Ecclesiastes 4

Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 .

1. returned--namely, to the thought set forth ( Ecclesiastes 3:16 , Job 35:9 ).
power--MAURER, not so well, "violence."
no comforter--twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort ( Isaiah 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 ( Ecclesiastes 3:17 Ecclesiastes 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 ( Ecclesiastes 7:1 ). Job ( Job 3:12 , 21:7 ), David ( Psalms 73:3 , &c.), Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 12:1 ), Habakkuk ( Habakkuk 1:13 ), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" ( Psalms 73:17 , Habakkuk 2:20 , Habakkuk 3:17 Habakkuk 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 ( Romans 2:15 ); and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation ( Psalms 92:7-12 ). 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" which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression ( Ecclesiastes 4:1 ) and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good.

5. Still the
fool, the wicked oppressor who "folds his hands together" ( Proverbs 6:10 , 24:33 ), in idleness, living on the means he wrongfully wrests from others, is not to be envied even in this life; for such a one
eateth his own flesh--that is, is a self-tormentor, never satisfied, his spirit preying on itself ( Isaiah 9:20 , 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" ( Ecclesiastes 4:5 ), also opposed to anxious labor to gain ( Ecclesiastes 4:8 , Proverbs 15:16 Proverbs 15:17 , 16:8 ).

7. A vanity described in Ecclesiastes 4:8 .

8. not a second--no partner.
child--"son or brother," put for any heir ( Deuteronomy 25:5-10 ).
eye--( Ecclesiastes 1:8 ). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.

9. Two--opposed to "one" ( Ecclesiastes 4:8 ). Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser ( Genesis 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.