Ecclesiastes 5:9 · Bible study
Ecclesiastes 5:9 Commentary: The King and the Field
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine Ecclesiastes 5:9 and its assertion that the earth's profit is for all, including the king.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The earth's produce sustains all people; even the king depends on agriculture.
- Key words: “Profit of the earth” (the land's yield); “king … served by the field” (royal dependence on farming).
- Main debate: Whether the verse describes an ideal king devoted to agriculture (Cambridge, Keil) or simply states a fact of mutual dependence (Clarke, Barnes).
- Theological theme: God's provision for all through creation; human interdependence under divine sovereignty.
- Best use: A lens for teaching about contentment, justice, and the dignity of manual labour.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
KJV King James Version 1769
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And the abundance of a land is for all. A king for a field is served.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king [himself] is dependent upon the field.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that loveth riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Además el provecho de la tierra es para todos: el rey mismo está sujeto á los campos.
Mas o proveito da terra é para todos; até o rei se serve do campo.
Celui qui aime l’ argent n’ est pas rassasié par l’ argent, et celui qui aime les richesses n’ en profite pas. C’ est encore là une vanité.
Und immer ist's Gewinn für ein Land, wenn ein König da ist für das Feld, das man baut.
Het voordeel des aardrijks is voor allen: de koning zelfs wordt van het veld gediend.
Ma vantaggioso per un paese è, per ogni rispetto, un re, che si faccia servo de’ campi.
Kto miłuje pieniądze, nie nasyci się pieniędzy, a kto miłuje bogactwa, nie będzie miał pożytku. I toć jest marność.
Кто любит серебро, тот не насытится серебром, и кто любит богатство, тому нет пользы от того. И это - суета!
況且地 的益處 歸眾人，就是君王 也受田地 的供應。
It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Ecclesiastes 5:9 highlights the universal benefit of the earth's produce and the king's fundamental dependence on agriculture. Adam Clarke notes the mutual dependence: the peasant needs the king for protection, yet the king himself relies on the peasant's labor for food. Barnes states the king is “subject to the field”, dependent on its cultivation. Gill and Matthew Henry see the “profit of the earth” as sustaining all, including royalty, so that oppressing the poor is also self-injury. The Cambridge Bible, while noting the verse is difficult, suggests it praises a king who devotes himself to agriculture, as Uzziah did (2 Chronicles 26:10). Keil and Delitzsch argue it extols a patriarchal government rooted in farming. Despite translation differences, the shared claim is that no one, not even a monarch, stands independent of the land's fruit. This directly counters the oppression described in verse 8: those who rob the poor cut off the very source of their own supply.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Mutual dependence: The king needs the field for food; the field needs the king's protection — supported by Clarke, Barnes, Wesley.
- Ideal king devoted to agriculture: The verse praises a monarch like Uzziah who personally loved husbandry — supported by Cambridge Bible and Keil-Delitzsch.
What is clear: The earth's produce sustains all people, including rulers, and therefore cannot be hoarded or used to justify oppression without consequence.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'the king profits from the field' | All agree the king is somehow dependent on agricultural produce for his own survival and governance. | Some (Clarke, Barnes) read it as a statement of mutual reliance; others (Cambridge Bible, Keil-Delitzsch) see it as an ideal portrait of a king who personally fosters agriculture. |
| Relationship to oppression (v.8) | The verse is read as a counter to oppression: harming the poor damages the food supply that sustains all. | Whether this is a direct rebuke to officials (Lange) or a more general wisdom observation (Matthew Henry). |
| Tone: positive, negative or neutral | The profit of the earth is not vanity, it is a real good that God provides. | Some see a positive endorsement of agriculture as a noble calling (Gill); others treat it as a sober reminder that even kings hunger (Wesley). |
| Translation of the second clause | The Hebrew permits multiple renderings, but the overall sense of royal dependence remains. | 'Served by the field' (KJV) vs. 'subject to the field' (Barnes) vs. 'a king for the field' (Cambridge), each highlights a different nuance of relationship. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Ecclesiastes belongs to Israelite wisdom literature. Its traditional author, Solomon, oversaw a vast administrative system that provisioned the royal household from agricultural produce (1 Kings 4:7,23). In the ancient Near East, kings controlled grain, oil and wine, often storing surplus in royal granaries. Yet the text presents a vision different from typical royal extraction: the king is “served by the field” rather than ruling over it by force.
The verse appears in a passage that begins with warning against oppression (v.8) and continues with reflections on the vanity of wealth (vv.10, 17). The “profit of the earth” echoes Genesis 1:29, 30, where God gives plants and fruit as food for every living creature. That original abundance, however, became tied to labor after the fall (Genesis 3:17, 19). Ecclesiastes 5:9 may therefore serve as a reminder that all people, high and low, share a common, created dependence on God's provision through the earth. The wise king recognizes this and governs accordingly, rather than exploiting the poor.
