🌀WEB · Ecclesiastes 4:13
What does Ecclesiastes 4:13 mean?
"Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more."
— Ecclesiastes 4:13 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone?
If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn’t know how to receive admonition any more.
For out of prison he came out to be king; yes, even in his kingdom he was born poor.
I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.
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.
Explanation
Ecclesiastes 4:13 states a simple but startling comparison: a poor young person who possesses wisdom is better off than an old king who is foolish and has become so hardened that he can no longer accept correction or advice. On the surface this seems to overturn the normal order of things—age, wealth, and royal power are usually assumed to command respect and represent the pinnacle of human achievement. Yet the Preacher declares that none of these external advantages matter if the person lacks wisdom and, worse, has closed himself off from any counsel that might improve him.
The book of Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed to Solomon, or written from the perspective of "the Preacher" (Qoheleth), a wise king reflecting on the meaning of life "under the sun." The book as a whole wrestles with the apparent futility of human pursuits—wealth, pleasure, labor, and even wisdom itself—when viewed apart from God. This verse falls within a section (4:13–16) where the Preacher illustrates the fleeting and unstable nature of political power and popularity. He describes how even a poor youth who rises to leadership through wisdom can eventually be forgotten or replaced, showing that even wisdom's advantages don't guarantee lasting significance. This context matters: the verse isn't simply praising youth over age in a naive sense, but using this comparison to expose the vanity ("hevel," meaning vapor or fleeting breath) of relying on status, power, or long life as measures of worth.
Theologically, the verse teaches that wisdom—not bir
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