11. (See on :-). The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties (Luke 24:32; Acts 28:15). read more
12. one—enemy. threefold cord—proverbial for a combination of many—for example, husband, wife, and children (Proverbs 11:14); so Christians (Luke 10:1; Colossians 2:2; Colossians 2:19). Untwist the cord, and the separate threads are easily "broken." read more
3. The motivations of labor 4:4-16The phrase "vanity and striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 4:4; Ecclesiastes 4:16) brackets this section. This structure emphasizes the relative vapidity of everything between these statements. The main theme seems to be "the power complex common among humans and ways of reacting to it." [Note: J. S. Wright, "Ecclesiastes," p. 1165.] read more
Greed for self 4:7-12The reader cannot miss the folly of working just to accumulate more in this powerful description."Such a man, even with a wife and children, will have little time for them, convinced that he is toiling for their benefit although his heart is elsewhere, devoted and wedded to his projects." [Note: Ibid., pp. 46-47.] Solomon commended sharing, rather than hoarding, by calling attention to several advantages that come from cooperating with other people (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). read more
Vicissitudes of Life. ’Oh, the pity of it!’1-3. The mass of human suffering and the absence of pity are such that better off are the dead and still more the unborn.It is not only through God’s ordinance, but by reason of man’s perversity, that he is disturbed and perplexed by the social disturbances around him. The world is full of trouble. The weak are oppressed by the strong.4-6. Success involves envy. Better be secure and at peace. 4. Right] RV ’skilful,’ RM ’successful.’ For this..... read more
(10) Woe.—The word occurs only here and in Ecclesiastes 10:16, but is common in post-Biblical Hebrew. read more
(11) They have heat.—The nights in Palestine were often very cold, and it would seem (Exodus 22:26) that it was common to sleep without any cover but the ordinary day garment; though see Isaiah 28:20. read more
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 Compare John Morley's Critical Miscellanies, I. pp. 84 f. Reference. IV. 1. A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204. Ecclesiastes 4:8 See Quarles's Emblems, II. 2. Ecclesiastes 4:9 'The best things come, as a general thing,' says Mr. Henry James in his Monograph on Hawthorne (p. 81), 'from the talents that are members of a group; every man works better when he has companions working in the same line, and yielding the stimulus of suggestion, comparison, emulation. Great things... read more
SECOND SECTIONThe Quest Of The Chief Good In Devotion To The Affairs Of BusinessEcclesiastes 3:1 - Ecclesiastes 5:20I. IF the true Good is not to be found in the School where Wisdom utters her voice, nor in the Garden in which Pleasure spreads her lures: may it not be found in the Market, in devotion to Business and Public Affairs? The Preacher will try this experiment also. He gives himself to study and consider it. But at the very outset he discovers that he is in the iron grip of immutable... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:10
10. if they fall—if the one or other fall, as may happen to both, namely, into any distress of body, mind, or soul. read more