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

1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter. 2So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. 4I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 5The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.

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

• But betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• than bothשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• is he whoאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• has notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• yetעֲדֶן‛ăden ‛ădennâh · stillH5728
• existedהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• seenרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• the evilמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deedH4639
• is doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:3

• Ecclesiastes 6:3A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• Job 3:10For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
• Job 10:18Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
• Jeremiah 20:17because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.
• Matthew 24:19How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
• Luke 23:29Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
• Psalms 55:6I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.
• Jeremiah 9:2If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.

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