Ecclesiastes 4:2

Ecclesiastes 4:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
• New International Version (NIV)And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.

Context of Ecclesiastes 4:2

1Then I looked again and considered all the acts of oppression that were being practiced under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living. 3But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:2 word by word

וְשַׁבֵּ֧חַ אֲנִ֛י אֶת־הַמֵּתִ֖ים שֶׁכְּבָ֣ר מֵ֑תוּ מִן־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֛ר הֵ֥מָּה חַיִּ֖ים עֲדֶֽנָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Wherefore I praisedשָׁבַחshâbach · to praiseH7623
• the deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• which are alreadyכְּבָרkebâr · alreadyH3528
• more than the livingחַיchay · aliveH2416
• which are yetעֲדֶן‛ăden ‛ădennâh · stillH5728

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:2

• Ecclesiastes 2:17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 9:4[There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.
• Job 3:17There [in death] the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Wherefore I praised the dead - I considered those happy who had escaped from the pilgrimage of life to the place where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2In places with oppression, the dead are better off than the living. The dead no longer suffer mistreatment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account (Ec 3:17, 19), to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all (Ec 7:1). Job (Job 3:12; 21:7), David (Psa 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (Jr 12:1), Habakkuk (Ha 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 4:2

• Death

In the dictionaries

• Prison
• Threefold
• Canon of the Old Testament
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings