Ecclesiastes 4
Butler1. THEN I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but
2 they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive;
3 yea, better than them both did I esteem him which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4. Then I saw all labour and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This also is vanity and a
5 striving after wind. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
6. Better is an handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and striving after wind.
7. Then I returned and saw vanity under the
8 sun. There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, saith he, do I labour, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth: but how can one be warm alone? And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13 Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor. I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Chap. 4. HAVING arrived in chap. 3:22 at a partial answer to his question (3:9; 1:3)— viz., that there is positive good (i.e., a portion) in that satisfaction which is found in working,
Solomon now turns to the case of such happiness being interrupted and reduced to vanity by various contingencies—by oppression (vs. 1–3), by envy (vs. 4–6), by loneliness (vs. 7–12), by decay of working power (vs. 13–16); the first two instances seem taken from the lower ranks of life, the last two from the higher.
1. Some readers have been surprised that instances of injustice and misery, such as are here described, should have occurred in the happy reign of Solomon; and such passages as 3:16; 4:1, and 5:8 have been used as an argument in favor of the hypothesis that the book was written at a later time, e.g., when Palestine was ruled by a governor deputed by the Persian kings. These cases, however, represent only a small portion of the condition of the people described in Ecclesiastes. They cannot be separated from the much more numerous descriptions of wealth, abundance, and enjoyment which would suit no age so well as that of Solomon. Indeed the condition of the people described here and in the Book of Proverbs is one in which a great deal of external prosperity is mixed with a certain amount of violence and injustice. If in Proverbs such passages as chap. 3:10 be compared with chap. 3:31; or chap. 22:1, 2 with chap. 22:16, 22, the whole picture seems to be so much like that which is given in Ecclesiastes, that both descriptions will be recognized as appropriate to the same age. Moreover, the happiness of Solomon’s reign must not be exaggerated. The historical description of it (1 Kings 4:20–25) strictly refers only to the kingdom of Israel. In the enormous territory recently annexed thereto by conquest, much confusion, injustice, and oppression by local governors must inevitably have prevailed. However beneficent the personal influence and character of the distant monarch at Jerusalem might have been, yet he could not efficiently control the proceedings of his numerous subordinate officers; and a wise king must have been aware of this state of things. But even in Palestine itself all was not happiness. We are told of the degradation of the non-Jewish inhabitants to a state of slavery by the exaction of forced labor and tribute (2 Chr. 2:17, 18; 8:7, 8, 9); and furthermore of the heavy burden (1 Kings 12:4) imposed even on the Israelites themselves, which contributed to bring about the disruption of the kingdom. Further, we are nowhere told that the cases of oppression mentioned in Ecclesiastes occurred within the dominions of Solomon. There is no reason to suppose that he would abstain from referring, when it suited his purpose, to the condition of other nations as it was made known to him by his intimate acquaintance with the Tyrians, by his intercourse both with Ethiopia and with the countries whose line of traffic passed through Tadmor, and by his commerce with Egypt and with Ophir. W. T. B.
2. If there be no avenger of the wrongs of the oppressed, no time appointed when God will judge the righteous and the wicked, then those who have got through with the miseries of this life are better off than those who are still enduring them. J. M. M.
3. Non-existence is better than existence, if there is no future. To the wicked existence is a curse—they make it so. It had been better for Judas if he had not been born. It is better not to be brought into being than to live a little while in suffering and anxiety and then cease to live forever. This verse cannot be explained on any other principle. Y.—Very ghastly is the picture which our world presents when we look at it as the scene of injustice and cruelty; and very painful is the view it gives us of our arbitrary and oppressive human nature. Could we only see what God is daily seeing and hear what God is daily hearing, we would be apt to join with Solomon, and without the hope of future adjudication we should certainly join with him in praising the dead who are already dead, and who are past our pain or danger. In the music of the spheres its Maker may have given to our world its proper note; but it is a minor tune which is ever sung by its inhabitants, by neighbor nations, and by the several classes of society, evermore to one another crying, “Woe, woe, woe.” Hamilton.
4. Skilful work. Successful work managed skilfully and accompanied with good fortune, so as to ensure the best results. For this a man is envied of his neighbor. And this envy detracts very seriously from the enjoyment of good fortune and success. It brought Solomon to the conclusion: This, too, makes wealth a vanity and a vexation of spirit. H. C.—“Who can stand before envy?” The wealth, honor, success, and especially the virtue of others, awaken envy and hate in the heart of the wicked man. Y.
