Ecclesiastes 10:7

7 I have seen slaves on horseback, and princes walking on foot like slaves.

Ecclesiastes 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 10:7

I have seen servants upon horses
Which being scarce in Judea, were only rode upon by princes and great personages, or such as were in affluent circumstances; and therefore it was an unusual and disagreeable sight to see servants upon them, which was a token of their being advanced upon the ruin and destruction of their masters; a reigning servant is not only uncomely, but one of the things by which the earth is disquieted, and it cannot bear, ( Proverbs 30:21 Proverbs 30:22 ) ; the Parthians and Persians distinguished their nobles and the vulgar, freemen and servants, by this; the servants went on foot, and the freemen rode on horses F18; and princes walking as servants upon the earth;
degraded from their honour; banished from their thrones and palaces, or obliged to leave them, and reduced to the lowest state and condition: so David, when his son rebelled against him, and he was forced to flee from him, and walk on foot, ( 2 Samuel 15:30 ) ; Alshech thinks it may be a prophecy of the captivity of Israel, when they walked as servants on the earth, and the Gentiles rode on horses.


FOOTNOTES:

F18 Justin. e Trogo, l. 41. c. 3. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 5. c. 19.

Ecclesiastes 10:7 In-Context

5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as great an error as if it proceeded from the ruler:
6 folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place.
7 I have seen slaves on horseback, and princes walking on foot like slaves.
8 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a snake.
9 Whoever quarries stones will be hurt by them; and whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.