Ecclesiastes 4:4-16

People Need Balance in Their Approach to Labor

4 I also realized that all [of the] toil and all [of] the skillful work that is done--it [is] envy between one man and {another}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

5 {The fool refuses to work with his hands, so he has nothing to eat except his own skin}!

6 Better [is] one handful with peace than two fists full with toil and chasing wind.

Wealth without Someone with Which to Enjoy It is Futile

7 I turned again and saw another vanity under the sun.

8 Sometimes a man is all alone with no companion; he also has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eye is not satisfied with wealth. [He laments,] "For whom am I toiling and depriving {myself} of pleasure?" This also [is] vanity--it is an unhappy business!

Friends and Family Can Help One Another in Life

9 Two [are] better than the one, for they enjoy a better reward for their toil.

10 For if one falls, his companion may help him up. But pity the one who falls and there is {no one} to help him up.

11 Also if two lie together, {they can keep each other warm}. But how can one person be warm?

12 {Although an assailant may overpower one person, two may withstand him}. A threefold cord {is not easily broken}!

One Must Be Willing to Listen to Counsel

13 A poor but wise youth [is] better than an old but foolish king who no longer knows {how to receive advice}.

14 For he came out of the prison house to reign, {since he was born poor in his kingdom}.

15 I saw all the living who move about under the sun with the youth; the second who will stand in his place.

16 There is no end to all the people, to all who were before him. Yet the later generation will not rejoice in him, for this also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Ecclesiastes 4:4-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 4

In this chapter the wise man reassumes the consideration of the case of the abuse of power, to show that there is no happiness in this world, in grandeur and authority enjoyed; since, as he had observed before, on the one hand, the oppressor shall be judged and condemned at the great day of account; so, on the other hand, the oppressed have their lives made so uncomfortable, that the dead are preferred unto them, and unborn persons to them both, Ec 4:1-3; Another vanity he observes, that whereas men expect to be happy by their diligence and industry, this brings upon them the envy of others, Ec 4:4; hence some, on the other hand, place their happiness in sloth and ease, which is another vanity, Ec 4:5,6; and others again in covetousness; who are described by their unsocial life, toilsome labour, unsatisfied desires, and withholding good things from themselves, Ec 4:7,8; upon which some things are said, to show the benefits of a social life, Ec 4:9-12. And the chapter is concluded with exposing the vanity of the highest instance of worldly power and grandeur, royal dignity, through the folly of a king; the effects of which are mentioned, Ec 4:13,14; and through the fickleness of the people, who are soon weary of a prince on the throne, and court his successor, Ec 4:15,16.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "his friend"
• [b]. Literally "The fool folds his hands and eats his flesh"
• [c]. Literally "his soul"
• [d]. Literally "there is not a second"
• [e]. Literally "and it will be warm for them"
• [f]. Literally "And even though he will prevail against him, the one; the second, they will withstand opposite him"
• [g]. Literally "will not be broken in haste"
• [h]. Literally "how to be warned"
• [i]. Literally "for all in his kingdom he was born poor"