Ecclesiastes 4:8

Ecclesiastes 4:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
• New International Version (NIV)There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!
• English Standard Version (ESV)one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
• New King James Version (NKJV)There is one alone, without companion: He has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors, Nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, “For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?” This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.

Context of Ecclesiastes 4:8

6Better is a handful with tranquility than two handfuls of toil and striving after the wind. 7Again I saw something futile under the sun: There is one who has no one else, neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to all his toil. His eyes are not content with riches. “So, for whom am I toiling, and depriving myself of prosperity?” This too is meaningless— a grievous task! 9Two are better than one, because they get a good return for their effort. 10For if they fall, the one will lift up his companion. But oy to the one who falls and has no one to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:8 word by word

יֵ֣שׁ אֶחָד֩ וְאֵ֨ין שֵׁנִ֜י גַּ֣ם בֵּ֧ן וָאָ֣ח אֵֽין־ל֗וֹ וְאֵ֥ין קֵץ֙ לְכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ גַּם־עֵינ֖וֹ לֹא־תִשְׂבַּ֣ע עֹ֑שֶׁר וּלְמִ֣י׀ אֲנִ֣י עָמֵ֗ל וּמְחַסֵּ֤ר אֶת־נַפְשִׁי֙ מִטּוֹבָ֔ה גַּם־זֶ֥ה הֶ֛בֶל וְעִנְיַ֥ן רָ֖ע הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• There isיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• not a secondשֵׁנִיshênîy · secondH8145
• yea, he hath neither childבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• nor brotherאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
• no endקֵץqêts · endH7093
• of all his labourעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• neither is his eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• satisfiedשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
• with richesעֹ֫שֶׁר‛ôsher · richesH6239
• For whom do I labourעָמֵל‛âmêl · laboriousH6001
• and bereaveחָסֵרchâsêr · to lackH2637
• my soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: myselfH5315
• of goodטוֹבָהţôb · welfareH2896
• also vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• a soreרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: harmfulH7451
• travailעִנְיָן‛inyân · taskH6045

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 4:8

• Ecclesiastes 4:9Two are better than one, because they get a good return for their effort.
• Genesis 2:18Then Adonai Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let Me make a well-matched helper for him.”
• Isaiah 56:3Do not let a son of a foreigner who has joined himself to Adonai say, ‘Adonai will surely exclude me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’”
• Genesis 15:2But Abram said, “My Lord Adonai, what will You give me, since I am living without children, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?”
• Isaiah 5:8Woe to those who join house to house and merge field to field, until there is no room, and you will live alone in the midst of the land!
• Ecclesiastes 1:8All things are wearisome. No one can express them. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
• Ecclesiastes 5:10When goods increase, so do those who consume them. So what advantage are they to the owner except he sees it with his eyes?
• Proverbs 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.
• Habakkuk 2:5Indeed, because this wine betrays, a proud man never rests. He enlarges his desire like Sheol, Like death, he is never satisfied. So he gathers to himself all nations, and collects all peoples for himself.
• 1 John 2:16For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
• Psalms 39:6Behold, You made my days mere hand-breadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Surely all humanity is but vapor. Selah
• Isaiah 44:19No one reflects in his heart, with no knowledge or discernment to say, “I burned half of it in the fire and I also baked bread on its coals. I roasted meat and ate—and then I make the rest of it an abomination? Should I bow before a block of wood?”
• Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your soul is being demanded back from you! And what you have prepared, whose will that be?’
• Ecclesiastes 1:13I applied my heart to seek and examine by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a burdensome task God has given the sons of men to keep them occupied.
• Ecclesiastes 2:23For all his days, his work is pain and grief. Even at night his mind does not rest. This also is futility.
• Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend money for what is not bread? Your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 4:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8There is one alone, and there is not a second - Here covetousness and avarice are characterized. The man who is the center of his own existence; has neither wife, child, nor legal heir; and yet is as intent on getting money as if he had the largest family to provide for; nor does he only labor with intense application, but he even refuses himself the comforts of life out of his own gains! This is not only vanity, the excess of foolishness, but it is also…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 The spectacle of a prosperous man whose condition is rendered vain by his brotherless, childless isolation. Ecclesiastes 4:8 A second - Any one associated or connected with him. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Compare a saying from the Talmud: “A man without companions is like the left hand without the right.”Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8This lonely man is an example of the idea in Ecclesiastes 4:6.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. not a second--no partner. child--"son or brother," put for any heir (De 25:5-10). eye--(Ec 1:8). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 4:8

• Avarice
• Care
• Covetousness
• Miser
• Vanity

In the dictionaries

• Prison
• Threefold
• Bereave; Bereaver; Bereft
• Riches
• 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