Ecclesiastes 4 Footnotes

4:2-3 The author expressed his dissatisfaction with the wretched human situation in extreme terms, using hyperbole (exaggeration) to drive home his point. Statements such as “better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed” are not to be taken as literal assertions that the world would be a better place if people were never born. Nor are such declarations an indication of a depressed or suicidal state on Solomon’s part. Hebrew Wisdom literature operates by encircling an issue and approaching it from a variety of viewpoints (see the dialogues of the book of Job). Later, Solomon came to a clear affirmation of the value of life (9:4-5).

4:5-6 These two proverbs illustrate the dialogue-like method of Hebrew Wisdom literature (see Pr 26:4-5). Verse 5 attacks the fool for his laziness (see Pr 24:33-34), and v. 6 teaches that a life of vexation through overwork is miserable (see Ps 127:2). The proverbs are set side by side to force the reader to consider the folly both of laziness and of working to exhaustion. Instead of going straight toward his point, the writer moved toward it from one direction, then another. The proverbs are not contradictory, but complementary.