<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ec+4:1-12">Ecclesiastes 4:1-12</span></span></p><p>The reason I have turned your attention for the moment from Proverbs and focused it on the book of Ecclesiastes (another book in the library of Wisdom Literature) is because today's passage shows us better than any other in the Bible the reason why friendship is so important. This passage is saying: it's a good thing to have a friend because if you fall down a friend can help you up, or, when overcome by cold, a friend can help keep you warm. All through this passage on friendship, the emphasis is on two people - "two are better than one," "if two lie down" - but at the end of the passage the writer adds something very strange: "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.' Most commentaries on this text dismiss these words as a literary device for the sake of emphasis. The NIV Study Bible, for example, describes it as "a climactic construction." But it is much more than that; the words contain a powerful truth. The point that is being made is this: when you are in a close relationship with another person you not only have what the other person gives to you in the friendship, or you to the other person, but you have a third quality - a strength and a power which comes out of the relationship and which you could never have known had you both stayed apart. In other words, in the fusion of friendship you discover a power that could never be discovered were you not in a relationship. It is your strength plus your friend's strength producing a new and even greater strength.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, now I see into the heart and meaning of friendship. Out of it comes a power and a strength that is greater than the sum of the two parts. Teach me more, dear Father. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="joh+5:1-15">John 5:1-15</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1sa+18:1-4">1 Samuel 18:1-4</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1sa+20:42">1 Samuel 20:42</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did the crippled man say to Jesus?</li><li>In what were David and Jonathan united?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"Two are better than one  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." (vv. 9,12).

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ec+4:7-12">Ecclesiastes 4:7-12</span></span></p><p>Some people are lonely because of the oppression of others; some because their own competitiveness separates them from friends. In today's passage, however, we come face to face with a man who was lonely because he had no family connections. How does he handle it? He throws himself into an endless round of activity and buries himself in work. But money and possessions are not much good when you have no one to share them with. Life lived on this level, says Solomon, is also meaningless. He then makes a statement which is often misunderstood: "Two are better than one ... If one falls down, his friend can help him up ... if two lie down together, they will keep warm" (vv. 9-11). Note the emphasis in these sayings is on two people. But at the end of the passage Solomon says something very strange: "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." The point is: when you are in a close relationship with someone you love and who loves you, you have a third quality - a strength and power which unfolds from out of the relationship. In the fusion of friendship, you discover something you could never discover - except in a relationship. It is your strength, plus your friend's strength, producing an even greater strength. Solomon's point, of course, in saying all this is that if you want to make it through days of disillusionment, the secret is friendship. There is no comfort quite like a friend when you are forced to live on "the ragged edge of time."</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, I see that I am built for relationships, not only with You, but with others also. And in a relationship lies a power that is greater than the sum of its two parts. May I discover more of this. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.</p>

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." (v. 12)

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num poetry-line">12 </sup><poetry>Though one may be overpowered,<br/><indent>two can defend themselves.</indent><br/>A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</poetry> </span></p>

Though one may be overpowered,<br/><indent>two can defend themselves.</indent><br/>A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

<p><span class="bible-text "><poetry>Though one may be overpowered,<br/><indent>two can defend themselves.</indent><br/>A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</poetry> </span></p>

Bible Verse of the Day

March 8, 2024

Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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