Ecclesiastes 4:15
New International Version
I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor.

New Living Translation
But then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him.

English Standard Version
I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place.

Berean Standard Bible
I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.

King James Bible
I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

New King James Version
I saw all the living who walk under the sun; They were with the second youth who stands in his place.

New American Standard Bible
I have seen all those living under the sun move to the side of the second youth who replaces him.

NASB 1995
I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him.

NASB 1977
I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him.

Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen all the living who walk about under the sun go along with the second lad who stands in place of him.

Amplified Bible
I have seen all the living under the sun join with the second youth (the king’s acknowledged successor) who replaces him.

Christian Standard Bible
I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him.

American Standard Version
I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
I have seen All Life walking under the sun, with The Second Young Man that will arise in his place

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I beheld all the living who were walking under the sun, with the second youth who shall stand up in each one's place.

Contemporary English Version
I once saw everyone in the world follow a young leader who came to power after the king was gone.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second young man, who shall rise up in his place.

English Revised Version
I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I saw all living people moving about under the sun. They sided with the second young man, the king's successor.

Good News Translation
I thought about all the people who live in this world, and I realized that somewhere among them there is a young man who will take the king's place.

International Standard Version
I observed everyone who lives and walks on earth, along with the youth who will take the king's place.

JPS Tanakh 1917
I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the child, the second, that was to stand up in his stead.

Literal Standard Version
I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who stands in his place;

Majority Standard Bible
I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king.

New American Bible
I saw all the living, those who move about under the sun, with the second youth who will succeed him.

NET Bible
I considered all the living who walk on earth, as well as the successor who would arise in his place.

New Revised Standard Version
I saw all the living who, moving about under the sun, follow that youth who replaced the king;

New Heart English Bible
I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.

Webster's Bible Translation
I considered all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

World English Bible
I saw all the living who walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the other, who succeeded him.

Young's Literal Translation
I have seen all the living, who are walking under the sun, with the second youth who doth stand in his place;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Futility of Power
14For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom. 15I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed this second one, the youth who succeeded the king. 16There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.…

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 4:14
For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.

Ecclesiastes 4:16
There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.


Treasury of Scripture

I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.

child

2 Samuel 15:6
And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Jump to Previous
Child Considered Followed King's Lad Move Round Ruler Second Side Stand Stead Stood Succeeded Sun Throng Walk Walked Young Youth
Jump to Next
Child Considered Followed King's Lad Move Round Ruler Second Side Stand Stead Stood Succeeded Sun Throng Walk Walked Young Youth
Ecclesiastes 4
1. vanity is increased unto men by oppression
4. by envy
5. by idleness
7. by covetousness
9. by solitariness
13. by willfulness














(15) I considered.--Heb., I saw. Most modern interpreters regard the "second child" as identical with the "young man" of Ecclesiastes 4:13, and understand the passage, "I saw him at the head of all his people; yet his great popularity was but temporary, and the next generation took no pleasure in him." It seems to me that by no stretch of rhetoric can "all the living which walk under the sun" be taken for the subjects of the sovereign in question. I am inclined to think that the Preacher reverts to the general topic, and considered all the living with the "second youth," i.e., the second generation which shall succeed them. He saw the old generation hardened in its ways, and incapable of being admonished, and then displaced by a new generation, with which the next will feel equal dissatisfaction.

Verse 15. - I considered all the living which walk under the sun; or, I have seen all the population. The expression is hyperbolical, as Eastern monarchs speak of their dominions as if they comprised the whole world (see Daniel 4:1; Daniel 6:25). With the second child that shall stand up in his stead. "With" (עִם) means "in company with," "on the side of;" and the clause should be rendered, as in the Revised Version, That they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. The youth who is called the second is the one spoken of in the previous verses, who by general acclamation is raised to the highest place in the realm, while the old monarch is dethroned or depreciated. He is named second, as being the successor of the other, either in popular favor or on the throne. It is the old story of worshipping the rising sun. The verse may still be applied to Joseph, who was made second to Pharaoh, and was virtually supreme in Egypt, standing in the king's place (Genesis 41:40-44).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I saw that
רָאִ֙יתִי֙ (rā·’î·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

who lived
הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים (ha·ḥay·yîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

and walked
הַֽמְהַלְּכִ֖ים (ham·hal·lə·ḵîm)
Article | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

under
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

the sun
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ (haš·šā·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

followed
עִ֚ם (‘im)
Preposition
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

this second
הַשֵּׁנִ֔י (haš·šê·nî)
Article | Number - ordinal masculine singular
Strong's 8145: Second (an ordinal number)

child,
הַיֶּ֣לֶד (hay·ye·leḏ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3206: Something born, a lad, offspring

who
אֲשֶׁ֥ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

succeeded
יַעֲמֹ֖ד (ya·‘ă·mōḏ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations

[the king].
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ (taḥ·tāw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 4:15 I saw all the living who walk (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 4:14
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