5. To fold the hands is to assume the position of one unemployed and idle. And consumeth his own flesh. In other words, through idleness he lacks the means of healthful nutriment, and his body pines away under its deprivations.
6. In other words, it is better to be contented with what can be obtained in a quiet way, than to toil incessantly in order to get both hands full, i.e., an overflowing abundance. Cohelet would choose, for himself, neither the extreme of the bustling, covetous man, nor yet that of the idle man, whose inaction must bring him to want. Strive for a sufficiency and be content with that; for this can be procured consistently with quiet. Therefore neither overdo nor be idle. Both are vain and fruitless in their issue. M. S.—Very many rich men wear out life prematurely and deny themselves almost all the common enjoyments of life through having both hands full, with travail and vexation of spirit. Alas! what a comment on the miseries of wealth and on the folly of its too eager pursuit. This passage is remarkably in harmony with the scope of the entire book. Throughout the author commends the moderate amount of earthly good which man needs and can really enjoy, but does not commend the abundance and superfluity which goes far beyond the supply of all legitimate wants. H. C.
7,8. Solomon sketches another picture, in contrast with that of the idle and thriftless man; it is that of the busy miser; and viewing human nature and the world under this aspect, again discovers its vanity as a source of real happiness. J. M. M.—This is the case of a miserly recluse, solitary in the world, with no son and no brother, and, of course, no wife or daughter; who yet toils excessively, and has not the wisdom and the good sense to ask himself, For whom am I wearing out my life and denying myself life’s real good? H. C.
He never thinks he has enough. His eye is not satisfied with riches. He has enough for his living decently in the world, but he has not enough for his eyes; though he can but see it, can but count his money, and not find in his heart to use it, yet he is not easy because he has not more to regale his eyes with. He denies himself the comfort of what he has. He bereaves his soul of good. Many are so set upon the world that, in pursuit of it, they bereave their souls of good here and forever, bereave themselves not only of the favor of God and eternal life, but of the pleasures of this world too, and this present life. H.
The love of money, like all other passions, grows by what it feeds on. Indulgence serves only to strengthen it, and to render it the more insatiable. What seemed a fortune before it was attained dwindles into comparative poverty when it has been actually acquired. It is measured every year by a new standard—the standard of a more ambitious style of living—of new wants and more expensive tastes. That which at an earlier stage of his career would have been accounted extravagance has now almost the aspect of meanness. The point at which he is prepared to say that it is enough is like the horizon, to which the traveller, however far and however fast he journeys, never gets any nearer. The case now described is, to the full, as common in our day as it could have been in the time of Solomon. Buchanan.
Great accumulations do but stimulate the appetite for more, and the close of life, instead of being devoted to quiet preparation for death and eternity, is frequently harassed by the vexing cares of acquisition. This is misery indeed. Take away the blessed sun, and everything becomes wintry, frozen, all but dead; take away more blessed love, and the heart is dumb, cheerless, insulated, meanly poor, so that the Latins named such a one miser. Such old age is hopeless and wretched. So Solomon concludes: “This also is vanity; yea, it is a sore travail.” J. W. A.
9-12. The proverbs in these verses are illustrated by a saying quoted from the Talmud, “A man without companions is like the left hand without the right.” W. T. B.—It is not good for man to be alone in the journey of life. Let him always have a next friend at hand if he fall to help him rise—himself meanwhile the next friend of his companion, to minister in like manner to every need. The doctrine of the passage was probably intended to apply to lawful marriage—the union of one man and one woman; perhaps also to business partnerships, and in general to the closer intimacies and friendships of human life, in which the ministries of affection and of aid are mutual and mutually beneficent. H. C.
10-12. These illustrations appear to be drawn from the experience of two travellers (v. 10). If one slip or stumble on a steep or rocky path, the other is at hand to raise him; or (v. 11), sleeping on a cold and stormy night under the same coverlet, two friends kept each other warm; or (v. 12), against one the robber’s attack would be successful; but the two friends defend each other and are saved. E. H. P.
There is nothing which gives a greater help to any one who is tempted to flinch from his duty, than to see others doing that very duty cheerfully and heartily. We can help each other very much by being more especially careful to avoid joining in what is wrong. How many have been led into lying or bad language, into unseemly jesting, into sinful disobedience, simply because they found others willing to join them or show them the way! How often has it happened that two coming together have
done what neither would have done alone! How often have two mean souls given each other strength in sinning! And if it is easy to combine for evil, clearly it becomes an imperative duty to combine for good. Bishop Temple.