Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 4:13-14 
Context4:13 A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king
who no longer knows how to receive advice.
4:14 For he came out of prison 1 to become king,
even though he had been born poor in what would become his 2 kingdom.
Ecclesiastes 8:3
Context8:3 Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, 3
for he can do whatever he pleases.
Ecclesiastes 8:6
Context8:6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
for the oppression 4 of the king 5 is severe upon his victim. 6
Ecclesiastes 9:14
Context9:14 There was once 7 a small city with a few men in it,
and a mighty king attacked it, besieging 8 it and building strong 9 siege works against it.
1 tn Heb “came from the house of bonds.”
2 tn The phrase “what would become” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. However, it is not altogether clear whether the 3rd person masculine singular suffix (“his”) on בְּמַלְכוּתוֹ (bÿmalkhuto, “his kingdom”) refers to the old foolish king or to the poor but wise youth of 4:13.
3 tn Or “do not stand up for a bad cause.”
4 tn Heb “evil”; or “misery.”
5 tn Heb “the man.”
6 tn Heb “upon him.”
7 tn The verbs in this section function either as past definite actions (describing a past situation) or as hypothetical past actions (describing an imaginary hypothetical situation for the sake of illustration). The LXX uses subjunctives throughout vv. 14-15 to depict the scenario as a hypothetical situation: “Suppose there was a little city, and a few men [lived] in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great siege-works against it; and should find in it a poor wise man, and he should save the city through his wisdom; yet no man would remember that poor man.”
8 tn The two perfect tense verbs וְסָבַב (vÿsavav, “he besieged”) and וּבָנָה (uvanah, “he built”) may be taken in a complementary sense, qualifying the action of the main perfect tense verb וּבָא (uva’, “he attacked it”).
9 tn The root גדל (“mighty; strong; large”) is repeated in 9:13b for emphasis: “a mighty (גָדוֹל, gadol) king…building strong (גְדֹלִים, gÿdolim) siege works.” This repetition highlights the contrast between the vast power and resources of the attacking king, and the meager resources of the “little” (קְטַנָּה, qÿtannah) city with “few” (מְעָט, mÿ’at) men in it to defend it.
