Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 10:16

"Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!" — Ecclesiastes 10:16 (ASV)

Woe. —See Note on Ecclesiastes 4:10.

A child. —The Hebrew word has a wide range, being constantly translated lad or young man, and applied, for instance, to Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:1), to Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 13:7), and according to a usage common to many languages (e.g., the Latin puer), it often means a servant (2 Samuel 16:1, etc.). Some take it in that sense here, contrasting it with the nobly-born king of the next verse. But compare Isaiah 3:12.

In the morning. —Isaiah 5:11; Acts 2:15.