Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ecclesiastes 5:9 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 9. 9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse adds a difficult saying that the field's profit is for all and even the king depends on it.
Marvel not at the oppression of the poor
This verse is one part of that explanation in Ecclesiastes 5:8-9. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 5:8-9
Read Ecclesiastes 5:9 with 5:8-9. This verse adds a difficult saying that the field's profit is for all and even the king depends on it. The full unit establishes this movement: Qoheleth tells readers not to be astonished when layered officials enable oppression and distorted justice, then reminds them through an ambiguous land saying that even kings depend on cultivated fields.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The inquiry moves from corrupt worship speech to corrupt administrative systems and the material ground beneath elite power. Within that movement, this verse adds a difficult saying that the field's profit is for all and even the king depends on it.
Follow the Context
- The poor are oppressed and justice is violently distorted in a province.
- One high official watches another, with still higher officials above them.
- The difficult land proverb identifies agriculture as shared benefit or royal dependence.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“king himself is served by the field”
In plain language: KJV's rendering of a disputed statement about royal dependence on cultivated land.
adds a difficult saying that the field's profit is for all and even the king depends on it. Elite power rests on land and ordinary productive labor it does not create by decree.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not grant kings ownership of all land or produce.
It does not prove one ideal political or agricultural system.
What Remains True
Elite power rests on land and ordinary productive labor it does not create by decree.
How It Can Shape Life
- Protect farmers, land, and shared material foundations from extractive rule.
Teach It Back
Explain Ecclesiastes 5:9's precise role in Ecclesiastes 5:8-9. Include the complete movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ecclesiastes 5:8-9 — Hierarchies, Oppression, and the FieldSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Translations range from shared land-profit to a king devoted to fields; the syntax is unusually obscure.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 5:8-9, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 5:8-9
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1203, translation and notes on 5:8-9
Open source ↗