Ecclesiastes 10:7

Wycliffe Bible

I siy seruauntis on horsis, and princes as seruauntis goynge on the erthe.

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.

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

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.

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 hym, that hath power, stieth on thee, forsake thou not thi place; for heeling schal make gretteste synnes to ceesse. ⁵ An yuel is, which Y siy vndur the sunne, and goith out as bi errour fro the face of the prince; a fool set in hiy dignyte, ⁶ and riche men sitte bynethe. ⁷ I siy seruauntis on horsis, and princes as seruauntis goynge on the erthe. ⁸ He that diggith a diche, schal falle in to it; and an eddre schal bite hym, that distrieth an hegge. ⁹ He that berith ouer stoonys, schal be turmentid in tho; and he that kittith trees, schal be woundid of tho. ¹⁰ If yrun is foldid ayen, and this is not as bifore, but is maad blunt, it schal be maad scharp with myche trauel; and wisdom schal sue aftir bisynesse. ¹¹ If a serpent bitith, it bitith in silence; he that bacbitith priueli, hath no thing lesse than it.

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 o ryuer is Fyson, thilke it is that cumpassith al the lond of Euilath, where gold cometh forth,

1 Kings 10:1
But also the queen of Saba, whanne the fame of Salomon was herd, cam in the name of the Lord to tempte hym in derk and douti questiouns.

Psalms 72:10
The kyngis of Tarsis and ilis schulen offre yiftis; the kyngis of Arabie and of Saba schulen brynge yiftis.

Isaiah 21:13
The birthun in Arabie. In the forest at euentid ye schulen slepe, in the pathis of Dodanym.

Ezekiel 27:15
The sones of Dedan weren thi marchauntis; many ilis the marchaundie of thin hond, chaungiden teeth of yuer, and of hebennus, in thi prijs.

Ezekiel 27:22
The silleris of Saba and of Rema, thei weren thi marchauntis, with alle the beste swete smellynge spices, and preciouse stoon, and gold, which thei settiden forth in thi marcat.

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.