Verse 4
THE WORTHLESSNESS OF LABOR
"Then I saw all labor, and every skillful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is a vanity and a striving after wind. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. Better is a handful with quietness, than two handfuls and striving after wind."
"For this a man is envied of his neighbor" (Ecclesiastes 4:4). "Some understand the meaning of this verse as a description of work which is the effect of rivalry with a neighbor."[3] This rendition carries that implication: "I saw that all a man's toil and skill is expended through the desire to surpass his neighbor; this, too, is an empty thing and a clutching at the wind."[4]
In this paragraph the author returns to the question that he asked in Ecclesiastes 1:3, "What does man have to show for all his trouble"? In all such statements as this, Solomon's viewpoint is centered absolutely upon the present world, taking into account no thought whatever of God.
Waddey's comment on this paragraph: "In a godless world, sinners envy and resent another's success, rather than rejoicing in it; and in contrast he mentions the lazy fool who, rather than work, `foldeth his hands together' in rest, and `eateth his own flesh,' he consumes his inheritance."[5] Another view of the fool mentioned here is that he represents the envious man. "The envious man is here exhibited in the attitude of the sluggard (Proverbs 6:10)."[6] In this understanding of it, the fool's eating his own flesh would mean the same as the common saying that, "He was eating his heart out with envy."
"Better is a handful with quietness" (Ecclesiastes 4:6). Here again we find thoughts that are identifiable with Solomon, as in Proverbs 15:16-17; 17:1 and in Proverbs 16:8:
ANOTHER WORD ON THE WORTHLESSNESS OF LABOR
"These two paragraphs on labor view it from different perspectives; first, from the perspective of envy, and secondly, from the perspective of solitariness."[7] Also in this second paragraph, a number of illustrations are given to illuminate the real point.
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