The surrounding verses also target the love of money (v.10) and the sleeplessness of the rich (v.12). Verse 9 grounds these warnings in a simple fact: the land's fruit is meant for everyone, and no one, not even the most powerful, can bypass it.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note a minor textual variation in the first clause. The Hebrew Chethîb (written text) reads b’khol-hî’, while the Kerî (oral reading tradition) substitutes hû’ for hî’. Keil and Delitzsch treat this as a grammatical smoothing and not a meaning change; the clause remains “the profit of the earth is for all.” No significant variant affects the interpretation of the second clause.
Reception History
Early Jewish exegesis (Targum, Midrash) saw the verse as teaching God's sovereignty: the earth's abundance belongs to the Lord, not to kings. Reformation commentators such as Matthew Henry used the verse to argue against hoarding: the land's fruit is intended for everyone, so covetousness defies God's design. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Protestants (Clarke, Barnes) emphasized the social harmony implied by mutual dependence. More recent scholars (Cambridge Bible, Keil-Delitzsch) have explored the political context, reading the verse as a critique of exploitative kingship and an endorsement of agricultural reform. Across traditions, the verse has remained a quiet but persistent reminder that no human order can override the basic gift of food from the earth.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The earth's profit is for all. God designed the land to feed every creature (Genesis 1:29). Riches are not the source of life; soil and seed are. This levels all human pretension.
- The king depends on the field. No ruler is self-sufficient. The monarch who forgets this becomes an oppressor; the wise king tends the land and protects those who work it.
- Oppression defeats itself. To rob the poor of their share is to damage the whole agricultural system. Those who exploit the land destroy their own supply (Proverbs 22:22, 23).
Five-point outline
- Provision: The earth yields what everyone needs.
- Interdependence: Peasant and king need one another.
- Humility: No position exempts a person from eating.
- Justice: God sees when the powerful take more than their share.
- Contentment: The labourer who eats his own bread sleeps well (v.12).
Illustration hooks
- The story of a CEO who visits the farm that supplies his company's cafeteria and realizes how many hands feed him.
- A community garden that provides food for all income levels, reminding participants that everyone eats from the same soil.
- A drought that affects both rich and poor equally, exposing the shared vulnerability of all who live “under the sun.”
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Why does the Bible spend time on agriculture when most of us don't farm?”
- “How does this verse apply to my work, if I never touch soil?”
- “What does this say about politicians and economic systems that ignore the land?”
Leading a Discussion
Ecclesiastes 5:9 plants a simple truth in a passage full of warnings about oppression and the emptiness of wealth. The land produces food for everyone, and even the king cannot live without it. Use these questions to explore how this ancient observation speaks to modern life.
Discussion questions
- Read verses 8, 12 together. Why does the writer mention oppression and then immediately talk about the earth's profit?
- In your own words, what does “the profit of the earth is for all” mean? Does that match how food is distributed today?
- The verse says the king “profits from the field.” What does that imply about power and dependency?
- How does this verse connect to the warning in verse 10 that “he who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver”?
- What would change if powerful people truly believed they depended on the land and the people who work it?
- Where in your community do you see the connection between the earth's produce and human welfare working well, or breaking down?
- How might this verse shape your prayer for leaders and for yourself this week?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 1:29 | God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. |
| Genesis 1:30 | To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. |
| Genesis 3:17 | To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. |
| Genesis 3:19 | You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” |
| I Samuel 8:12 | He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. |
| I Samuel 8:17 | He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. |
| I Kings 4:7 | Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for a month in the year. |
| I Kings 4:23 | ten head of fat cattle, twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the earth produces food for all living things and that the king relies on farmers for his own needs. This shows that those who work the land and those who rule depend on one another.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes corrects a common translation: the king is not served by the field but is subject to it, meaning he depends on its cultivation. His point is that oppressing the lower classes ultimately harms the rulers, who rely on the same agricultural base for their own survival.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes the writer compares the poor rule of his own time to the good rule of Judah under kings who focused on farming. This shows the king should work for the land instead of being controlled by it.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes notes that anyone who loves silver will never feel enough of it and anyone who loves wealth will miss out on its true benefits. This too is considered empty and meaningless.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the highest excellence of the earth is God ruling over all people and things. He also says that the produce of the land gives food and shelter for everyone (including animals) and that kings depend on it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that the earths produce are given to everyone. The Lord will punish those who take from the poor.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue that a king who serves the land rather than ruling over it is truly beneficial. This kind of ruler cares for the people’s welfare through farming instead of war or tyranny.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange organizes the chapter around three paths to genuine happiness: proper reverence in worship, avoiding oppression and greed, and gratefully enjoying life's blessings as God's gift. He contrasts the fool's empty religiosity and restless covetousness with the wise person's contented trust in God, which alone brings lasting joy.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry shows that having many riches brings just as much trouble as other desires because the owner still suffers and ends up with nothing. He believes the products of the earth belong to everyone and that wealth kept for oneself causes harm.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the poor laborer receives the same earth’s produce as kings. This shows the benefits of the land are available to everyone.