Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 4:14
For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker, identified as Qoheleth, records a political reversal immediately after contrasting a poor wise youth with a deposed old king, and before noting that the crowd eagerly follows this new ruler. He addresses readers under the sun, documenting a sudden shift in royal authority.
The words — The phrase מִבֵּית הַסּוּרִים יָצָא (mi-beit ha-suriym yatsa), "from the house of prisoners he came out," directly precedes לִמְלֹךְ (limlokh), "to become king," marking a rapid elevation. The clause כִּי גַּם בְּמַלְכוּתוֹ (ki gam be-malkhuto), "though he was born poor in his own kingdom," grounds the rise in inherited low status.
The thread — This movement from confinement to rule mirrors Joseph’s release from Pharaoh’s dungeon (Genesis 41:14) and aligns with the scriptural pattern of elevating the lowly (Psalm 113:7; Job 5:11).
Why it lands — The text states a historical observation about popular allegiance shifting to a new ruler before interpreting the crowd's fickle loyalty. It asks the reader to assess how quickly authority changes hands and to measure the durability of earthly power against the transient nature of human favor.
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
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor.
Cross-references
- Genesis 41:14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.
- Psalms 113:7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Job 5:11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
- Lamentations 4:20 The LORD’s anointed, the breath of our life, was captured in their pits. We had said of him, “Under his shadow we will live among the nations.”
- Genesis 41:33 Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.
- 2 Kings 24:6 And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
- 2 Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
- 2 Kings 25:7 And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 2 Kings 25:27 On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.
- Daniel 4:31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.