Ecclesiastes 4

The Teacher looks at four troubles under the sun: oppression, envious striving, lonely toil, and the fading of earthly fame. He answers the loneliness with the strength of companionship. Even the best of this world’s success is brief, and that leaves the reader looking for something that lasts.

Ecclesiastes 4:1

The Teacher sees the cruelty of the world and does not look away. The oppressed weep, and no one comforts them, because the strong hold all the power. Scripture never treats such suffering lightly. It shows a world that badly needs a true Comforter and Judge.

BSA: oppression (“cruel and unfair treatment, extortion”): The word includes squeezing the weak for gain, not just general hardship. comforter (“no one to comfort, no helper”): The tears of the victims have no one to share them or to help.

See also: Psalm 10:17-18; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3

Overwhelmed by injustice, the Teacher says the dead are better off than the living, and the never-born better still. This is honest grief, not a rule for life. He voices despair so that we feel how heavy a world without hope would be.

BSA: admired (“praised, congratulated”): He almost congratulates the dead, so deep is his sorrow over the living. evil (“bad, wicked, morally wrong”): The unborn are spared seeing wrongdoing, not only sadness.

See also: Job 3:11-13.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

He now looks at hard work and skill and finds a hidden motive. Much of it is driven by wanting to outdo the neighbor. Ambition fed by rivalry never rests, so it too is chasing wind.

BSA: envy (“jealousy, rivalry”): Rivalry, not love of the work itself, pushes people to achieve. success (“skill, achievement”): Even real skill can be spoiled when it grows from comparison.

Hebrew: רְעוּת רוּחַ (reʿut rûaḥ, H7469) — “a feeding on or striving after wind.” The Hebrew pictures herding or grasping at wind. You can run after it all day and hold nothing.

Ecclesiastes 4:5

The opposite mistake is laziness. The fool folds his hands and does nothing, and so he ruins himself. Folded hands mean no work and no food, and he is consumed by his own idleness. Neither frantic envy nor idleness is the wise way.

BSA: folds (“embracing, clasping”): He hugs his hands to himself and refuses to use them. fool (“one who is stupid and silly, rejecting God”): Folly here is more than silliness. It is a life lived without regard for God.

See also: Proverbs 6:10-11.

Ecclesiastes 4:6

Here is the middle path. A little with peace is better than a lot with anxious striving. The Teacher is not praising laziness, since he just rebuked it. He is praising contentment that lets a person rest.

BSA: tranquility (“quietness, rest”): The gain is a quiet heart, not a bigger possession. handful (“with a sense of contentment”): A small portion becomes enough when received with contentment.

See also: Proverbs 15:16; 1 Timothy 6:6.

Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Another futility: a man alone, with no family, works without end and is never satisfied with his wealth. Only too late does he ask who it is all for. Wealth with no one to share it becomes a joyless chore.

BSA: bereave (“or deprive, cheat”): He is cheating himself of the good life for the sake of gain. content (“or satisfied, fulfilled”): His eyes keep looking for more, so enough is never enough.

See also: Psalm 39:6; Luke 12:20-21.

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Now the Teacher offers something good. Two people working together gain more than one alone. Shared labor lightens the load and gives a better reward. We were made for each other, not for solitude.

BSA: return (“reward, wages”): Companionship pays real wages, not just comfort.

See also: Genesis 2:18.

Ecclesiastes 4:10

Life has falls, whether into sin, sickness, failure or sorrow. A friend can pull us up. The one who falls alone is to be pitied, because no one is there to help. Faithful friends are one of God’s gifts.

BSA: pity (“woe to, have sorrow for”): The word is a cry of sympathy for one left helpless. companion (“fellow, friend”): It is someone who shares your path, not just anyone nearby.

See also: Galatians 6:1-2.

Ecclesiastes 4:11

On a cold night, two sleeping side by side stay warm, and a lone traveler shivers. This is an everyday picture of how we warm one another. It points to the warmth of encouragement and care, as well as to bodily heat.

BSA: warm (“have heat, be comforted”): Warmth stands for comfort and care as well as bodily heat.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Two can stand against an attacker who would beat one alone. Then a proverb: a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Strands twisted together hold far more than each alone. Many Christians see in this a picture of a marriage or friendship with God at its center, though the verse itself simply speaks of strength in togetherness.

BSA: strands (“twisted together”): The strength comes from the strands being twisted together, not merely lying side by side. overpowered (“conquered, defeated”): A lone person can be beaten, but two can hold their ground.

See also: Matthew 18:20.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

A new example. A poor young man who is wise is better off than an old king who is foolish. The king’s great fault is that he can no longer be warned. A heart closed to correction makes position and age worthless.

BSA: warning (“admonition, caution”): The king can no longer be told anything, and that is what makes him a fool. wise (“intelligent, skilled”): Wisdom here includes the humility to learn.

See also: Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 15:31-32.

Ecclesiastes 4:14

The youth rose from prison, or from poverty, to the throne. The scene shows that fortune can turn everything around. Wisdom may lift a person from the lowest place, while a stubborn king may fall from the highest.

BSA: prison (“a place of bondage, house of prisoners”): He began in confinement, so his rise is as dramatic as it can be.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

The crowds all gather around the new young ruler. People love a rising star, and the whole living world seems to follow him. But the scene is only the start of the Teacher’s point.

BSA: followed (“accompanied, went after”): The crowd attaches itself to whoever is now on top.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

Though crowds without number followed him, later generations will not celebrate him. Popularity fades, and the new ruler is soon forgotten and replaced. Even the sweetest success under the sun is brief. Only what is anchored in God lasts.

BSA: celebrated (“rejoice, delighted”): Those who come later will not rejoice in him, so the praise he enjoyed is gone. successor (“those who come after, later generations”): The line of those who come after keeps moving on, and nobody stays at the top.

See also: Isaiah 40:6-8.