1So I returnedH7725, and consideredH7200 all the oppressionsH6217 that are doneH6213 under the sunH8121: and behold the tearsH1832 of such as were oppressedH6231, and they had no comforterH5162 ; and on the sideH3027 of their oppressorsH6231 there was powerH3581; but they had no comforterH5162 . 2Wherefore I praisedH7623 the deadH4191 which are alreadyH3528 deadH4191 more than the livingH2416 which are yetH5728 aliveH2416. 3Yea, betterH2896 is he than bothH8147 they, which hath not yetH5728 been, who hath not seenH7200 the evilH7451 workH4639 that is doneH6213 under the sunH8121. 4Again, I consideredH7200 all travailH5999, and every rightH3788 workH4639, that for this a manH376 is enviedH7068 of his neighbourH7453. This is also vanityH1892 and vexationH7469 of spiritH7307. 5The foolH3684 foldethH2263 his handsH3027 togetherH2263, and eatethH398 his own fleshH1320. 6BetterH2896 is an handfulH3709 with quietnessH5183, than both the handsH2651 fullH4393 with travailH5999 and vexationH7469 of spiritH7307. 7Then I returnedH7725, and I sawH7200 vanityH1892 under the sunH8121. 8There isH3426 oneH259 alone, and there is not a secondH8145; yea, he hath neither childH1121 nor brotherH251: yet is there no endH7093 of all his labourH5999; neither is his eyeH5869 satisfiedH7646 with richesH6239; neither saith he, For whom do I labourH6001, and bereaveH2637 my soulH5315 of goodH2896? This is also vanityH1892, yea, it is a soreH7451 travailH6045. 9TwoH8147 are betterH2896 than oneH259; because they haveH3426 a goodH2896 rewardH7939 for their labourH5999. 10For if they fallH5307, the oneH259 will lift upH6965 his fellowH2270: but woeH337 to him that is aloneH259 when he fallethH5307 ; for he hath not anotherH8145 to help him upH6965 . 11AgainH1571, if twoH8147 lie togetherH7901, then they have heatH2552 : but how can oneH259 be warmH3179 alone? 12And if oneH259 prevailH8630 against him, twoH8147 shall withstandH5975 him; and a threefoldH8027 cordH2339 is not quicklyH4120 brokenH5423 . 13BetterH2896 is a poorH4542 and a wiseH2450 childH3206 than an oldH2205 and foolishH3684 kingH4428, who willH3045 no more be admonishedH2094 . 14For out of prisonH631 H1004 he comethH3318 to reignH4427 ; whereas also he that is bornH3205 in his kingdomH4438 becometh poorH7326 . 15I consideredH7200 all the livingH2416 which walkH1980 under the sunH8121, with the secondH8145 childH3206 that shall stand upH5975 in his stead. 16There is no endH7093 of all the peopleH5971, even of all that have been beforeH6440 them: they also that come afterH314 shall not rejoiceH8055 in him. Surely this also is vanityH1892 and vexationH7475 of spiritH7307.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 (Ecc. 4:1-16)
returned--namely, to the thought set forth (
Eccl 3:16;
Job 35:9).
power--MAURER, not so well, "violence."
no comforter--twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort (
Isa 53:7).
2 A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account (
Eccl 3:17,
Eccl 3:19), to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all (
Eccl 7:1). Job (
Job 3:12;
Job 21:7), David (
Ps 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (
Jer 12:1), Habakkuk (
Hab 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" (
Ps 73:17;
Hab 2:20;
Hab 3:17-
Hab 3:18). Then they saw the need of delay, before completely punishing the wicked, to give space for repentance, or else for accumulation of wrath (
Rom 2:15); and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation (
Ps 92:7-
Ps 92:12). Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth.
3 not seen--nor experienced.
4 right--rather, "prosperous" (see on
Eccl 2:21). Prosperity, which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression (
Eccl 4:1) and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good.
5 Still the
fool (the wicked oppressor) is not to be envied even in this life, who "folds his hands together" in idleness (
Pro 6:10;
Pro 24:33), living on the means he wrongfully wrests from others; for such a one
eateth his own flesh--that is, is a self-tormentor, never satisfied, his spirit preying on itself (
Isa 9:20;
Isa 49:26).
6 Hebrew; "One open hand (palm) full of quietness, than both closed hands full of travail." "Quietness" (mental tranquillity flowing from honest labor), opposed to "eating one's own flesh" (
Eccl 4:5), also opposed to anxious labor to gain (
Eccl 4:8;
Pro 15:16-
Pro 15:17;
Pro 16:8).
7 A vanity described in
Eccl 4:8.
8 not a second--no partner.
child--"son or brother," put for any heir (
Deut 25:5-
Deut 25:10).
eye-- (
Eccl 1:8). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.
9 Two--opposed to "one" (
Eccl 4:8). Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser (
Gen 2:18).
reward--Advantage accrues from their efforts being conjoined. The Talmud says, "A man without a companion is like a left hand without the right.
10 if they fall--if the one or other fall, as may happen to both, namely, into any distress of body, mind, or soul.
11 (See on
1Kgs 1:1). The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties (
Luke 24:32;
Acts 28:15).
12 one--enemy.
threefold cord--proverbial for a combination of many--for example, husband, wife, and children (
Pro 11:14); so Christians (
Luke 10:1;
Col 2:2,
Col 2:19). Untwist the cord, and the separate threads are easily "broken."
13 The "threefold cord" [
Eccl 4:12] of social ties suggests the subject of civil government. In this case too, he concludes that kingly power confers no lasting happiness. The "wise" child, though a supposed case of Solomon, answers, in the event foreseen by the Holy Ghost, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon, and (
1Kgs 11:26-40) appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. The "old and foolish king" answers to Solomon himself, who had lost his wisdom, when, in defiance of two warnings of God (
1Kgs 3:14;
1Kgs 9:2-9), he forsook God.
will no more be admonished--knows not yet how to take warning (see Margin) God had by Ahijah already intimated the judgment coming on Solomon (
1Kgs 11:11-13).
14 out of prison--Solomon uses this phrase of a supposed case; for example, Joseph raised from a dungeon to be lord of Egypt. His words are at the same time so framed by the Holy Ghost that they answer virtually to Jeroboam, who fled to escape a "prison" and death from Solomon, to Shishak of Egypt (
1Kgs 11:40). This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul (which may have been before Solomon's mind), had so far their counterpart in that of Jeroboam.
whereas . . . becometh poor--rather, "though he (the youth) was born poor in his kingdom" (in the land where afterwards he was to reign).
15 "I considered all the living," the present generation, in relation to ("with") the "second youth" (the "legitimate successor" of the "old king," as opposed to the "poor youth," the one first spoken of, about to be raised from poverty to a throne), that is, Rehoboam.
in his stead--the old king's.
16 Notwithstanding their now worshipping the rising sun, the heir-apparent, I reflected that "there were no bounds, no stability (
2Sam 15:6;
2Sam 20:1), no check on the love of innovation, of all that have been before them," that is, the past generation; so
also they that come after--that is, the next generation,
shall not rejoice in him--namely, Rehoboam. The parallel, "shall not rejoice," fixes the sense of "no bounds," no permanent adherence, though now men rejoice in him.