection of a warning triggers disaster.
Why it lands — It demands that readers prioritize receptivity to correction over inherited status, recognizing that functional wisdom outlasts entrenched authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 25:16 While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”
- Proverbs 19:1 Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse.
- 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”
- Proverbs 28:15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
- 1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
- Genesis 37:2 This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
- Proverbs 28:6 Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.
- Ecclesiastes 9:15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”