Ecclesiastes 4:3

3 But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:3 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
The Message Bible (MSG)
3 But luckier than the dead or the living is the person who has never even been, who has never seen the bad business that takes place on this earth.
American Standard Version (ASV)
3 yea, better than them both [did I esteem] him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
3 But the person who hasn't been born yet is better off than both of them. He hasn't seen the evil that is done under the sun.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
3 But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
3 But someone who hasn't been born yet is better off than the dead or the living. That's because he hasn't seen the evil things that are done on earth.

Ecclesiastes 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 4:3

Yea, better [is he] than both they which hath not yet been,
&c.] That is, an unborn person; who is preferred both to the dead that have seen oppression, and to the living that are under it; see ( Job 3:10-16 ) ( Job 10:18 Job 10:19 ) . This supposes a person to be that never was, a mere nonentity; and the judgment made is according to sense, and regards the dead purely as such, and so as free from evils and sorrows, without any respect to their future state and condition; for otherwise an unborn person is not happier than the dead that die in Christ, and live with him: and it can only be true of those that perish, of whom indeed it might be said, that it would have been better for them if they had never been born, according to those words of Christ, ( Matthew 26:24 ) ; and is opposed to the maxim of some philosophers, that a miserable being is better than none at all. The Jews, from this passage, endeavour to prove the pre-existence of human souls, and suppose that such an one is here meant, which, though created, was not yet sent into this world in a body, and so had never seen evil and sorrow; and this way some Christian writers have gone. It has been interpreted also of the Messiah, who in Solomon's time had not yet been a man, and never known sorrow, which he was to do, and has, and so more happy than the dead or living. But these are senses that will not bear; the first is best; and the design is to show the great unhappiness of mortals, that even a nonentity is preferred to them; who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun?
the evil works of oppressors, and the sorrows of the oppressed.

Ecclesiastes 4:3 In-Context

1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter.
2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.
3 But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5 Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:3
  • 2. S Job 3:22
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