Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16
Ecclesiastes 4:2 . Wherefore I praised the dead more than the living, who are robbed, fleeced, and exposed to incessant afflictions, from oppression and war. Solomon alludes to extreme cases, such as our Saviour foretold would befal the Jews in their revolt against the Romans; when men should say, Blessed are the breasts that never gave suck. The like times were foretold of the Romans, in their civil wars, and in the scourge of the Saracens, that men should seek death, and it should flee... read more
Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16
Chapter 4So I returned, and I considered all of the oppressions that are done under the sun: and the tears of those that are oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter ( Ecclesiastes 4:1 ).The philosophy, Might is right.Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which were yet alive ( Ecclesiastes 4:2 ).I looked at life and, man, you're better off dead than you are alive. Those that have... read more