전도서 4:2-3 KRV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

Solomon had a large soul (1 Kgs. 4:29) and it appeared by this, among other things, that he had a very tender concern for the miserable part of mankind and took cognizance of the afflictions of the afflicted. He had taken the oppressors to task (Eccl. 3:16, 17) and put them in mind of the judgment to come, to be a curb to their insolence; now here he observes the oppressed. This he did, no doubt, as a prince, to do them justice and avenge them of their adversaries, for he both feared God and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:2

Wherefore I praised the dead, which are already dead ,.... Truly and properly so; not in a figurative sense, as dead sinners, men dead in trespasses and sins; nor carnal professors, that have a name to live, and are dead; nor in a civil sense, such as are in calamity and distress, as the Jews in captivity, or in any affliction, which is sometimes called death: but such who are dead in a literal and natural sense, really and thoroughly dead; not who may and will certainly die, but who are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:3

Yea, better is he than both they which hath not yet been ,.... That is, an unborn person; who is preferred both to the dead that have seen oppression, and to the living that are under it; see Job 3:10 . This supposes a person to be that never was, a mere nonentity; and the judgment made is according to sense, and regards the dead purely as such, and so as free from evils and sorrows, without any respect to their future state and condition; for otherwise an unborn person is not happier... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:2

Wherefore I praised the dead - I considered those happy who had escaped from the pilgrimage of life to the place where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:3

Which hath not yet been - Better never to have been born into the world, than to have seen and suffered so many miseries. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

First of all, he adduces the oppression of man by his fellow-man. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

Section 5. Koheleth proceeds to give further illustrations of man ' s inability to be the architect of his own happiness . There are many things which interrupt or destroy it. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:2

In view of these patent wrongs Koheleth loses all enjoyment of life. Wherefore (and) I praised the dead which are already dead ; or, who died long ago , and thus have escaped the miseries which they would have had to endure. It must, indeed, have been a bitter experience which elicited such an avowal. To die and be forgotten an Oriental would look upon as the most calamitous of destinies. More than the living which are yet alive. For these have before them the prospect of a long... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:3

Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been. Thus we have Job's passionate appeal ( Job 3:11 ), "Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came forth," etc.? And in the Greek poets the sentiment of the text is re-echoed. Thus Theognis, 'Paroen.,' 425— πάντων μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστον ΄ηδ ἐσιδεῖν αὐγὰς ὀξέος ἠελίου φύντα δ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας ἀΐ́δαο περῆσαι καὶ κεῖσθαι πολλὴν γῆν ἐπαμησάμενον ... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 4:2-3

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3. Wherefore I praised the dead, &c. I judged them less miserable. For this is certain, that setting aside the future life, which Solomon doth not meddle with in the present debate, and considering the uncertainty, and vanity, and manifold calamities of the present life, a wise man would not account it worth his while to live. Yea, better is he than both they “Much more desirable than either of these is it not to have come into the world at all; and so to have had no... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:3

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 4:2-3

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