Ecclesiastes 4
4
Is It Better to Be Dead?
1Again I saw that many people are treated badly. I saw their tears, and I saw that there was no one to comfort them. I saw that cruel people had all the power, and I saw that there was no one to comfort the people they hurt. 2I decided that it is better for those who have died than for those who are still alive. 3And it is even better for those who die at birth, because they never saw the evil that is done in this world.#4:3 in this world Literally, “under the sun.”
Why Work So Hard?
4Then I thought, “Why do people work so hard?” I saw people try to succeed and be better than other people. They do this because they are jealous. They don’t want other people to have more than they have. This is senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind.#4:4 trying to catch the wind Or “It is very troubling to the spirit.” The word for “troubling” can also mean “craving,” and the word for “spirit” can also mean “wind.” Also in verse 16.
5Some people say, “It is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing. If you don’t work, you will starve to death.” 6Maybe that is true. But I say it is better to be satisfied with the few things you have than to always be struggling to get more.
7Again I saw something else that didn’t make sense: 8I saw a man who has no family, not a son or even a brother. But he continues to work very hard. He is never satisfied with what he has. And he works so hard that he never stops and asks himself, “Why am I working so hard? Why don’t I let myself enjoy my life?” This is also a very bad and senseless thing.
Friends and Family Give Strength
9Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more work done.
10If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone when they fall have no one to help them.
11If two people sleep together, they will be warm. But a person sleeping alone will not be warm.
12An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break.
People, Politics, and Popularity
13A young leader who is poor but wise is better than a king who is old but foolish. That old king does not listen to warnings. 14Maybe the young ruler was born a poor man in the kingdom. And maybe he came from prison to rule the country. 15But I have watched people in this life,#4:15 in this life Literally, “under the sun.” and I know this: People will follow that young man. He will become the new king. 16Many people will follow this young man. But later, those same people will not like him. This is also senseless. It is like trying to catch the wind.
Currently Selected:
Ecclesiastes 4: ERV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Ecclesiastes 4
4
Vanity of Toil. 1Again I saw all the oppressions that take place under the sun: the tears of the victims with none to comfort#Oppressions…victims…none to comfort: the author obviously feels deeply about the plight of the oppressed, but he seems to feel powerless to do anything. The repetition of “none to comfort” is purposeful, and emphatic. them! From the hand of their oppressors comes violence, and there is none to comfort them!#Eccl 3:16; 5:7; 9:4–5. 2And those now dead, I declared more fortunate in death than are the living to be still alive.#Eccl 6:3–5. 3And better off than both is the yet unborn, who has not seen the wicked work that is done under the sun. 4Then I saw that all toil and skillful work is the rivalry of one person with another. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
5“Fools fold their arms
and consume their own flesh”—#Consume their own flesh: an enigmatic statement. In the context of vv. 4 and 6 it seems to warn that those who refuse to work for the necessities of life will suffer hunger and impair their bodily health. But the verse could also be intended for the industrious: Even the lazy may manage to have “their own flesh,” that is, have sufficient food to eat.
6Better is one handful with tranquility
than two with toil and a chase after wind!
Companions and Successors. 7Again I saw this vanity under the sun: 8those all alone with no companion, with neither child nor sibling—with no end to all their toil, and no satisfaction from riches. For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good things? This also is vanity and a bad business. 9Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. 10If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help. 11So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? 12Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord#A three-ply cord: an ancient proverb known centuries before biblical times. The progression (“two together…three-ply”) seems to imply, “If two are good, three are even better.” is not easily broken.
13#This passage deals with kingship and succession, but is obscure. Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows caution; 14for from a prison house he came forth to reign; despite his kingship he was born poor. 15I saw all the living, those who move about under the sun, with the second youth who will succeed him.#The king is no sooner dead than the people transfer their allegiance to his successor. 16There is no end to all this people, to all who were before them; yet the later generations will not have joy in him. This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
Vanity of Many Words. 17#1 Sm 15:22; Ps 40:7–9; Prv 15:8; 21:3; Hos 6:6. Guard your step when you go to the house of God.#The house of God: the Temple in Jerusalem. Obedience…sacrifice: the Temple was the place not only for sacrifice but also for instruction in the Law. Sacrifice without obedience was unacceptable; cf. 1 Sm 15:22; Hos 6:6. Draw near for obedience, rather than for the fools’ offering of sacrifice; for they know not how to keep from doing evil.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc