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Read the Bible

King James Version

Ecclesiastes 10:7

I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   Thompson Chain Reference - Exaltation;   Exaltation-Abasement;   Promotion;   The Topic Concordance - Evil;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Servants;   Travellers;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Horses;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Servants;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Eunuch ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Eunuch;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Beautiful, the, in Jewish Literature;   Nebuchadnezzar;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 20;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have seen slaves on horses,but princes walking on the ground like slaves.
Hebrew Names Version
I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the eretz.
English Standard Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.
New American Standard Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.
New Century Version
I have seen servants ride horses while princes walk like servants on foot.
Amplified Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the ground.
World English Bible
I have seen servants on horses, and princes walking like servants on the earth.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue seene seruants on horses, and princes walking as seruants on the ground.
Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.
Berean Standard Bible
I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
Contemporary English Version
they let slaves ride on horses, but force slave owners to walk.
Complete Jewish Bible
I have seen servants riding horses, while princes walk on foot like slaves.
Darby Translation
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
Easy-to-Read Version
I have seen servants riding on horses, while rulers were walking beside them like slaves.
George Lamsa Translation
I have seen servants riding upon horses, and princes walking like servants on the ground.
Good News Translation
I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.
Lexham English Bible
I have even seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the earth!
Literal Translation
I have seen slaves on horses, and rulers walking as slaves on the earth.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I se seruauntes ryde vpon horses, & prynces goinge vpon their fete as it were seruauntes.
American Standard Version
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking like servants upon the earth.
Bible in Basic English
I have seen servants on horses, and rulers walking on the earth as servants.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
King James Version (1611)
I haue seene seruants vpon horses, and princes walking as seruants vpon the earth.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue seene seruauntes ride vpon horses, and princes goyng vpon their feete as it were seruauntes.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants on the earth.
English Revised Version
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I siy seruauntis on horsis, and princes as seruauntis goynge on the erthe.
Update Bible Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the earth.
Webster's Bible Translation
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
New English Translation
I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves.
New King James Version
I have seen servants on horses, While princes walk on the ground like servants.
New Living Translation
I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!
New Life Bible
I have seen servants riding on horses, and princes walking like servants on the land.
New Revised Standard
I have seen slaves on horseback, and princes walking on foot like slaves.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I had seen, servants, upon horses, - and, rulers, walking like servants, on the ground.
Douay-Rheims Bible
I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants.
Revised Standard Version
I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on foot like slaves.
Young's Literal Translation
I have seen servants on horses, And princes walking as servants on the earth.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Contextual Overview

4 If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 9 Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. 11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 19:10, Proverbs 30:22

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:17 - went forth Nehemiah 2:10 - the servant Ecclesiastes 10:17 - when Isaiah 23:7 - her own 2 Peter 2:10 - to speak

Cross-References

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
1 Kings 10:1
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord , she came to prove him with hard questions.
Psalms 72:10
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Isaiah 21:13
The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
Ezekiel 27:15
The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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; 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 r;

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.

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

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “evil” of Ecclesiastes 10:5 is here specified as that caprice of a king by which an unworthy favorite of low origin is promoted to successive dignities, while a noble person is degraded or neglected.


 
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