Ecclesiastes 4:3

Ecclesiastes 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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 King James Version (NKJV)Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Context of Ecclesiastes 4:3

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. 2So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living. But 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. 5The fool folds his hands [together] and consumes his own flesh [destroying himself by idleness and apathy].

Ecclesiastes 4:3 word by word

וְטוֹב֙ מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־עֲדֶ֖ן לֹ֣א הָיָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־רָאָה֙ אֶת־הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה הָרָ֔ע אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yea, betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• than bothשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• they, which hath not yetעֲדֶן‛ăden ‛ădennâh · stillH5728
• been, who hath not seenרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deedH4639
• that is doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• under the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:3

• Ecclesiastes 6:3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,
• Job 3:10Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide trouble from my eyes.
• Job 10:18‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb? Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
• Jeremiah 20:17Because he did not kill me before my birth, So that my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always pregnant.
• Matthew 24:19And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
• Luke 23:29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have never nursed.’
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
• 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.
• Psalms 55:6And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
• Jeremiah 9:2Oh that I had in the wilderness A lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men, That I might leave my people And go away from them! For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord], [They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Which hath not yet been - Better never to have been born into the world, than to have seen and suffered so many miseries.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-17This section discusses various topics, such as justice, humans and animals, oppression, moderation, companionship, politics, and worship.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. not seen--nor experienced.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Prison
• Threefold
• Esteem
• 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