Ecclesiastes 4:13

13. Better is… a wise child This would be better rendered youth, as the word is often used even of those near manhood.

An old and foolish king Age and royalty have always been objects of veneration in the East; but an aged “king” who has been so foolish as to alienate all his counsellors, and come to later years without their support, is here put as inferior to a poor youth who is still teachable.