Revised Literal Translation
Ecclesiastes 4:3
3Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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
1So I returned, and considered 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 they had no comforter. 2Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. 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. 4Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 5The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 4Ecclesiastes 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
- 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 beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
- Job 3:10Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
- Job 10:18Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
- Jeremiah 20:17Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
- Matthew 24:19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
- Luke 23:29For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
- Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Ecclesiastes 2:17Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Psalms 55:6And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
- Jeremiah 9:2Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
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
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries