New King James Version
Ecclesiastes 4:2
2Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.
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 Living Translation (NLT)So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.
Context of Ecclesiastes 4:2
1Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter— On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive. 3Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. 4Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 4Ecclesiastes 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.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:2
- Ecclesiastes 2:17Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 9:4But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- Job 3:17There the wicked cease from troubling, 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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries