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А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1. Печальные явления в жизни людей. 2–3. Притеснения. 4–6. Зависть и беспокойство. 7–12. Одиночество и скупость. 13–16. Непрочность человеческой привязанности. 17. Поведение богобоязненного человека.

В предшествующих главах, доказывая суетность человеческой жизни, Екклезиаст исходил, главным образом, из общих оснований. Теперь он подтверждает свою мысль на частных фактах, делающих счастье человека неустойчивым, временным, случайным.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
Solomon, having shown the vanity of this world in the temptation which those in power feel to oppress and trample upon their subjects, here further shows, I. The temptation which the oppressed feel to discontent and impatience, ver. 1-3. II. The temptation which those that love their case feel to take their case and neglect business, for fear of being envied, ver. 4-6. III. The folly of hoarding up abundance of worldly wealth, ver. 7, 8. IV. A remedy against that folly, in being made sensible of the benefit of society and mutual assistance, ver. 9-12. V. The mutability even of royal dignity, not only through the folly of the prince himself (ver. 13, 14), but through the fickleness of the people, let the prince be ever so discreet, ver. 15, 16. It is not the prerogative even of kings themselves to be exempted from the vanity and vexation that attend these things; let none else then expect it.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
The vanity of life is increased by oppression, Ecc 4:1-3; by envy, Ecc 4:4; by idleness, Ecc 4:5. The misery of a solitary life, and the advantages of society, Ecc 4:6-12. A poor and wise child; better than an old and foolish king, Ecc 4:13. The uncertainty of popular favor, Ecc 4:14-16.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:0: Having arrived Ecc 3:22 at a partial answer to his question Ecc 1:3; namely, that there is positive good (a portion) in that satisfaction which is found in working, Solomon now turns to the case of such happiness being interrupted and reduced to vanity by various contingencies - by oppression Ecc 4:1-3; by envy Ecc 4:4-6; by loneliness Ecc 4:7-12; and by decay of working power Ecc 4:13-16. The first two instances seem taken from the lower ranks of life, and the last two derived from the higher ranks of life.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
Ecc 4:1, Vanity is increased unto men by oppression; Ecc 4:4, by envy; Ecc 4:5, by idleness; Ecc 4:7, by covetousness; Ecc 4:9, by solitariness; Ecc 4:13, by wilfulness.
John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 4
In this chapter the wise man reassumes the consideration of the case of the abuse of power, to show that there is no happiness in this world, in grandeur and authority enjoyed; since, as he had observed before, on the one hand, the oppressor shall be judged and condemned at the great day of account; so, on the other hand, the oppressed have their lives made so uncomfortable, that the dead are preferred unto them, and unborn persons to them both, Eccles 4:1; Another vanity he observes, that whereas men expect to be happy by their diligence and industry, this brings upon them the envy of others, Eccles 4:4; hence some, on the other hand, place their happiness in sloth and ease, which is another vanity, Eccles 4:5; and others again in covetousness; who are described by their unsocial life, toilsome labour, unsatisfied desires, and withholding good things from themselves, Eccles 4:7; upon which some things are said, to show the benefits of a social life, Eccles 4:9. And the chapter is concluded with exposing the vanity of the highest instance of worldly power and grandeur, royal dignity, through the folly of a king; the effects of which are mentioned, Eccles 4:13; and through the fickleness of the people, who are soon weary of a prince on the throne, and court his successor, Eccles 4:15
4:14:1: Դարձայ եւ տեսի ես զամենայն զրպարտութիւնս որ լինին ընդ արեգակամբ, եւ ահա արտասուք զրպարտելոցն. եւ ո՛չ ոք էր որ մխիթարէր զնոսա. եւ ՚ի ձեռս զրպարտչաց նոցա բռնութիւնք[8492]։ [8492] Ոմանք. Եւ դարձեալ տեսի միանգամայն զամենայն... որ լինէին ընդ արե՛՛։
1 Ես դարձայ ու տեսայ այն բոլոր զրկանքները, որ լինում են արեգակի ներքոյ. եւ ահա զրկուածներն արցունքների մէջ են, եւ ոչ ոք չկար, որ մխիթարէր նրանց, եւ ուժը նրանց զրկողների ձեռքին էր:
4 Ես դարձայ ու տեսայ Արեւուն տակ եղած բոլոր զրկանքները։Զրկուածներուն աչքը արցունք կար, Բայց անոնք մխիթարող չունէին. Անոնց զրկանք ընողներուն ձեռքը ոյժ կար, Բայց անոնց մխիթարութիւն տուող չկար։
Դարձայ եւ տեսի ես զամենայն [33]զրպարտութիւնս որ լինին ընդ արեգակամբ, եւ ահա արտասուք [34]զրպարտելոցն, եւ ոչ ոք էր որ մխիթարէր զնոսա. եւ ի ձեռս [35]զրպարտչաց նոցա բռնութիւնք:

4:1: Դարձայ եւ տեսի ես զամենայն զրպարտութիւնս որ լինին ընդ արեգակամբ, եւ ահա արտասուք զրպարտելոցն. եւ ո՛չ ոք էր որ մխիթարէր զնոսա. եւ ՚ի ձեռս զրպարտչաց նոցա բռնութիւնք[8492]։
[8492] Ոմանք. Եւ դարձեալ տեսի միանգամայն զամենայն... որ լինէին ընդ արե՛՛։
1 Ես դարձայ ու տեսայ այն բոլոր զրկանքները, որ լինում են արեգակի ներքոյ. եւ ահա զրկուածներն արցունքների մէջ են, եւ ոչ ոք չկար, որ մխիթարէր նրանց, եւ ուժը նրանց զրկողների ձեռքին էր:
4 Ես դարձայ ու տեսայ Արեւուն տակ եղած բոլոր զրկանքները։Զրկուածներուն աչքը արցունք կար, Բայց անոնք մխիթարող չունէին. Անոնց զրկանք ընողներուն ձեռքը ոյժ կար, Բայց անոնց մխիթարութիւն տուող չկար։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:14:1 И обратился я и увидел всякие угнетения, какие делаются под солнцем: и вот слезы угнетенных, а утешителя у них нет; и в руке угнетающих их сила, а утешителя у них нет.
4:1 καὶ και and; even ἐπέστρεψα επιστρεφω turn around; return ἐγὼ εγω I καὶ και and; even εἶδον οραω view; see σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] πάσας πας all; every τὰς ο the συκοφαντίας συκοφαντια the γινομένας γινομαι happen; become ὑπὸ υπο under; by τὸν ο the ἥλιον ηλιος sun καὶ και and; even ἰδοὺ ιδου see!; here I am δάκρυον δακρυ tear τῶν ο the συκοφαντουμένων συκοφαντεω inform against; extort καὶ και and; even οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him παρακαλῶν παρακαλεω counsel; appeal to καὶ και and; even ἀπὸ απο from; away χειρὸς χειρ hand συκοφαντούντων συκοφαντεω inform against; extort αὐτοὺς αυτος he; him ἰσχύς ισχυς force καὶ και and; even οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him παρακαλῶν παρακαλεω counsel; appeal to
4:1 וְ wᵊ וְ and שַׁ֣בְתִּֽי šˈavtˈî שׁוב return אֲנִ֗י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i וָ wā וְ and אֶרְאֶה֙ ʔerʔˌeh ראה see אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole הָ֣ hˈā הַ the עֲשֻׁקִ֔ים ʕᵃšuqˈîm עֲשׁוּקִים oppression אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative] נַעֲשִׂ֖ים naʕᵃśˌîm עשׂה make תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part הַ ha הַ the שָּׁ֑מֶשׁ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun וְ wᵊ וְ and הִנֵּ֣ה׀ hinnˈē הִנֵּה behold דִּמְעַ֣ת dimʕˈaṯ דִּמְעָה tear הָ hā הַ the עֲשֻׁקִ֗ים ʕᵃšuqˈîm עשׁק oppress וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֤ין ʔˈên אַיִן [NEG] לָהֶם֙ lāhˌem לְ to מְנַחֵ֔ם mᵊnaḥˈēm נחם repent, console וּ û וְ and מִ mi מִן from יַּ֤ד yyˈaḏ יָד hand עֹֽשְׁקֵיהֶם֙ ʕˈōšᵊqêhem עשׁק oppress כֹּ֔חַ kˈōₐḥ כֹּחַ strength וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG] לָהֶ֖ם lāhˌem לְ to מְנַחֵֽם׃ mᵊnaḥˈēm נחם repent, console
4:1. verti me ad alia et vidi calumnias quae sub sole geruntur et lacrimas innocentum et consolatorem neminem nec posse resistere eorum violentiae cunctorum auxilio destitutosI turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any.
1. Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.
4:1. I turned myself to other things, and I saw the false accusations which are carried out under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and that there was no one to console them; and that they were not able to withstand their violence, being destitute of all help.
4:1. So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter:

4:1 И обратился я и увидел всякие угнетения, какие делаются под солнцем: и вот слезы угнетенных, а утешителя у них нет; и в руке угнетающих их сила, а утешителя у них нет.
4:1
καὶ και and; even
ἐπέστρεψα επιστρεφω turn around; return
ἐγὼ εγω I
καὶ και and; even
εἶδον οραω view; see
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
πάσας πας all; every
τὰς ο the
συκοφαντίας συκοφαντια the
γινομένας γινομαι happen; become
ὑπὸ υπο under; by
τὸν ο the
ἥλιον ηλιος sun
καὶ και and; even
ἰδοὺ ιδου see!; here I am
δάκρυον δακρυ tear
τῶν ο the
συκοφαντουμένων συκοφαντεω inform against; extort
καὶ και and; even
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him
παρακαλῶν παρακαλεω counsel; appeal to
καὶ και and; even
ἀπὸ απο from; away
χειρὸς χειρ hand
συκοφαντούντων συκοφαντεω inform against; extort
αὐτοὺς αυτος he; him
ἰσχύς ισχυς force
καὶ και and; even
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him
παρακαλῶν παρακαλεω counsel; appeal to
4:1
וְ wᵊ וְ and
שַׁ֣בְתִּֽי šˈavtˈî שׁוב return
אֲנִ֗י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i
וָ וְ and
אֶרְאֶה֙ ʔerʔˌeh ראה see
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole
הָ֣ hˈā הַ the
עֲשֻׁקִ֔ים ʕᵃšuqˈîm עֲשׁוּקִים oppression
אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
נַעֲשִׂ֖ים naʕᵃśˌîm עשׂה make
תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part
הַ ha הַ the
שָּׁ֑מֶשׁ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
וְ wᵊ וְ and
הִנֵּ֣ה׀ hinnˈē הִנֵּה behold
דִּמְעַ֣ת dimʕˈaṯ דִּמְעָה tear
הָ הַ the
עֲשֻׁקִ֗ים ʕᵃšuqˈîm עשׁק oppress
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֤ין ʔˈên אַיִן [NEG]
לָהֶם֙ lāhˌem לְ to
מְנַחֵ֔ם mᵊnaḥˈēm נחם repent, console
וּ û וְ and
מִ mi מִן from
יַּ֤ד yyˈaḏ יָד hand
עֹֽשְׁקֵיהֶם֙ ʕˈōšᵊqêhem עשׁק oppress
כֹּ֔חַ kˈōₐḥ כֹּחַ strength
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG]
לָהֶ֖ם lāhˌem לְ to
מְנַחֵֽם׃ mᵊnaḥˈēm נחם repent, console
4:1. verti me ad alia et vidi calumnias quae sub sole geruntur et lacrimas innocentum et consolatorem neminem nec posse resistere eorum violentiae cunctorum auxilio destitutos
I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any.
4:1. I turned myself to other things, and I saw the false accusations which are carried out under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and that there was no one to console them; and that they were not able to withstand their violence, being destitute of all help.
4:1. So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
1-3: Насилие, угнетение сильных и богатых над слабыми и бедными до такой степени проникли во все общество и заразили весь общественный строй, что нравственно чуткий и впечатлительный Екклезиаст почувствовал отвращение к жизни и счел мертвых более счастливыми, чем живых, и еще более счастливыми тех, кто никогда не существовал и не был свидетелем злых дел на земле. Екклезиаст, конечно, не возводит в принцип превосходство небытия над бытием, но, подавленный созерцанием нравственного зла, изливает лишь свои чувства глубокого негодования и отвращения, подобно Иову (3:10–13) и Иеремии (20:18). В другом месте, спокойно рассуждая, он говорит, напротив, что лучше псу живому, чем мертвому льву (9:4).
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. 3 Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Solomon had a large soul (1 Kings iv. 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 (ch. iii. 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 regarded men; but here he does it as a preacher, and shows,
I. The troubles of their condition (v. 1); of these he speaks very feelingly and with compassion. It grieved him, 1. To see might prevailing against right, to see so much oppression done under the sun, to see servants, and labourers, and poor workmen, oppressed by their masters, who take advantage of their necessity to impose what terms they please upon them, debtors oppressed by cruel creditors and creditors too by fraudulent debtors, tenants oppressed by hard landlords and orphans by treacherous guardians, and, worst of all, subjects oppressed by arbitrary princes and unjust judges. Such oppressions are done under the sun; above the sun righteousness reigns for ever. Wise men will consider these oppressions, and contrive to do something for the relief of those that are oppressed. Blessed is he that considers the poor. 2. To see how those that were wronged laid to heart the wrongs that were done them. He beheld the tears of such as were oppressed, and perhaps could not forbear weeping with them. The world is a place of weepers; look which way we will, we have a melancholy scene presented to us, the tears of those that are oppressed with one trouble or other. They find it is to no purpose to complain, and therefore mourn in secret (as Job, ch. xvi. 20; xxx. 28); but Blessed are those that mourn. 3. To see how unable they were to help themselves: On the side of their oppressors there was power, when they had done wrong, to stand to it and make good what they had done, so that the poor were borne down with a strong hand and had no way to obtain redress. It is sad to see power misplaced, and that which was given men to enable them to do good perverted to support them in doing wrong. 4. To see how they and their calamities were slighted by all about them. They wept and needed comfort, but there was none to do that friendly office: They had no comforter; their oppressors were powerful and threatening, and therefore they had no comforter; those that should have comforted them durst not, for fear of displeasing the oppressors and being made their companions for offering to be their comforters. It is sad to see so little humanity among men.
II. The temptations of their condition. Being thus hardly used, they are tempted to hate and despise life, and to envy those that are dead and in their graves, and to wish they had never been born (v. 2, 3); and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it serves to prove that all is vanity and vexation, since life itself is often so; and if we disregard it, in comparison with the favour and fruition of God (as St. Paul, Acts xx. 24, Phil. i. 23), it is our praise, but, if (as here) only for the sake of the miseries that attend it, it is our infirmity, and we judge therein after the flesh, as Job and Elijah did. 1. He here thinks those happy who have ended this miserable life, have done their part and quitted the stage; "I praised the dead that are already dead, slain outright, or that had a speedy passage through the world, made a short cut over the ocean of life, dead already, before they had well begun to live; I was pleased with their lot, and, had it been in their own choice, should have praised their wisdom for but looking into the world and then retiring, as not liking it. I concluded that it is better with them than with the living that are yet alive and that is all, dragging the long and heavy chain of life, and wearing out its tedious minutes." This may be compared not with Job iii. 20, 21, but with Rev. xiv. 13, where, in times of persecution (and such Solomon is here describing), it is not the passion of man, but the Spirit of God, that says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Note, The condition of the saints that are dead, and gone to rest with God, is upon many accounts better and more desirable than the condition of living saints that are yet continued in their work and warfare. 2. He thinks those happy who never began this miserable life; nay, they are happiest of all: He that has not been is happier than both they. Better never to have been born than be born to see the evil work that is done under the sun, to see so much wickedness committed, so much wrong done, and not only to be in no capacity to mend the matter, but to suffer ill for doing well. A good man, how calamitous a condition soever he is in in this world, cannot have cause to wish he had never been born, since he is glorifying the Lord even in the fires, and will be happy at last, for ever happy. Nor ought any to wish so while they are alive, for while there is life there is hope; a man is never undone till he is in hell.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:1: Considered all the oppressions - עשקים ashukim signifies any kind of injury which a man can receive in his person, his property, or his good fame.
On the side of their oppressors there was power - And, therefore, neither protection nor comfort for the oppressed.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:1: So I returned, and considered - Rather, And I returned and saw. He turns to look upon other phenomena, and to test his pRev_ious conclusion by them.
Oppressed - See the introduction to Ecclesiastes.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:1: I returned: Job 6:29; Mal 3:18
and considered: Ecc 3:16, Ecc 5:8, Ecc 7:7; Exo 1:13, Exo 1:14, Exo 1:16, Exo 1:22, Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24, Exo 5:16-19; Deu 28:33, Deu 28:48; Jdg 4:3, Jdg 10:7, Jdg 10:8; Neh 5:1-5; Job 24:7-12; Psa 10:9, Psa 10:10; Pro 28:3, Pro 28:15, Pro 28:16; Isa 5:7, Isa 51:23, Isa 59:7, Isa 59:13-15; Mal 3:5
the tears: Psa 42:3, Psa 42:9, Psa 80:5, Psa 102:8, Psa 102:9; Mal 2:13; Jam 5:4
they had: Job 16:4, Job 19:21, Job 19:22; Psa 69:20, Psa 142:4; Pro 19:7; Lam 1:2, Lam 1:9; Mat 26:56; Ti2 4:16, Ti2 4:17
side: Heb. hand
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:1
"And again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold there the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors goeth forth violence; and they have no comforter." Incorrectly Hahn: And anew I saw, - the observation is different from that of Eccles 3:16, though cognate. Thus: And again I saw, - the expression follows the syntactic scheme of Gen 26:18; regarding the fut. consec. brought into view here and at Eccles 4:7. The second העשׁ is part. pass.; the first, as at Job 35:9, and also at Amos 3:9, is abstract (i.e., bringing the many separate instances under one general idea) pluraletantum (cf. פּדוּיי, redemti, Is 35:10; and redemtio, pretium redemtionis, Num 3:46); the plur. נע אשׁר need not appear strange, since even חיּים is connected with the plur. of the pred., e.g., Ps 31:11; Ps 88:4. דּמעת has, as at Is 25:8 (cf. Rev_ 21:4, πᾶν δάκρυον), a collective sense. The expression כּח ... וּמיּד is singular. According to the most natural impression, it seems to signify: "and from the hand of their oppressors no power of deliverance" (carrying forward אין); but the parallelism of the palindromically constructed verse (as at Eccles 1:6; Eccles 2:10; Eccles 3:16) excludes this meaning. Thus כּח is here once-nowhere else-used, like the Greek βία, in the sense of violence; Luzzatto prefers the reading וּביד, by which the expression would be in conformity with the linguistic usage; but also מיד is explained: the force which they have in their hands is, in going forth from their hands, thought of as abused, and, as taking the form of שׁד or חזקה. In view of this sorrow which men bring upon their fellow-men, life for Koheleth lost all its worth and attraction.
Geneva 1599
4:1 So (a) I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power; but they had no comforter.
(a) He makes here another discourse with himself concerning the tyranny of them that oppressed the poor.
John Gill
4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun,.... The wise man, according to Aben Ezra, returned from the thought, which he had expressed in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that it was good for a man to rejoice in his works, and called it in; since he could not rejoice, when he considered the oppression and violence that were in the world; but it does not appear that he did call it in, for he afterwards repeats it: or rather he returns to his former subject, the abuse of power and authority, mentioned Eccles 3:16; and from whence he had digressed a little by the above observation; and takes a review of all kinds of oppressions which are done, and of all sorts of "oppressed" (x) ones, as some render it, which become so, under the sun; subjects by their prince; the stranger, widow, and fatherless, by unjust judges; the poor by the rich; servants and labourers by their masters; and the like. Moreover, he saw by the Holy Ghost, as Jarchi paraphrases it, all oppressions by a spirit of prophecy; he foresaw all the oppressions that would be done under the sun; as all the injuries done to the people of Israel in their several captivities; so to the church of Christ in Gospel times; all the persecutions of Rome Pagan, and also of Rome Papal; all that has or will be done by antichrist, the man of the earth, who before long will oppress no more, Ps 10:18; the Targum restrains these oppressions to those which are done to the righteous in this world: and it is well observed by the wise man, that they are such as are under the sun, for there are none above it, nor any beyond the grave, Job 3:17;
and behold the tears of such as were oppressed; which their eyes poured out, and which ran down their cheeks, and were all they could do, having no power to help themselves: it is in the singular number, "and behold the tear" (y); as if it was one continued stream of tears, which, like a torrent, flowed from them; or as if they had so exhausted the source of nature by weeping, that the fountain of tears was dried up, and scarce another could drop; or it was as much as could be, that another should drop from them: and this the wise man could not well behold, without weeping himself; it being the property of a good man to weep with them that weep, especially with good men oppressed;
and they had no comforter; to speak a comfortable word to them; not so much as to do that which would be some alleviation of their sorrow, much less to help them, no human comforter; and this is a very deplorable condition, Lam 1:2; indeed, when this is the case, good men under their oppressions have a divine Comforter; God comforts them under all their tribulations; one of the names of the Messiah is "the Consolation of Israel", Lk 2:25; and the Spirit of God is "another Comforter", Jn 14:16; and such are well off, when all other comforters are miserable ones, or other men have none;
and on the side of their oppressors there was power; to crush them and keep them under, or to hinder others from helping or comforting them: or there was no "power to deliver them out of the hand of their oppressors" (z); so some render and supply the words; with which sense agrees the Targum,
"and there is none to redeem them out of the hand of their oppressors, by strength of hand and by power.''
Tit may be rendered, "out of the hand of their oppressors comes power", or violence; such as the oppressed are not able to withstand; so the Arabic version;
but they had no comforter: which is repeated, not so much for confirmation, as to excite attention and pity, and to express the affliction of the oppressed, and the cruelty of others; and this following on the other clause, leads to observe, that the power of the oppressor is what hinders and deters others from comforting. Jarchi interprets this whole verse of the damned in hell, punished for their evil works, weeping for their souls oppressed by the destroying angels; and so, he says, it is, explained in an ancient book of theirs, called Siphri.
(x) "oppressos", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Drusius, Schmidt, Rambachius, so Broughton; "fraudatos", Cocceius. (y) "lachryma", Montanus, Tigurine version, Cocceius, Rambachius. (z) "et quia deest facultas se vindicandi e manu opprimentium ipsos", Tigurine version; "aut evadendi e manu opprimentium se virtus", Junius & Tremellius; "nec vires ad evadendum a manu opprimentium ipsos", Piscator.
John Wesley
4:1 I returned - I considered again. Oppressions - Whether by princes, magistrates, or other potent persons. No comforter - None afforded them pity or succour. But they, &c. - No comfort therein.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:1 (Ecc. 4:1-16)
returned--namely, to the thought set forth (Eccles 3:16; Job 35:9).
power--MAURER, not so well, "violence."
no comforter--twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort (Is 53:7).
4:24:2: Եւ գովեցի՛ ես զամենայն մեռեալսն որ յառաջագոյն մեռան. քան զկենդանիսն՝ որ ցա՛յժմ կենդանի իցեն[8493]։ [8493] Ոմանք. Եւ գովեցի առ հասարակ զմեռեալսն... որ կենդանի են ինքեանք մինչեւ ցայժմ։
2 Եւ ես երանի տուի բոլոր նրանց, որ արդէն մահացել են, քան կենդանի մարդկանց, որ ապրում են մինչեւ այժմ:
2 Ես խորհեցայ թէ՝ մեռածները, արդէն մեռածները, Հիմա ապրողներէն աւելի բաղդաւոր են։
Եւ գովեցի ես զամենայն մեռեալսն որք յառաջագոյն մեռան, քան զկենդանիսն` որ ցայժմ կենդանի իցեն:

4:2: Եւ գովեցի՛ ես զամենայն մեռեալսն որ յառաջագոյն մեռան. քան զկենդանիսն՝ որ ցա՛յժմ կենդանի իցեն[8493]։
[8493] Ոմանք. Եւ գովեցի առ հասարակ զմեռեալսն... որ կենդանի են ինքեանք մինչեւ ցայժմ։
2 Եւ ես երանի տուի բոլոր նրանց, որ արդէն մահացել են, քան կենդանի մարդկանց, որ ապրում են մինչեւ այժմ:
2 Ես խորհեցայ թէ՝ մեռածները, արդէն մեռածները, Հիմա ապրողներէն աւելի բաղդաւոր են։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:24:2 И ублажил я мертвых, которые давно умерли, более живых, которые живут доселе;
4:2 καὶ και and; even ἐπῄνεσα επαινεω applaud ἐγὼ εγω I σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] τοὺς ο the τεθνηκότας θνησκω die; departed τοὺς ο the ἤδη ηδη already ἀποθανόντας αποθνησκω die ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for τοὺς ο the ζῶντας ζαω live; alive ὅσοι οσος as much as; as many as αὐτοὶ αυτος he; him ζῶσιν ζαω live; alive ἕως εως till; until τοῦ ο the νῦν νυν now; present
4:2 וְ wᵊ וְ and שַׁבֵּ֧חַ šabbˈēₐḥ שׁבח praise אֲנִ֛י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] הַ ha הַ the מֵּתִ֖ים mmēṯˌîm מות die שֶׁ še שַׁ [relative] כְּבָ֣ר kkᵊvˈār כְּבָר long time מֵ֑תוּ mˈēṯû מות die מִן־ min- מִן from הַ֣ hˈa הַ the חַיִּ֔ים ḥayyˈîm חַי alive אֲשֶׁ֛ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] הֵ֥מָּה hˌēmmā הֵמָּה they חַיִּ֖ים ḥayyˌîm חַי alive עֲדֶֽנָה׃ ʕᵃḏˈenā עֲדֶנָה hitherto
4:2. et laudavi magis mortuos quam viventesAnd I praised the dead rather than the living:
2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive;
4:2. And so, I praised the dead more than the living.
4:2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive:

4:2 И ублажил я мертвых, которые давно умерли, более живых, которые живут доселе;
4:2
καὶ και and; even
ἐπῄνεσα επαινεω applaud
ἐγὼ εγω I
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
τοὺς ο the
τεθνηκότας θνησκω die; departed
τοὺς ο the
ἤδη ηδη already
ἀποθανόντας αποθνησκω die
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
τοὺς ο the
ζῶντας ζαω live; alive
ὅσοι οσος as much as; as many as
αὐτοὶ αυτος he; him
ζῶσιν ζαω live; alive
ἕως εως till; until
τοῦ ο the
νῦν νυν now; present
4:2
וְ wᵊ וְ and
שַׁבֵּ֧חַ šabbˈēₐḥ שׁבח praise
אֲנִ֛י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
הַ ha הַ the
מֵּתִ֖ים mmēṯˌîm מות die
שֶׁ še שַׁ [relative]
כְּבָ֣ר kkᵊvˈār כְּבָר long time
מֵ֑תוּ mˈēṯû מות die
מִן־ min- מִן from
הַ֣ hˈa הַ the
חַיִּ֔ים ḥayyˈîm חַי alive
אֲשֶׁ֛ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
הֵ֥מָּה hˌēmmā הֵמָּה they
חַיִּ֖ים ḥayyˌîm חַי alive
עֲדֶֽנָה׃ ʕᵃḏˈenā עֲדֶנָה hitherto
4:2. et laudavi magis mortuos quam viventes
And I praised the dead rather than the living:
4:2. And so, I praised the dead more than the living.
4:2. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
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.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:2: Ecc 2:17, Ecc 9:4-6; Job 3:17-21
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:2
"And I praised the dead who were long ago dead, more than the living who are yet in life; and as happier than both, him who has not yet come into existence, who hath not seen the evil work which is done under the sun." ושׁבּח is hardly thought of as part., like יוּקשׁים = מיקּשׁים, Eccles 9:12; the m of the part. Pih. is not usually thrown away, only מהר, Zeph 1:14, is perhaps = ממהר, but for the same reason as בּית־אל, 4Kings 2:3, is = בּבית - אל. Thus ושׁבּח, like ונתון, Eccles 8:9, is inf. absol., which is used to continue, in an adverbially subord. manner, the preceding finite with the same subject,
(Note: Also 1Chron 5:20, the subject remains virtually the same: et ita quidem ut exaudirentur.)
Gen 41:43; Lev 25:14; Judg 7:19, etc.; cf. especially Ex 8:11 : "Pharaoh saw ... and hardened (והכבּד) his heart;" just in the same manner as ושׁבּח here connects itself with ושׁ אני וא. Only the annexed designation of the subject is peculiar; the syntactic possibility of this connection is established by Ps 15:5, Job 40:2, and, in the second rank, by Gen 17:10; Ezek 5:14. Yet אני might well enough have been omitted had וש אני וא not stood too remote. Regarding עדנה
(Note: Thus punctuated with Segol under Daleth, and ,נ raphatum, in F. H. J. P. Thus also Kimchi in W.B. under עד.)
and עדן. The circumstantial form of the expression: prae vivis qui vivi sunt adhuc, is intentional: they who are as yet living must be witnesses of the manifold and comfortless human miseries.
Tit is a question whether Eccles 4:3 begins a new clause (lxx, Syr., and Venet.) or not. That את, like the Arab. aiya, sometimes serves to give prominence to the subject, cannot be denied (vid., Bttcher, 516, and Mhlau's remarks thereto). The Mishnic expressions היּום אותו, that day, הארץ אותהּ, that land, and the like (Geiger, 14. 2), presuppose a certain preparation in the older language; and we might, with Weiss (Stud. ueber d. Spr. der Mishna, p. 112), interpret אשׁר את in the sense of אותי אשר, is qui. But the accus. rendering is more natural. Certainly the expression טוב שׁבּח, "to praise," "to pronounce happy," is not used; but to טוב it is natural to suppose וקראתי added. Jerome accordingly translates: et feliciorem utroque judicavi qui necdum natus est. הרע has the double Kametz, as is generally the case, except at Ps 54:7 and Mic 7:3.
(Note: Vid., Heidenheim, Meor Enajim, under Deut 17:7.)
Better than he who is born is the unborn, who does not become conscious of the wicked actions that are done under the sun. A similar thought, with many variations in its expression, is found in Greek writers; see regarding these shrill discordances, which run through all the joy of the beauty and splendour of Hellenic life, my Apologetick, p. 116. Buddhism accordingly gives to nirvna the place of the highest good. That we find Koheleth on the same path (cf. Eccles 6:3; Eccles 7:1), has its reason in this, that so long as the central point of man's existence lies in the present life, and this is not viewed as the fore-court of eternity, there is no enduring consolation to lift us above the miseries of this present world.
Geneva 1599
4:2 Wherefore I praised the (b) dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.
(b) Because they are no longer subject to these oppressions.
John Gill
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 dead already and in their graves, and not all these; not the wicked dead, who are in hell, in everlasting torments; but the righteous dead, who are taken away from the evil to come, and are free from all the oppressions of their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world. The Targum is,
"I praised those that lie down or are asleep, who, behold, are now dead;''
a figure by which death is often expressed, both in the Old and New Testament; sleep being, as the poet (a) says, the image of death; and a great likeness there is between them; Homer (b) calls sleep and death twins. The same paraphrase adds,
"and see not the vengeance which comes upon the world after their death;''
see Is 57:1. The wise man did not make panegyrics or encomiums on those persons, but he pronounced them happy; he judged them in his own mind to be so; and to be much
more happy
than the living which are yet alive: that live under the oppression of others; that live in this world in trouble until now, as the Targum; of whom it is as much as it can be said that they are alive; they are just alive, and that is all; they are as it were between life and death. This is generally understood as spoken according to human sense, and the judgment of the flesh, without any regard to the glory and happiness of the future state; that the dead must be preferred to the living, when the quiet of the one, and the misery of the other, are observed; and which sense receives confirmation from Eccles 4:3, otherwise it is a great truth, that the righteous dead, who die in Christ and are with him, are much more happy than living saints; since they are freed from sin; are out of the reach of Satan's temptations; are no more liable to darkness and desertions; are freed from all doubts and fears; cease from all their labours, toil, and trouble; and are delivered from all afflictions, persecutions, and oppressions; which is not the case of living saints: and besides, the joys which they possess, the company they are always in, and the work they are employed about, give them infinitely the preference to all on earth; see Rev_ 14:13.
(a) "Stulte, quid est semnus gelidae nisi mortis imago?" Ovid. Plato in Ciceron. Tuscul. Quaest. l. 1. c. 58. (b) Iliad. 16. v. 672, 682. Vid. Pausan. Laconica, sive l. 3. p. 195.
John Wesley
4:2 I praised - 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.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:2 A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account (Eccles 3:17, Eccles 3:19), to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all (Eccles 7:1). Job (Job 3:12; Job 21:7), David (Ps 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (Jer 12:1), Habakkuk (Hab 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" (Ps 73:17; Hab 2:20; Hab 3:17-18). Then they saw the need of delay, before completely punishing the wicked, to give space for repentance, or else for accumulation of wrath (Rom 2:15); and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation (Ps 92:7-12). Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth.
4:34:3: Եւ քան զնոսա զերկոսին լաւ ա՛յն է որ չեւ՛ եւս իցէ լեալ. որ ո՛չ ետես զամենայն արարածն չար որ արարաւ ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական[8494]։ [8494] Ոմանք. Եւ լաւագոյն քան զնոսա զերկոսեան, որ չեւ եւս է լեալ։
3 Բայց այդ երկուսից էլ աւելի լաւ է նա, որ բնաւ չի եղել եւ չի տեսել այն բոլոր չար գործերը, որ կատարւում են արեգակի ներքոյ:
3 Բայց ան որ մինչեւ հիմա եղած չէ, երկուքէն ալ՝ աւելի բաղդաւոր է, Վասն զի անիկա արեւուն տակ եղած չարութիւնը չտեսաւ։
Եւ քան զնոսա զերկոսին լաւ այն է` որ չեւ եւս իցէ լեալ, որ ոչ ետես զամենայն արարածն չար` որ արարաւ ի ներքոյ արեգական:

4:3: Եւ քան զնոսա զերկոսին լաւ ա՛յն է որ չեւ՛ եւս իցէ լեալ. որ ո՛չ ետես զամենայն արարածն չար որ արարաւ ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական[8494]։
[8494] Ոմանք. Եւ լաւագոյն քան զնոսա զերկոսեան, որ չեւ եւս է լեալ։
3 Բայց այդ երկուսից էլ աւելի լաւ է նա, որ բնաւ չի եղել եւ չի տեսել այն բոլոր չար գործերը, որ կատարւում են արեգակի ներքոյ:
3 Բայց ան որ մինչեւ հիմա եղած չէ, երկուքէն ալ՝ աւելի բաղդաւոր է, Վասն զի անիկա արեւուն տակ եղած չարութիւնը չտեսաւ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:34:3 а блаженнее их обоих тот, кто еще не существовал, кто не видал злых дел, какие делаются под солнцем.
4:3 καὶ και and; even ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for τοὺς ο the δύο δυο two τούτους ουτος this; he ὅστις οστις who; that οὔπω ουπω not yet ἐγένετο γινομαι happen; become ὃς ος who; what οὐκ ου not εἶδεν οραω view; see σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] τὸ ο the ποίημα ποιημα product; poem τὸ ο the πονηρὸν πονηρος harmful; malignant τὸ ο the πεποιημένον ποιεω do; make ὑπὸ υπο under; by τὸν ο the ἥλιον ηλιος sun
4:3 וְ wᵊ וְ and טֹוב֙ ṭôv טֹוב good מִ mi מִן from שְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם ššᵊnêhˈem שְׁנַיִם two אֵ֥ת ʔˌēṯ אֵת [object marker] אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative] עֲדֶ֖ן ʕᵃḏˌen עֲדֶן hitherto לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not הָיָ֑ה hāyˈā היה be אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not רָאָה֙ rāʔˌā ראה see אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] הַ ha הַ the מַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה mmaʕᵃśˈeh מַעֲשֶׂה deed הָ hā הַ the רָ֔ע rˈāʕ רַע evil אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative] נַעֲשָׂ֖ה naʕᵃśˌā עשׂה make תַּ֥חַת tˌaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part הַ ha הַ the שָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
4:3. et feliciorem utroque iudicavi qui necdum natus est nec vidit mala quae sub sole fiuntAnd I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun.
3. yea, better than them both him which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
4:3. And happier than both of these, I judged him to be, who has not yet been born, and who has not yet seen the evils which are done under the sun.
4:3. Yea, better [is he] than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Yea, better [is he] than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun:

4:3 а блаженнее их обоих тот, кто еще не существовал, кто не видал злых дел, какие делаются под солнцем.
4:3
καὶ και and; even
ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
τοὺς ο the
δύο δυο two
τούτους ουτος this; he
ὅστις οστις who; that
οὔπω ουπω not yet
ἐγένετο γινομαι happen; become
ὃς ος who; what
οὐκ ου not
εἶδεν οραω view; see
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
τὸ ο the
ποίημα ποιημα product; poem
τὸ ο the
πονηρὸν πονηρος harmful; malignant
τὸ ο the
πεποιημένον ποιεω do; make
ὑπὸ υπο under; by
τὸν ο the
ἥλιον ηλιος sun
4:3
וְ wᵊ וְ and
טֹוב֙ ṭôv טֹוב good
מִ mi מִן from
שְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם ššᵊnêhˈem שְׁנַיִם two
אֵ֥ת ʔˌēṯ אֵת [object marker]
אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative]
עֲדֶ֖ן ʕᵃḏˌen עֲדֶן hitherto
לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not
הָיָ֑ה hāyˈā היה be
אֲשֶׁ֤ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
לֹֽא־ lˈō- לֹא not
רָאָה֙ rāʔˌā ראה see
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
הַ ha הַ the
מַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה mmaʕᵃśˈeh מַעֲשֶׂה deed
הָ הַ the
רָ֔ע rˈāʕ רַע evil
אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
נַעֲשָׂ֖ה naʕᵃśˌā עשׂה make
תַּ֥חַת tˌaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part
הַ ha הַ the
שָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
4:3. et feliciorem utroque iudicavi qui necdum natus est nec vidit mala quae sub sole fiunt
And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun.
4:3. And happier than both of these, I judged him to be, who has not yet been born, and who has not yet seen the evils which are done under the sun.
4:3. Yea, better [is he] than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ tr▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
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.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:3: better: Ecc 6:3-5; Job 3:10-16, Job 10:18, Job 10:19; Jer 20:17, Jer 20:18; Mat 24:19; Luk 23:29
who: Ecc 1:14, Ecc 2:17; Psa 55:6-11; Jer 9:2, Jer 9:3
Geneva 1599
4:3 Yea, (c) better [is he] than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
(c) He speaks according to the judgment of the flesh which cannot abide to feel or see troubles.
John Gill
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 than the dead that die in Christ, and live with him: and it can only be true of those that perish, of whom indeed it might be said, that it would have been better for them if they had never been born, according to those words of Christ, Mt 26:24; and is opposed to the maxim of some philosophers, that a miserable being is better than none at all. The Jews, from this passage, endeavour to prove the pre-existence of human souls, and suppose that such an one is here meant, which, though created, was not yet sent into this world in a body, and so had never seen evil and sorrow; and this way some Christian writers have gone. It has been interpreted also of the Messiah, who in Solomon's time had not yet been a man, and never known sorrow, which he was to do, and has, and so more happy than the dead or living. But these are senses that will not bear; the first is best; and the design is to show the great unhappiness of mortals, that even a nonentity is preferred to them;
who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun? the evil works of oppressors, and the sorrows of the oppressed.
John Wesley
4:3 Better is he - Who was never born. Not seen - Not felt: for as seeing good is put for enjoying it, so seeing evil is put for suffering it.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:3 not seen--nor experienced.
4:44:4: Եւ տեսի ես զամենայն վաստակս, եւ զամենայն չարութիւն արարածոցն. զի նախանձ առն ՚ի մերձաւորէ իւրմէ. սակայն եւ ա՛յն ունայնութիւն է եւ յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ[8495]։ [8495] Ոմանք. Եւ զամենայն արութիւն արարածոյն, զի նոյն ինքն նախա՛նձ։
4 Ես տեսայ նաեւ, որ ամէն վաստակի եւ յաջողութեան համար մարդուս նախանձում է իր մերձաւորը. սակայն սա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ հոգու տանջանք:
4 Ու ես ամէն աշխատութիւն Եւ ամէն յաջող գործ տեսայ, Որոնց համար մարդ իր ընկերին կը նախանձի։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն ու հոգիի տանջանք է։
Եւ տեսի ես զամենայն վաստակս եւ զամենայն [36]արութիւն արարածոյն``. զի նախանձ առն ի մերձաւորէ իւրմէ. սակայն եւ այն ունայնութիւն է եւ [37]յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ:

4:4: Եւ տեսի ես զամենայն վաստակս, եւ զամենայն չարութիւն արարածոցն. զի նախանձ առն ՚ի մերձաւորէ իւրմէ. սակայն եւ ա՛յն ունայնութիւն է եւ յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ[8495]։
[8495] Ոմանք. Եւ զամենայն արութիւն արարածոյն, զի նոյն ինքն նախա՛նձ։
4 Ես տեսայ նաեւ, որ ամէն վաստակի եւ յաջողութեան համար մարդուս նախանձում է իր մերձաւորը. սակայն սա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ հոգու տանջանք:
4 Ու ես ամէն աշխատութիւն Եւ ամէն յաջող գործ տեսայ, Որոնց համար մարդ իր ընկերին կը նախանձի։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն ու հոգիի տանջանք է։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:44:4 Видел я также, что всякий труд и всякий успех в делах производят взаимную между людьми зависть. И это суета и томление духа!
4:4 καὶ και and; even εἶδον οραω view; see ἐγὼ εγω I σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] πάντα πας all; every τὸν ο the μόχθον μοχθος toil καὶ και and; even σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] πᾶσαν πας all; every ἀνδρείαν ανδρειος the ποιήματος ποιημα product; poem ὅτι οτι since; that αὐτὸ αυτος he; him ζῆλος ζηλος zeal; jealousy ἀνδρὸς ανηρ man; husband ἀπὸ απο from; away τοῦ ο the ἑταίρου εταιρος partner αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καί και and; even γε γε in fact τοῦτο ουτος this; he ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality καὶ και and; even προαίρεσις προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:4 וְ wᵊ וְ and רָאִ֨יתִֽי rāʔˌîṯˈî ראה see אֲנִ֜י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole עָמָ֗ל ʕāmˈāl עָמָל labour וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵת֙ ʔˌēṯ אֵת [object marker] כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole כִּשְׁרֹ֣ון kišrˈôn כִּשְׁרֹון advantage הַֽ hˈa הַ the מַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה mmaʕᵃśˈeh מַעֲשֶׂה deed כִּ֛י kˈî כִּי that הִ֥יא hˌî הִיא she קִנְאַת־ qinʔaṯ- קִנְאָה jealousy אִ֖ישׁ ʔˌîš אִישׁ man מֵ mē מִן from רֵעֵ֑הוּ rēʕˈēhû רֵעַ fellow גַּם־ gam- גַּם even זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath וּ û וְ and רְע֥וּת rᵊʕˌûṯ רְעוּת longing רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:4. rursum contemplatus omnes labores hominum et industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi et in hoc ergo vanitas et cura superflua estAgain I considered all the labours of men, and I remarked that their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbour: so in this also there is vanity, and fruitless care.
4. Then I saw all labour and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
4:4. Again, I was contemplating all the labors of men. And I took notice that their endeavors are open to the envy of their neighbor. And so, in this, too, there is emptiness and superfluous anxiety.
4:4. Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit:

4:4 Видел я также, что всякий труд и всякий успех в делах производят взаимную между людьми зависть. И это суета и томление духа!
4:4
καὶ και and; even
εἶδον οραω view; see
ἐγὼ εγω I
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
πάντα πας all; every
τὸν ο the
μόχθον μοχθος toil
καὶ και and; even
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
πᾶσαν πας all; every
ἀνδρείαν ανδρειος the
ποιήματος ποιημα product; poem
ὅτι οτι since; that
αὐτὸ αυτος he; him
ζῆλος ζηλος zeal; jealousy
ἀνδρὸς ανηρ man; husband
ἀπὸ απο from; away
τοῦ ο the
ἑταίρου εταιρος partner
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
τοῦτο ουτος this; he
ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality
καὶ και and; even
προαίρεσις προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:4
וְ wᵊ וְ and
רָאִ֨יתִֽי rāʔˌîṯˈî ראה see
אֲנִ֜י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole
עָמָ֗ל ʕāmˈāl עָמָל labour
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵת֙ ʔˌēṯ אֵת [object marker]
כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole
כִּשְׁרֹ֣ון kišrˈôn כִּשְׁרֹון advantage
הַֽ hˈa הַ the
מַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה mmaʕᵃśˈeh מַעֲשֶׂה deed
כִּ֛י kˈî כִּי that
הִ֥יא hˌî הִיא she
קִנְאַת־ qinʔaṯ- קִנְאָה jealousy
אִ֖ישׁ ʔˌîš אִישׁ man
מֵ מִן from
רֵעֵ֑הוּ rēʕˈēhû רֵעַ fellow
גַּם־ gam- גַּם even
זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this
הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath
וּ û וְ and
רְע֥וּת rᵊʕˌûṯ רְעוּת longing
רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:4. rursum contemplatus omnes labores hominum et industrias animadverti patere invidiae proximi et in hoc ergo vanitas et cura superflua est
Again I considered all the labours of men, and I remarked that their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbour: so in this also there is vanity, and fruitless care.
4:4. Again, I was contemplating all the labors of men. And I took notice that their endeavors are open to the envy of their neighbor. And so, in this, too, there is emptiness and superfluous anxiety.
4:4. Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
4-12: Екклезиаст отмечает новую черту в современном ему обществе, разрушающую человеческое благополучие, именно – внутреннее обособление людей, их нравственное разъединение. Человек богат, но он одинок; нет у него «другого», т. е. искреннего друга, ни сына, ни брата. Он не знает, для кого он трудится и лишает себя благ. А, между тем, жизнь вдвоем имеет много преимуществ, так как дает каждому нравственную и материальную поддержку.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6 Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
Here Solomon returns to the observation and consideration of the vanity and vexation of spirit that attend the business of this world, which he had spoken of before, ch. ii. 11.
I. If a man be acute, and dexterous, and successful in his business, he gets the ill-will of his neighbours, v. 4. Though he takes a great deal of pains, and goes through all travail, does not get his estate easily, but it costs him a great deal of hard labour, nor does he get it dishonestly, he wrongs no man, defrauds no man, but by every right work, by applying himself to his own proper business, and managing it by all the rules of equity and fair dealing, yet for this he is envied of his neighbour, and the more for the reputation he has got by his honesty. This shows, 1. What little conscience most men have, that they will bear a grudge to a neighbour, give him an ill word and do him an ill turn, only because he is more ingenious and industrious than themselves, and has more of the blessing of heaven. Cain envied Abel, Esau Jacob, and Saul David, and all for their right works. This is downright diabolism. 2. What little comfort wise and useful men must expect to have in this world. Let them behave themselves ever so cautiously, they cannot escape being envied; and who can stand before envy? Prov. xxvii. 4. Those that excel in virtue will always be an eye-sore to those that exceed in vice, which should not discourage us from any right work, but drive us to expect the praise of it, not from men, but from God, and not to count upon satisfaction and happiness in the creature; for, if right works prove vanity and vexation of spirit, no works under the sun can prove otherwise. But for every right work a man shall be accepted of his God, and then he needs not mind though he be envied of his neighbour, only it may make him love the world the less.
II. If a man be stupid, and dull, and blundering in his business, he does ill for himself (v. 5): The fool that goes about his work as if his hands were muffled and folded together, that does every thing awkwardly, the sluggard (for he is a fool) that loves his ease and folds his hands together to keep them warm, because they refuse to labour, he eats his own flesh, is a cannibal to himself, brings himself into such a poor condition that he has nothing to eat but his own flesh, into such a desperate condition that he is ready to eat his own flesh for vexation. He has a dog's life--hunger and ease. Because he sees active men that thrive in the world envied, he runs into the other extreme; and, lest he should be envied for his right works, he does every thing wrong, and does not deserve to be pitied. Note, Idleness is a sin that is its own punishment. The following words (v. 6), Better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit, may be taken either, 1. As the sluggard's argument for the excuse of himself in his idleness. He folds his hands together, and abuses and misapplies a good truth for his justification, as if, because a little with quietness is better than abundance with strife, therefore a little with idleness is better than abundance with honest labour: thus wise in his own conceit is he, Prov. xxvi. 16. But, 2. I rather take it as Solomon's advice to keep the mean between that travail which will make a man envied and that slothfulness which will make a man eat his own flesh. Let us by honest industry lay hold on the handful, that we may not want necessaries, but not grasp at both the hands full, which will but create us vexation of spirit. Moderate pains and moderate gains will do best. A man may have but a handful of the world, and yet may enjoy it and himself with a great deal of quietness, with content of mind, peace of conscience, and the love and good-will of his neighbours, while many that have both their hands full, have more than heart could wish, have a great deal of travail and vexation with it. Those that cannot live on a little, it is to be feared, would not live as they should if they had ever so much.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:4: For this a man is envied - It is not by injustice and wrong only that men suffer, but through envy also. For if a man act uprightly and properly in the world, he soon becomes the object of his neighbor's envy and calumny too. Therefore the encouragement to do good, to act an upright part, is very little. This constitutes a part of the vain and empty system of human life.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:4: Every right work - Rather, every success in work.
For this ... - i. e., "This successful work makes the worker an object of envy." Some understand the meaning to be, "this work is the effect of the rivalry of man with his neighbor."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:4: every: etc. Heb. all the rightness of work, that this is the envy of man from his neighbour, Gen 4:4-8, Gen 37:2-11; Sa1 18:8, Sa1 18:9, Sa1 18:14-16, Sa1 18:29, Sa1 18:30; Pro 27:4; Mat 27:18; Act 7:9; Jam 4:5; Jo1 3:12
This is: Ecc 4:16, Ecc 1:14, Ecc 2:21, Ecc 2:26, Ecc 6:9, Ecc 6:11; Gen 37:4, Gen 37:11
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:4
"And I saw all the labour and all the skill of business, that it is an envious surpassing of the one by the other: also this is vain and windy effort." The היא refers to this exertion of vigorous effort and skill. The Graec. Venet., by rendering here and at Eccles 2:24 כּשׁרון, by καθαρότης, betrays himself as a Jew. With כּי, quod, that which forms the pred. follows the object. the min in mere'ehu is as in amatz min, Ps 18:18, and the like - the same as the compar.: aemulatio qua unus prae altero eminere studet. All this expenditure of strength and art has covetousness and envy, with which one seeks to surpass another, as its poisoned sting.
Geneva 1599
4:4 Again, I considered all labour, and every (d) right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbour. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.
(d) The more perfect that the work is, the more it is envied by the wicked.
John Gill
4:4 Again I considered all travail, and every right work,.... The pains that men take to do right works. Some apply themselves, with great diligence and industry, to the study of the liberal arts and sciences; and to attain the knowledge of languages; and to writing books, for the improvement of those things, and the good of mankind: and others employ themselves in mechanic arts, and excel in them, and bring their works to great perfection and accuracy; when they might expect to be praised and commended, and have thanks given them by men. But instead thereof, so it is,
that for this a man is envied of his neighbour; who will be sure to find fault with what he has done, speak contemptibly of him and his work, and traduce him among men. This is also true of moral works; which are right, when done from a right principle, from love to God, in faith, and with a view to the glory of God; and which when done, and ever so well done, draw upon a man the envy of the wicked, as may be observed in the case of Cain and Abel, 1Jn 3:12; though some understand this, not passively, of the envy which is brought upon a man, and he endures, for the sake of the good he excels in; but actively, of the spirit of emulation with which he does it; though the work he does, as to the matter of it, is right; yet the manner of doing it, and the spirit with which he does it, are wrong; he does not do it with any good affection to the thing itself, nor with any good design, only from a spirit of emulation to outdo his neighbour: so the Targum paraphrases it,
"this is the emulation that a man emulates his neighbour, to do as he; if he emulates him to do good, the heavenly Word does good to him; but if he emulates him to do evil, the heavenly Word does evil to him;''
and to this sense Jarchi; compare with this, Phil 1:15.
This is also vanity, and vexation of spirit; whether it be understood in the one sense or the other; how dissatisfying and vexatious is it, when a man has taken a great deal of pains to do right works for public good, instead of having thanks and praise, is reproached and calumniated for it? and if he does a right thing, and yet has not right ends and views in it, it stands for nothing; it has only the appearance of good, but is not truly so, and yields no solid peace and comfort.
John Wesley
4:4 Right work - All the worthy designs of virtuous men. Envied - Instead of honour, he meets with envy and obloquy.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:4 right--rather, "prosperous" (see on Eccles 2:21). Prosperity, which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression (Eccles 4:1) and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good.
4:54:5: Անզգամն բուռն եհար զբազկաց իւրոց, եւ եկեր զմարմին իւր։
5 Յիմարը ձեռնածալ նստում եւ ինքն իրեն է ուտում:
5 Անմիտը իր ձեռքերը կը ծալլէ Ու իր միսը կ’ուտէ։
Անզգամն [38]բուռն եհար զբազկաց իւրոց, եւ եկեր`` զմարմինս իւր:

4:5: Անզգամն բուռն եհար զբազկաց իւրոց, եւ եկեր զմարմին իւր։
5 Յիմարը ձեռնածալ նստում եւ ինքն իրեն է ուտում:
5 Անմիտը իր ձեռքերը կը ծալլէ Ու իր միսը կ’ուտէ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:54:5 Глупый {сидит}, сложив свои руки, и съедает плоть свою.
4:5 ὁ ο the ἄφρων αφρων senseless περιέλαβεν περιλαμβανω the χεῖρας χειρ hand αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even ἔφαγεν φαγω swallow; eat τὰς ο the σάρκας σαρξ flesh αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
4:5 הַ ha הַ the כְּסִיל֙ kkᵊsîl כְּסִיל insolent חֹבֵ֣ק ḥōvˈēq חבק embrace אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] יָדָ֔יו yāḏˈāʸw יָד hand וְ wᵊ וְ and אֹכֵ֖ל ʔōḵˌēl אכל eat אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] בְּשָׂרֹֽו׃ bᵊśārˈô בָּשָׂר flesh
4:5. stultus conplicat manus suas et comedit carnes suas dicensThe fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh, saying:
5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
4:5. The foolish man folds his hands together, and he consumes his own flesh, saying:
4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh:

4:5 Глупый {сидит}, сложив свои руки, и съедает плоть свою.
4:5
ο the
ἄφρων αφρων senseless
περιέλαβεν περιλαμβανω the
χεῖρας χειρ hand
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
ἔφαγεν φαγω swallow; eat
τὰς ο the
σάρκας σαρξ flesh
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
4:5
הַ ha הַ the
כְּסִיל֙ kkᵊsîl כְּסִיל insolent
חֹבֵ֣ק ḥōvˈēq חבק embrace
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
יָדָ֔יו yāḏˈāʸw יָד hand
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֹכֵ֖ל ʔōḵˌēl אכל eat
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
בְּשָׂרֹֽו׃ bᵊśārˈô בָּשָׂר flesh
4:5. stultus conplicat manus suas et comedit carnes suas dicens
The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh, saying:
4:5. The foolish man folds his hands together, and he consumes his own flesh, saying:
4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:5: The fool foldeth his hands - After all, without labor and industry no man can get any comfort in life; and he who gives way to idleness is the veriest of fools.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:5: Foldeth his hands - The envious man is here exhibited in the attitude of the sluggard (marginal references).
Eateth his own flesh - i. e., "Destroys himself:" compare a similar expression in Isa 49:26; Psa 27:2; Mic 3:3.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:5: fool: Pro 6:10, Pro 6:11, Pro 12:27, Pro 13:4, Pro 20:4, Pro 24:33, Pro 24:34
eateth: That is, with envy (see Ecc 4:4), though too idle to follow his neighbour's example. Job 13:14; Pro 11:17; Isa 9:20
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:5
There ought certainly to be activity according to our calling; indolence is self-destruction: "The fool foldeth his hands, and eateth his own flesh." He layeth his hands together (Prov 6:10-24:33), - placeth them in his bosom, instead of using them in working, - and thereby he eateth himself up, i.e., bringeth ruin upon himself (Ps 27:2; Mic 3:3; Is 49:26); for instead of nourishing himself by the labour of his hands, he feeds on his own flesh, and thus wasteth away. The emphasis does not lie on the subject (the fool, and only the fool), but on the pred.
Geneva 1599
4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and (e) eateth his own flesh.
(e) For idleness he is compelled to destroy himself.
John Gill
4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together,.... In order to get more sleep, or as unwilling to work; so the Targum adds,
"he folds his hands in summer, and will not labour;''
see Prov 6:10. Some persons, to escape the envy which diligence and industry bring on men, will not work at all, or do any right work, and think to sleep in a whole skin; this is great folly and madness indeed:
and eateth his own flesh; such a man is starved and famished for want of food, so that his flesh is wasted away; or he is so hungry bitten, that he is ready to eat his own flesh; or he hereby brings to ruin his family, his wife, and children, which are his own flesh, Is 58:7. The Targum is,
"in winter he eats all he has, even the covering of the skin of his flesh.''
Some understand this of the envious man, who is a fool, traduces the diligent and industrious, and will not work himself; and not only whose idleness brings want and poverty on him as an armed man, but whose envy eats up his spirit, and is rottenness in his bones, Prov 6:11. Jarchi, out of a book of theirs called Siphri, interprets this of a wicked man in hell, when he sees the righteous in glory, and he himself judged and condemned.
John Wesley
4:5 The fool - Is careless and idle: perceiving that diligence is attended with envy, he runs into the other extreme. Eateth - Wastes his substance, and brings himself to poverty, whereby his very flesh pines away for want of bread.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:5 Still the
fool (the wicked oppressor) is not to be envied even in this life, who "folds his hands together" in idleness (Prov 6:10; Prov 24:33), living on the means he wrongfully wrests from others; for such a one
eateth his own flesh--that is, is a self-tormentor, never satisfied, his spirit preying on itself (Is 9:20; Is 49:26).
4:64:6: Լա՛ւ է բուռն մի հանգստեամբ, քան զլիութիւն երկուց բռանց՝ ջանալով եւ յօժարութեամբ ոգւոյ[8496]։ [8496] Ոմանք. Բարի է լիութիւն բռան միոյ հանգստ՛՛... ջանիւ եւ յօժար՛՛։
6 Լաւ է հանգիստ վաստակել մի բուռ, քան չարչարանքով ու տանջանքով՝ երկու բուռ:
6 Աւելի աղէկ է մէկ լեցուն ձեռք հանգստութեամբ, Քան թէ երկու լեցուն ձեռք, որ աշխատանքով ու հոգիի տանջանքով է։
Լաւ է բուռն մի հանգստեամբ քան զլիութիւն երկուց բռանց` ջանալով եւ [39]յօժարութեամբ ոգւոյ:

4:6: Լա՛ւ է բուռն մի հանգստեամբ, քան զլիութիւն երկուց բռանց՝ ջանալով եւ յօժարութեամբ ոգւոյ[8496]։
[8496] Ոմանք. Բարի է լիութիւն բռան միոյ հանգստ՛՛... ջանիւ եւ յօժար՛՛։
6 Լաւ է հանգիստ վաստակել մի բուռ, քան չարչարանքով ու տանջանքով՝ երկու բուռ:
6 Աւելի աղէկ է մէկ լեցուն ձեռք հանգստութեամբ, Քան թէ երկու լեցուն ձեռք, որ աշխատանքով ու հոգիի տանջանքով է։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:64:6 Лучше горсть с покоем, нежели пригоршни с трудом и томлением духа.
4:6 ἀγαθὸν αγαθος good πλήρωμα πληρωμα fullness; fulfillment δρακὸς δραξ respite; relief ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for πλήρωμα πληρωμα fullness; fulfillment δύο δυο two δρακῶν δραξ toil καὶ και and; even προαιρέσεως προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:6 טֹ֕וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good מְלֹ֥א mᵊlˌō מְלֹא fullness כַ֖ף ḵˌaf כַּף palm נָ֑חַת nˈāḥaṯ נַחַת rest מִ mi מִן from מְּלֹ֥א mmᵊlˌō מְלֹא fullness חָפְנַ֛יִם ḥofnˈayim חֹפֶן hollow עָמָ֖ל ʕāmˌāl עָמָל labour וּ û וְ and רְע֥וּת rᵊʕˌûṯ רְעוּת longing רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:6. melior est pugillus cum requie quam plena utraque manus cum labore et adflictione animiBetter is a handful with rest, than both hands full with labour, and vexation of mind.
6. Better is an handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and striving after wind.
4:6. “A handful with rest is better than both hands filled with labors and with affliction of the soul.”
4:6. Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit.
Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit:

4:6 Лучше горсть с покоем, нежели пригоршни с трудом и томлением духа.
4:6
ἀγαθὸν αγαθος good
πλήρωμα πληρωμα fullness; fulfillment
δρακὸς δραξ respite; relief
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
πλήρωμα πληρωμα fullness; fulfillment
δύο δυο two
δρακῶν δραξ toil
καὶ και and; even
προαιρέσεως προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:6
טֹ֕וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good
מְלֹ֥א mᵊlˌō מְלֹא fullness
כַ֖ף ḵˌaf כַּף palm
נָ֑חַת nˈāḥaṯ נַחַת rest
מִ mi מִן from
מְּלֹ֥א mmᵊlˌō מְלֹא fullness
חָפְנַ֛יִם ḥofnˈayim חֹפֶן hollow
עָמָ֖ל ʕāmˌāl עָמָל labour
וּ û וְ and
רְע֥וּת rᵊʕˌûṯ רְעוּת longing
רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:6. melior est pugillus cum requie quam plena utraque manus cum labore et adflictione animi
Better is a handful with rest, than both hands full with labour, and vexation of mind.
4:6. “A handful with rest is better than both hands filled with labors and with affliction of the soul.”
4:6. Better [is] an handful [with] quietness, than both the hands full [with] travail and vexation of spirit.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:6: Better is a handful with quietness - These may be the words of the slothful man, and spoken in vindication of his idleness; as if he had said, "Every man who labors and amasses property is the object of envy, and is marked by the oppressor as a subject for spoil; better, therefore, to act as I do; gain little, and have little, and enjoy my handful with quietness." Or the words may contain Solomon's reflection on the subject.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:6: Either the fool's sarcasm on his successful but restless neighbor; or the comment of Solomon recommending contentment with a moderate competence. The former meaning seems preferable.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:6: Psa 37:16; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:17, Pro 16:8, Pro 17:1
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:6
The fifth verse stands in a relation of contrast to this which follows: "Better is one hand full of quietness, than both fists full of labour and windy effort." Mendelssohn and others interpret Eccles 4:5 as the objection of the industrious, and Eccles 4:6 as the reply of the slothful. Zckler agrees with Hitz., and lapses into the hypothesis of a dialogue otherwise rejected by him. As everywhere, so also here it preserves the unity of the combination of thoughts. נחת signifies here, as little as it does anywhere else, the rest of sloth; but rest, in contrast to such activity in labour as robs a man of himself, to the hunting after gain and honour which never has enough, to the rivalry which places its goal always higher and higher, and seeks to be before others - it is rest connected with well-being (Eccles 6:5), gentle quietness (Eccles 9:17), resting from self-activity (Is 30:15); cf. the post-bibl. רוּח נחת, satisfaction, contentment, comfort. In a word, nahath has not here the sense of being idle or lazy. The sequence of the thoughts is this: The fool in idleness consumes his own life-strength; but, on the other hand, a little of true rest is better than the labour of windy effort, urged on by rivalry yielding no rest. כּף is the open hollow hand, and חפן (Assyr. ḥupunnu) the hand closed like a ball, the first. "Rest" and "labour and windy effort" are the accusatives of that to which the designation of measure refers (Gesen. 118. 3); the accus. connection lay here so much the nearer, as מלא is connected with the accus. of that with which anything is full. In "and windy effort" lies the reason for the judgment pronounced. The striving of a man who laboriously seeks only himself and loses himself in restlessness, is truly a striving which has wind for its object, and has the property of wind.
John Gill
4:6 Better is a handful with quietness,.... These are the words of the fool, according to Aben Ezra; and which is the sense of other interpreters, particularly Mr. Broughton, who connects this verse with Eccles 4:5 by adding at the end of that the word "saying"; making an excuse or an apology for himself and conduct, from the use and profitableness of his sloth; that little had with ease, and without toil and labour, is much better
than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit; than large possessions gotten with a great deal of trouble, and enjoyed with much vexation and uneasiness; in which he mistakes slothful ease for true quietness; calls honest labour and industry travail and vexation; and supposes that true contentment lies in the enjoyment of little, and cannot be had where there is much; whereas it is to be found in a good man in every state: or else these words express the true sentiments of Solomon's mind, steering between the two extremes of slothfulness, and too toilsome labour to be rich; that it is much more eligible to have a competency, though it is but small, with a good conscience, with tranquillity of mind, with the love and fear of God, and a contented heart, than to have a large estate, with great trouble and fatigue in getting and keeping it, especially with discontent and uneasiness; and this agrees with what the wise man says elsewhere, Prov 15:16. The Targum is,
"better to a man is a handful of food with quietness of soul, and without robbery and rapine, than two handfuls of food with robbery and rapine;''
or with what is gotten in an ill way.
John Wesley
4:6 Better - These are the words of the sluggard, making this apology for his idleness, That his little with ease, is better than great riches got with much trouble.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:6 Hebrew; "One open hand (palm) full of quietness, than both closed hands full of travail." "Quietness" (mental tranquillity flowing from honest labor), opposed to "eating one's own flesh" (Eccles 4:5), also opposed to anxious labor to gain (Eccles 4:8; Prov 15:16-17; Prov 16:8).
4:74:7: Դարձայ ես եւ տեսի ընդունայնութիւն ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական։
7 Դարձայ եւ ես մի ունայնութիւն էլ տեսայ արեգակի ներքոյ.
7 Ես դարձայ ու արեւուն տակ ունայնութիւն տեսայ։
Դարձայ ես եւ տեսի ընդունայնութիւն ի ներքոյ արեգական:

4:7: Դարձայ ես եւ տեսի ընդունայնութիւն ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական։
7 Դարձայ եւ ես մի ունայնութիւն էլ տեսայ արեգակի ներքոյ.
7 Ես դարձայ ու արեւուն տակ ունայնութիւն տեսայ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:74:7 И обратился я и увидел еще суету под солнцем;
4:7 καὶ και and; even ἐπέστρεψα επιστρεφω turn around; return ἐγὼ εγω I καὶ και and; even εἶδον οραω view; see ματαιότητα ματαιοτης superficiality ὑπὸ υπο under; by τὸν ο the ἥλιον ηλιος sun
4:7 וְ wᵊ וְ and שַׁ֧בְתִּי šˈavtî שׁוב return אֲנִ֛י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i וָ wā וְ and אֶרְאֶ֥ה ʔerʔˌeh ראה see הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath תַּ֥חַת tˌaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part הַ ha הַ the שָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
4:7. considerans repperi et aliam vanitatem sub soleConsidering I found also another vanity under the sun:
7. Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
4:7. While considering this, I also discovered another vanity under the sun.
4:7. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

4:7 И обратился я и увидел еще суету под солнцем;
4:7
καὶ και and; even
ἐπέστρεψα επιστρεφω turn around; return
ἐγὼ εγω I
καὶ και and; even
εἶδον οραω view; see
ματαιότητα ματαιοτης superficiality
ὑπὸ υπο under; by
τὸν ο the
ἥλιον ηλιος sun
4:7
וְ wᵊ וְ and
שַׁ֧בְתִּי šˈavtî שׁוב return
אֲנִ֛י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i
וָ וְ and
אֶרְאֶ֥ה ʔerʔˌeh ראה see
הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath
תַּ֥חַת tˌaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part
הַ ha הַ the
שָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
4:7. considerans repperi et aliam vanitatem sub sole
Considering I found also another vanity under the sun:
4:7. While considering this, I also discovered another vanity under the sun.
4:7. Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ mh▾ all ▾
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail. 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Here Solomon fastens upon another instance of the vanity of this world, that frequently the more men have of it the more they would have; and on this they are so intent that they have no enjoyment of what they have. Now Solomon here shows,
I. That selfishness is the cause of this evil (v. 7, 8): There is one alone, that minds none but himself, cares for nobody, but would, if he could, be placed alone in the midst of the earth; there is not a second, nor does he desire there should be: one mouth he thinks enough in a house, and grudges every thing that goes beside him. See how this covetous muckworm is here described. 1. He makes himself a mere slave to his business. Though he has no charge, neither child nor brother, none to take care of but himself, none to hang upon him, or draw from him, no poor relations, nor dares he marry, for fear of the expense of a family, yet is there no end of his labour; he is at it night and day, early and late, and will scarcely allow necessary rest to himself and those he employs. He does not confine himself within the bounds of his own calling, but is for having a hand in any thing that he can get by. See Ps. cxxvii. 2. 2. He never thinks he has enough: His eye is not satisfied with riches. Covetousness is called the lust of the eye (1 John ii. 16) because the beholding of it with his eyes is all that the worldling seems to covet, Eccl. v. 11. He has enough for his back (as bishop Reynolds observes), for his belly, for his calling, for his family, for his living decently in the world, but he has not enough for his eyes. Though he can but see it, can but count his money, and not find in his heart to use it, yet he is not easy because he has not more to regale his eyes with. 3. He denies himself the comfort of what he has: he bereaves his soul of good. If our souls are bereaved of good, it is we ourselves that do bereave them. Others may bereave us of outward good, but cannot rob us of our graces and comforts, our spiritual good things. It is our own fault if we do not enjoy ourselves. Yet many are so set upon the world that, in pursuit of it, they bereave their souls of good here and for ever, make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience, bereave themselves not only of the favour of God and eternal life, but of the pleasures of this world too and this present life. Worldly people, pretending to be wise for themselves, are really enemies to themselves. 4. He has no excuse for doing this: He has neither child nor brother, none that he is bound to, on whom he may lay out what he has to his satisfaction while he lives, none that he has a kindness for, for whom he may lay it up to his satisfaction and to whom he may leave it when he dies, none that are poor or dear to him. 5. He has not consideration enough to show himself the folly of this. He never puts this question to himself, "For whom do I labour thus? Do I labour, as I should, for the glory of God, and that I may have to give to those that need? Do I consider that it is but for the body that I am labouring, a dying body; it is for others, and I know not for whom--perhaps for a fool, that will scatter it as fast as I have gathered it--perhaps for a foe, that will be ungrateful to my memory?" Note, It is wisdom for those that take pains about this world to consider whom they take all this pains for, and whether it be really worth while to bereave themselves of good that they may bestow it on a stranger. If men do not consider this, it is vanity, and a sore travail; they shame and vex themselves to no purpose.
II. That sociableness is the cure of this evil. Men are thus sordid because they are all for themselves. Now Solomon shows here, by divers instances, that it is not good for man to be alone (Gen. ii. 18); he designs hereby to recommend to us both marriage and friendship, two things which covetous misers decline, because of the charge of them; but such are the comfort and advantage of them both, if prudently contracted, that they will very well quit cost. Man, in paradise itself, could not be happy without a mate, and therefore is no sooner made than matched. 1. Solomon lays this down for a truth, That two are better than one, and more happy jointly than either of them could be separately, more pleased in one another than they could be in themselves only, mutually serviceable to each other's welfare, and by a united strength more likely to do good to others: They have a good reward of their labour; whatever service they do, it is returned to them another way. He that serves himself only has himself only for his paymaster, and commonly proves more unjust and ungrateful to himself than his friend, if he should serve him, would be to him; witness him that labours endlessly and yet bereaves his soul of good; he has no reward of his labour. But he that is kind to another has a good reward; the pleasure and advantage of holy love will be an abundant recompence for all the work and labour of love. Hence Solomon infers the mischief of solitude: Woe to him that is alone. He lies exposed to many temptations which good company and friendship would prevent and help him to guard against; he wants that advantage which a man has by the countenance of his friend, as iron has of being sharpened by iron. A monastic life then was surely never intended for a state of perfection, nor should those be reckoned the greatest lovers of God who cannot find in their hearts to love any one else. 2. He proves it by divers instances of the benefit of friendship and good conversation. (1.) Occasional succour in an exigency. It is good for two to travel together, for if one happen to fall, he may be lost for want of a little help. If a man fall into sin, his friend will help to restore him with the spirit of meekness; if he fall into trouble, his friend will help to comfort him and assuage his grief. (2.) Mutual warmth. As a fellow-traveller is of use (amicus pro vehiculo--a friend is a good substitute for a carriage) so is a bedfellow: If two lie together, they have heat. So virtuous and gracious affections are excited by good society, and Christians warm one another by provoking one another to love and to good works. (3.) United strength. If an enemy find a man alone, he is likely to prevail against him; with his own single strength he cannot make his part good, but, if he have a second, he may do well enough: two shall withstand him. "You shall help me against my enemy, and I will help you against yours;" according to the agreement between Joab and Abishai (2 Sam. x. 11), and so both are conquerors; whereas, acting separately, both would have been conquered; as was said of the ancient Britons, when the Romans invaded them, Dum singuli pugnant, universi vincuntur--While they fight in detached parties, they sacrifice the general cause. In our spiritual warfare we may be helpful to one another as well as in our spiritual work; next to the comfort of communion with God, is that of the communion of saints. He concludes with this proverb, A threefold cord is not easily broken, any more than a bundle of arrows, though each single thread, and each single arrow, is. Two together he compares to a threefold cord; for where two are closely joined in holy love and fellowship, Christ will by his Spirit come to them, and make the third, as he joined himself to the two disciples going to Emmaus, and then there is a threefold cord that can never be broken. They that dwell in love, dwell in God, and God in them.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:7: The spectacle of a prosperous man whose condition is rendered vain by his brotherless, childless isolation.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:7: Ecc 4:1; Psa 78:33; Zac 1:6
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:7
"There is one without a second, also son and brother he has not; and there is no end of his labour; his eyes nevertheless are not satisfied with riches: For whom do I labour, then, and deny all good to my soul? Also this is vain, and it is a sore trouble." That ואין, as in Ps 104:25; Ps 105:34, has the meaning of בּאין, absque, Nolde has already observed in his Partik.-Concordanz: a solitarius, without one standing by his side, a second standing near him, i.e., without wife and without friend; also, as the words following show, without son and brother. Regarding ואח, for which, with the connect. accus., ואח might be expected (cf. also Eccles 2:7, וצאן with Mahpach; and, on the other hand, Eccles 2:23, וכעס with Pashta), vid., under Ps 55:10. Gam may be interpreted in the sense of "also" as well as of "nevertheless" (Ewald, 354a); the latter is to be preferred, since the endless labour includes in itself a restless striving after an increase of possession. The Kerî<, in an awkward way, changes עיניו into עינו; the taking together the two eyes as one would here be unnatural, since the avaricious man devours gold, silver, and precious things really with both his eyes, and yet, however great be his wealth, still more does he wish to see in his possession; the sing. of the pred. is as at 1Kings 4:15; Mic 4:11.
With ulmi ani, Koheleth puts himself in the place of such a friendless, childless man; yet this change of the description into a self-confession may be occasioned by this, that the author in his old age was really thus isolated, and stood alone. Regarding חסּר with the accus. of the person, to whom, and min of the matter, in respect of which there is want, vid., under Ps 8:6. That the author stands in sympathy with the sorrowful condition here exposed, may also be remarked from the fact that he now proceeds to show the value of companionship and the miseries of isolation:
John Gill
4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. Another vanity besides what he had taken notice of, and is as follows. Aben Ezra's note is,
"I turned from considering the words of this fool, and I saw another fool, the reverse of the former.''
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:7 A vanity described in Eccles 4:8.
4:84:8: Զի մի է, եւ ո՛չ կրկին. եւ որդի եւ եղբայր ո՛չ գոյ նորա. եւ ո՛չ է վախճան ամենայն վաստակոյ նորա. եւ սակայն ակն նորա ո՛չ յագի մեծութեամբ։ Եւ արդ՝ ո՞ւմ ջանամ ես, եւ զլանամ զանձն իմ ՚ի բարութենէ. զի եւ այն ընդունայնութիւն է՝ եւ զբաղումն չար[8497]։ [8497] Ոմանք. Եւ զրկեմ զանձն իմ ՚ի բարութենէ։
8 մարդ կայ, որ մենակ է եւ ոչ ոք չունի՝ ո՛չ որդի եւ ո՛չ էլ եղբայր, բայց նրա աշխատանքն էլ վերջ չունի, եւ աչքն էլ չի կշտանում հարստութեամբ. նա չի ասում, թէ՝ «Ո՞ւմ համար եմ ջանք թափում եւ ինչո՞ւ եմ հոգիս զրկում բարիքից». սա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ դաժան զբաղմունք:
8 Մարդ կայ, որ յաջորդ չունի, Ո՛չ զաւակ ունի եւ ո՛չ եղբայր. Բայց անոր բոլոր աշխատութիւնը վախճան չունի Ու անոր աչքերը հարստութեամբ չեն կշտանար Եւ չըսեր թէ՝ «Ես որո՞ւ համար կ’աշխատիմ Ու իմ հոգիս բարիքէ կը զրկեմ»։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն ու չար զբաղում է։
[40]Զի մի է, եւ ոչ կրկին. եւ որդի եւ եղբայր ոչ գոյ նորա. եւ ոչ է վախճան ամենայն վաստակոյ նորա. եւ սակայն ակն նորա ոչ յագի մեծութեամբ. եւ արդ ո՞ւմ ջանամ ես, եւ զլանամ զանձն իմ ի բարութենէ. զի եւ այն ընդունայնութիւն է եւ զբաղումն չար:

4:8: Զի մի է, եւ ո՛չ կրկին. եւ որդի եւ եղբայր ո՛չ գոյ նորա. եւ ո՛չ է վախճան ամենայն վաստակոյ նորա. եւ սակայն ակն նորա ո՛չ յագի մեծութեամբ։ Եւ արդ՝ ո՞ւմ ջանամ ես, եւ զլանամ զանձն իմ ՚ի բարութենէ. զի եւ այն ընդունայնութիւն է՝ եւ զբաղումն չար[8497]։
[8497] Ոմանք. Եւ զրկեմ զանձն իմ ՚ի բարութենէ։
8 մարդ կայ, որ մենակ է եւ ոչ ոք չունի՝ ո՛չ որդի եւ ո՛չ էլ եղբայր, բայց նրա աշխատանքն էլ վերջ չունի, եւ աչքն էլ չի կշտանում հարստութեամբ. նա չի ասում, թէ՝ «Ո՞ւմ համար եմ ջանք թափում եւ ինչո՞ւ եմ հոգիս զրկում բարիքից». սա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ դաժան զբաղմունք:
8 Մարդ կայ, որ յաջորդ չունի, Ո՛չ զաւակ ունի եւ ո՛չ եղբայր. Բայց անոր բոլոր աշխատութիւնը վախճան չունի Ու անոր աչքերը հարստութեամբ չեն կշտանար Եւ չըսեր թէ՝ «Ես որո՞ւ համար կ’աշխատիմ Ու իմ հոգիս բարիքէ կը զրկեմ»։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն ու չար զբաղում է։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:84:8 {человек} одинокий, и другого нет; ни сына, ни брата нет у него; а всем трудам его нет конца, и глаз его не насыщается богатством. > И это суета и недоброе дело!
4:8 ἔστιν ειμι be εἷς εις.1 one; unit καὶ και and; even οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be δεύτερος δευτερος second καί και and; even γε γε in fact υἱὸς υιος son καὶ και and; even ἀδελφὸς αδελφος brother οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be αὐτῷ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be περασμὸς περασμος the παντὶ πας all; every μόχθῳ μοχθος toil αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καί και and; even γε γε in fact ὀφθαλμὸς οφθαλμος eye; sight αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him οὐκ ου not ἐμπίπλαται εμπιπλημι fill in; fill up πλούτου πλουτος wealth; richness καὶ και and; even τίνι τις.1 who?; what? ἐγὼ εγω I μοχθῶ μοχθεω and; even στερίσκω στερισκω the ψυχήν ψυχη soul μου μου of me; mine ἀπὸ απο from; away ἀγαθωσύνης αγαθωσυνη goodness καί και and; even γε γε in fact τοῦτο ουτος this; he ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality καὶ και and; even περισπασμὸς περισπασμος harmful; malignant ἐστιν ειμι be
4:8 יֵ֣שׁ yˈēš יֵשׁ existence אֶחָד֩ ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֨ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG] שֵׁנִ֜י šēnˈî שֵׁנִי second גַּ֣ם gˈam גַּם even בֵּ֧ן bˈēn בֵּן son וָ wā וְ and אָ֣ח ʔˈāḥ אָח brother אֵֽין־ ʔˈên- אַיִן [NEG] לֹ֗ו lˈô לְ to וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG] קֵץ֙ qˌēṣ קֵץ end לְ lᵊ לְ to כָל־ ḵol- כֹּל whole עֲמָלֹ֔ו ʕᵃmālˈô עָמָל labour גַּם־ gam- גַּם even עֵינֹ֖ועיניו *ʕênˌô עַיִן eye לֹא־ lō- לֹא not תִשְׂבַּ֣ע ṯiśbˈaʕ שׂבע be sated עֹ֑שֶׁר ʕˈōšer עֹשֶׁר riches וּ û וְ and לְ lᵊ לְ to מִ֣י׀ mˈî מִי who אֲנִ֣י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i עָמֵ֗ל ʕāmˈēl עָמֵל labouring וּ û וְ and מְחַסֵּ֤ר mᵊḥassˈēr חסר diminish אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] נַפְשִׁי֙ nafšˌî נֶפֶשׁ soul מִ mi מִן from טֹּובָ֔ה ṭṭôvˈā טֹובָה what is good גַּם־ gam- גַּם even זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this הֶ֛בֶל hˈevel הֶבֶל breath וְ wᵊ וְ and עִנְיַ֥ן ʕinyˌan עִנְיָן occupation רָ֖ע rˌāʕ רַע evil הֽוּא׃ hˈû הוּא he
4:8. unus est et secundum non habet non filium non fratrem et tamen laborare non cessat nec satiantur oculi eius divitiis nec recogitat dicens cui laboro et fraudo animam meam bonis in hoc quoque vanitas est et adflictio pessimaThere is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother, and yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches, neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and defraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous vexation.
8. There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, , do I labour, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
4:8. He is one, and he does not have a second: no son, no brother. And yet he does not cease to labor, nor are his eyes satisfied with wealth, nor does he reflect, saying: “For whom do I labor and cheat my soul of good things?” In this, too, is emptiness and a most burdensome affliction.
4:8. There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail.
There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail:

4:8 {человек} одинокий, и другого нет; ни сына, ни брата нет у него; а всем трудам его нет конца, и глаз его не насыщается богатством. <<Для кого же я тружусь и лишаю душу мою блага?>> И это суета и недоброе дело!
4:8
ἔστιν ειμι be
εἷς εις.1 one; unit
καὶ και and; even
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
δεύτερος δευτερος second
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
υἱὸς υιος son
καὶ και and; even
ἀδελφὸς αδελφος brother
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
αὐτῷ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
περασμὸς περασμος the
παντὶ πας all; every
μόχθῳ μοχθος toil
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
ὀφθαλμὸς οφθαλμος eye; sight
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
οὐκ ου not
ἐμπίπλαται εμπιπλημι fill in; fill up
πλούτου πλουτος wealth; richness
καὶ και and; even
τίνι τις.1 who?; what?
ἐγὼ εγω I
μοχθῶ μοχθεω and; even
στερίσκω στερισκω the
ψυχήν ψυχη soul
μου μου of me; mine
ἀπὸ απο from; away
ἀγαθωσύνης αγαθωσυνη goodness
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
τοῦτο ουτος this; he
ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality
καὶ και and; even
περισπασμὸς περισπασμος harmful; malignant
ἐστιν ειμι be
4:8
יֵ֣שׁ yˈēš יֵשׁ existence
אֶחָד֩ ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֨ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG]
שֵׁנִ֜י šēnˈî שֵׁנִי second
גַּ֣ם gˈam גַּם even
בֵּ֧ן bˈēn בֵּן son
וָ וְ and
אָ֣ח ʔˈāḥ אָח brother
אֵֽין־ ʔˈên- אַיִן [NEG]
לֹ֗ו lˈô לְ to
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG]
קֵץ֙ qˌēṣ קֵץ end
לְ lᵊ לְ to
כָל־ ḵol- כֹּל whole
עֲמָלֹ֔ו ʕᵃmālˈô עָמָל labour
גַּם־ gam- גַּם even
עֵינֹ֖ועיניו
*ʕênˌô עַיִן eye
לֹא־ lō- לֹא not
תִשְׂבַּ֣ע ṯiśbˈaʕ שׂבע be sated
עֹ֑שֶׁר ʕˈōšer עֹשֶׁר riches
וּ û וְ and
לְ lᵊ לְ to
מִ֣י׀ mˈî מִי who
אֲנִ֣י ʔᵃnˈî אֲנִי i
עָמֵ֗ל ʕāmˈēl עָמֵל labouring
וּ û וְ and
מְחַסֵּ֤ר mᵊḥassˈēr חסר diminish
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
נַפְשִׁי֙ nafšˌî נֶפֶשׁ soul
מִ mi מִן from
טֹּובָ֔ה ṭṭôvˈā טֹובָה what is good
גַּם־ gam- גַּם even
זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this
הֶ֛בֶל hˈevel הֶבֶל breath
וְ wᵊ וְ and
עִנְיַ֥ן ʕinyˌan עִנְיָן occupation
רָ֖ע rˌāʕ רַע evil
הֽוּא׃ hˈû הוּא he
4:8. unus est et secundum non habet non filium non fratrem et tamen laborare non cessat nec satiantur oculi eius divitiis nec recogitat dicens cui laboro et fraudo animam meam bonis in hoc quoque vanitas est et adflictio pessima
There is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother, and yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches, neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and defraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous vexation.
4:8. He is one, and he does not have a second: no son, no brother. And yet he does not cease to labor, nor are his eyes satisfied with wealth, nor does he reflect, saying: “For whom do I labor and cheat my soul of good things?” In this, too, is emptiness and a most burdensome affliction.
4:8. There is one [alone], and [there is] not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet [is there] no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither [saith he], For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This [is] also vanity, yea, it [is] a sore travail.
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Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:8: There is one alone, and there is not a second - Here covetousness and avarice are characterized. The man who is the center of his own existence; has neither wife, child, nor legal heir; and yet is as intent on getting money as if he had the largest family to provide for; nor does he only labor with intense application, but he even refuses himself the comforts of life out of his own gains! This is not only vanity, the excess of foolishness, but it is also sore travail.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:8
A second - Any one associated or connected with him.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:8: one: Ecc 4:9-12; Gen 2:18; Isa 56:3-5
he hath: Gen 15:2, Gen 15:3
no: Isa 5:8
is his: Ecc 1:8, Ecc 5:10; Pro 27:20; Hab 2:5-9; Jo1 2:16
For: Psa 39:6; Isa 44:19, Isa 44:20; Luk 12:20
it is: Ecc 1:13, Ecc 2:23; Isa 55:2; Mat 11:28
John Gill
4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second,.... According to Aben Ezra, either no friend or companion, or no servant, or no wife, which last sense he prefers; no friend or companion he chooses, because friendship and fellowship lead to expenses; and no servant who would be chargeable to him; and no wife, which would be more expensive, and bring on a family of children; wherefore, to save charges, he chooses to have neither of these; for this is a covetous man who is here desert bed;
yea, he hath neither child nor brother; to inherit his substance, as the Targum adds; some worldly men, whose bellies are filled with hidden treasures, having enjoyed much, when they die, leave the rest of their substance to their babes; but the man here described has no children, nor any relations to leave his wealth unto;
yet is there no end of all his labour; when he has executed one scheme to get riches, he forms another; and having finished one work, he enters upon another; he rises early and sits up late, and works and toils night and day, as if he was not worth a dollar, and had a large and numerous family to provide for; or there is no end of what he labours for, or gets by his labour; there is no end of his treasures, Is 2:7; he is immensely rich, so Aben Ezra interprets it;
neither is his eye satisfied with riches: with seeing his bags of gold and silver, though he takes a great deal of sure in looking upon them too, without making use of them; yet he is not satisfied with what he has, he wants more, he enlarges his desire as hell, and like the grave never has enough; see Eccles 5:10;
neither saith he, for whom do I labour? having neither wife nor child, nor relation, nor friend, and yet so wretchedly stupid and thoughtless as never once to put this question to himself, Who am I toiling for? I am heaping up riches, and know not who shall gather them; it is a vexation to a worldly man to leave his substance behind him, and even to a man that has an heir to inherit it, when he knows not whether he will be a wise man or a fool; but for a man that has no heir at all, and yet to be toiling and labouring for the world, is gross stupidity, downright madness, and especially when he deprives himself of the comfort of what he is possessed of;
and bereave my soul of good? instead of richly enjoying what is given him, he withholds it from himself, starves his back and belly, lives in pinching want amidst the greatest plenty; has not power to eat of what he has, and his soul desireth; see Eccles 6:2.
This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail; a very vain and wicked thing; "an evil business", as it may be rendered; a very great sin and folly indeed; it is thought by some divines to be the worst species of covetousness, most cruel and unnatural.
John Wesley
4:8 Alone - Who has none but himself to care for. Brother - To whom he may leave his vast estate. Yet - He lives in perpetual restlessness and toil. For whom - Having no kindred to enjoy it. And bereave - Deny myself those comforts and conveniences which God hath allowed me? A sore travel - A dreadful judgment, as well as a great sin.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:8 not a second--no partner.
child--"son or brother," put for any heir (Deut 25:5-10).
eye-- (Eccles 1:8). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.
4:94:9: Լա՛ւ են երկու քան զմի, որոց գոն վարձք բարի ՚ի վաստակս նոցա։
9 Երկու հոգով աւելի լաւ է, քան մենակ, որովհետեւ աւելի վարձ կայ նրանց վաստակի համար,
9 Երկուքը մէկէն աղէկ է, Վասն զի անոնց աշխատանքը աղէկ վարձք ունի
Լաւ են երկու քան զմի, որոց գոն վարձք բարի ի վաստակս նոցա:

4:9: Լա՛ւ են երկու քան զմի, որոց գոն վարձք բարի ՚ի վաստակս նոցա։
9 Երկու հոգով աւելի լաւ է, քան մենակ, որովհետեւ աւելի վարձ կայ նրանց վաստակի համար,
9 Երկուքը մէկէն աղէկ է, Վասն զի անոնց աշխատանքը աղէկ վարձք ունի
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:94:9 Двоим лучше, нежели одному; потому что у них есть доброе вознаграждение в труде их:
4:9 ἀγαθοὶ αγαθος good οἱ ο the δύο δυο two ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for τὸν ο the ἕνα εις.1 one; unit οἷς ος who; what ἔστιν ειμι be αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him μισθὸς μισθος wages ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good ἐν εν in μόχθῳ μοχθος toil αὐτῶν αυτος he; him
4:9 טֹובִ֥ים ṭôvˌîm טֹוב good הַ ha הַ the שְּׁנַ֖יִם ššᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two מִן־ min- מִן from הָ hā הַ the אֶחָ֑ד ʔeḥˈāḏ אֶחָד one אֲשֶׁ֧ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] יֵשׁ־ yēš- יֵשׁ existence לָהֶ֛ם lāhˈem לְ to שָׂכָ֥ר śāḵˌār שָׂכָר hire טֹ֖וב ṭˌôv טֹוב good בַּ ba בְּ in עֲמָלָֽם׃ ʕᵃmālˈām עָמָל labour
4:9. melius ergo est duos simul esse quam unum habent enim emolumentum societatis suaeIt is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for they have the advantage of their society:
9. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
4:9. Therefore, it is better for two to be together, than for one to be alone. For they have the advantage of their companionship.
4:9. Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour:

4:9 Двоим лучше, нежели одному; потому что у них есть доброе вознаграждение в труде их:
4:9
ἀγαθοὶ αγαθος good
οἱ ο the
δύο δυο two
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
τὸν ο the
ἕνα εις.1 one; unit
οἷς ος who; what
ἔστιν ειμι be
αὐτοῖς αυτος he; him
μισθὸς μισθος wages
ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good
ἐν εν in
μόχθῳ μοχθος toil
αὐτῶν αυτος he; him
4:9
טֹובִ֥ים ṭôvˌîm טֹוב good
הַ ha הַ the
שְּׁנַ֖יִם ššᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two
מִן־ min- מִן from
הָ הַ the
אֶחָ֑ד ʔeḥˈāḏ אֶחָד one
אֲשֶׁ֧ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
יֵשׁ־ yēš- יֵשׁ existence
לָהֶ֛ם lāhˈem לְ to
שָׂכָ֥ר śāḵˌār שָׂכָר hire
טֹ֖וב ṭˌôv טֹוב good
בַּ ba בְּ in
עֲמָלָֽם׃ ʕᵃmālˈām עָמָל labour
4:9. melius ergo est duos simul esse quam unum habent enim emolumentum societatis suae
It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for they have the advantage of their society:
4:9. Therefore, it is better for two to be together, than for one to be alone. For they have the advantage of their companionship.
4:9. Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:9: Two are better than one - Married life is infinitely to be preferred to this kind of life, for the very reasons alleged below, and which require no explanation.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:9-12
Compare a saying from the Talmud: "A man without companions is like the left hand without the right."
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:9: are: Gen 2:18; Exo 4:14-16; Num 11:14; Pro 27:17; Hag 1:14; Mar 6:7; Act 13:2; Act 15:39, Act 15:40; Co1 12:18-21
a good: Rut 2:12; Joh 4:36; Jo2 1:8
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:9
"Better are two together than one, seeing they have a good reward in their labour." By hashshenaim, the author refers to such a pair; haehhad is one such as is just described. The good reward consists in this, that each one of the two has the pleasant consciousness of doing good to the other by his labour, and especially of being helpful to him. In this latter general sense is grounded the idea of the reward of faithful fellowship:
Geneva 1599
4:9 (f) Two [are] better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
(f) As when man is alone, he can neither help himself nor others, he shows that men should live in mutual society to the intent that they may be profitable one to another, and that their things may increase.
John Gill
4:9 Two are better than one,.... The wise man takes occasion, from the solitariness Of the covetous man before described, to show in this and some following verses the preferableness and advantages of social life; which, as it holds true in things natural and civil, so in things spiritual and religious; man is a sociable creature, was made to be so; and it was the judgment of God, which is according to truth, and who can never err, that it was not good for man to be alone, Gen 2:18. It is best to take a wife, or at least to have a friend or companion, more or less to converse with. Society is preferable to solitariness; conversation with a friend is better than to be always alone; the Targum is,
"two righteous men in a generation are better than one;''
such may be helpful to each other in their counsels and comforts, and mutual aids and assistances in things temporal and spiritual. The Midrash interprets this of the study in the law together, and of two that trade together, which is better than studying or trading separately;
because they have a good reward for their labour; the pleasure and profit they have in each other's company and conversation; in religious societies, though there is a labour in attendance on public worship, in praying and conferring together, in serving one another in love, and bearing one another's burdens, yet they have a good reward in it all; they have the presence of Christ with them, for, where two or three are met together in his name, he is with them; and whatsoever two of them agree to ask in his name they have it; and if two of them converse together about spiritual things, it is much if he does not make a third with them; besides they have a great deal of pleasure in each other's company, and much profit in their mutual instructions, advices, and reproofs; they sharpen each other's countenances, quicken and comfort each other's souls, establish one another in divine truth, and strengthen each other's hands and hearts.
John Wesley
4:9 Two - Who live together in any kind of society. Because - Both have great benefit by such conjunction, whereby they support, encourage, and strengthen one another.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:9 Two--opposed to "one" (Eccles 4:8). Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser (Gen 2:18).
reward--Advantage accrues from their efforts being conjoined. The Talmud says, "A man without a companion is like a left hand without the right.
4:104:10: Զի եթէ գլորիցի մին՝ կանգնեսցէ զնա ընկեր իւր. եւ վա՛յ միումն յորժամ գլորիցի, եւ ո՛չ գուցէ մեւս՝ որ յարուցանիցէ զնա[8498]։ [8498] Ոսկան. Եւ վա՛յ միոյն եթէ գլորի՛՛։
10 քանի որ եթէ մէկն ընկնի, նրա ընկերը կը կանգնեցնի նրան, բայց վա՜յ մենակին, որ ընկնի, երբ ուրիշ մէկը չկայ, որ բարձրացնի նրան:
10 Քանզի եթէ իյնան, մէկզմէկ կը վերցնեն։Բայց վա՜յ իյնող մէկուն՝ Որ զինք վերցնող մը չունի։
Զի եթէ գլորիցի մին` կանգնեսցէ զնա ընկեր իւր. եւ վա՜յ միումն յորժամ գլորիցի, եւ ոչ գուցէ մեւս` որ յարուցանիցէ զնա:

4:10: Զի եթէ գլորիցի մին՝ կանգնեսցէ զնա ընկեր իւր. եւ վա՛յ միումն յորժամ գլորիցի, եւ ո՛չ գուցէ մեւս՝ որ յարուցանիցէ զնա[8498]։
[8498] Ոսկան. Եւ վա՛յ միոյն եթէ գլորի՛՛։
10 քանի որ եթէ մէկն ընկնի, նրա ընկերը կը կանգնեցնի նրան, բայց վա՜յ մենակին, որ ընկնի, երբ ուրիշ մէկը չկայ, որ բարձրացնի նրան:
10 Քանզի եթէ իյնան, մէկզմէկ կը վերցնեն։Բայց վա՜յ իյնող մէկուն՝ Որ զինք վերցնող մը չունի։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:104:10 ибо если упадет один, то другой поднимет товарища своего. Но горе одному, когда упадет, а другого нет, который поднял бы его.
4:10 ὅτι οτι since; that ἐὰν εαν and if; unless πέσωσιν πιπτω fall ὁ ο the εἷς εις.1 one; unit ἐγερεῖ εγειρω rise; arise τὸν ο the μέτοχον μετοχος associate; partaker αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even οὐαὶ ουαι woe αὐτῷ αυτος he; him τῷ ο the ἑνί εις.1 one; unit ὅταν οταν when; once πέσῃ πιπτω fall καὶ και and; even μὴ μη not ᾖ ειμι be δεύτερος δευτερος second τοῦ ο the ἐγεῖραι εγειρω rise; arise αὐτόν αυτος he; him
4:10 כִּ֣י kˈî כִּי that אִם־ ʔim- אִם if יִפֹּ֔לוּ yippˈōlû נפל fall הָ hā הַ the אֶחָ֖ד ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one יָקִ֣ים yāqˈîm קום arise אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] חֲבֵרֹ֑ו ḥᵃvērˈô חָבֵר companion וְ wᵊ וְ and אִ֣י ʔˈî אִי how לֹ֗ו lˈô לְ to הָֽ hˈā הַ the אֶחָד֙ ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one שֶׁ še שַׁ [relative] יִּפֹּ֔ול yyippˈôl נפל fall וְ wᵊ וְ and אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG] שֵׁנִ֖י šēnˌî שֵׁנִי second לַ la לְ to הֲקִימֹֽו׃ hᵃqîmˈô קום arise
4:10. si unus ceciderit ab altero fulcietur vae soli quia cum ruerit non habet sublevantemIf one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.
10. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up.
4:10. If one falls, he shall be supported by the other. Woe to one who is alone. For when he falls, he has no one to lift him up.
4:10. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up:

4:10 ибо если упадет один, то другой поднимет товарища своего. Но горе одному, когда упадет, а другого нет, который поднял бы его.
4:10
ὅτι οτι since; that
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
πέσωσιν πιπτω fall
ο the
εἷς εις.1 one; unit
ἐγερεῖ εγειρω rise; arise
τὸν ο the
μέτοχον μετοχος associate; partaker
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
οὐαὶ ουαι woe
αὐτῷ αυτος he; him
τῷ ο the
ἑνί εις.1 one; unit
ὅταν οταν when; once
πέσῃ πιπτω fall
καὶ και and; even
μὴ μη not
ειμι be
δεύτερος δευτερος second
τοῦ ο the
ἐγεῖραι εγειρω rise; arise
αὐτόν αυτος he; him
4:10
כִּ֣י kˈî כִּי that
אִם־ ʔim- אִם if
יִפֹּ֔לוּ yippˈōlû נפל fall
הָ הַ the
אֶחָ֖ד ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one
יָקִ֣ים yāqˈîm קום arise
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
חֲבֵרֹ֑ו ḥᵃvērˈô חָבֵר companion
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אִ֣י ʔˈî אִי how
לֹ֗ו lˈô לְ to
הָֽ hˈā הַ the
אֶחָד֙ ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one
שֶׁ še שַׁ [relative]
יִּפֹּ֔ול yyippˈôl נפל fall
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אֵ֥ין ʔˌên אַיִן [NEG]
שֵׁנִ֖י šēnˌî שֵׁנִי second
לַ la לְ to
הֲקִימֹֽו׃ hᵃqîmˈô קום arise
4:10. si unus ceciderit ab altero fulcietur vae soli quia cum ruerit non habet sublevantem
If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.
4:10. If one falls, he shall be supported by the other. Woe to one who is alone. For when he falls, he has no one to lift him up.
4:10. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him up.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ all ▾
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:10: if: Exo 32:2-4, Exo 32:21; Deu 9:19, Deu 9:20; Sa1 23:16; Sa2 11:27, Sa2 12:7-14; Job 4:3, Job 4:4; Isa 35:3, Isa 35:4; Luk 22:31, Luk 22:32; Gal 2:11-14, Gal 6:1; Th1 4:18, Th1 5:11
but: Gen 4:8; Sa2 14:6
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:10
"For if they fall, the one can raise up his fellow: but woe to the one who falleth, and there is not a second there to lift him up." Only the Targ., which Grtz follows, confounds אילו
(Note: With Munach and Rebia in one word, which, according to the masora, occurs in only four other places. Vid., Mas. magna under this passage, and Mishpete hateamin 26a.)
with אילוּ; it is equivalent to אוי לו, Is 3:9, or הוי לו, Ezek 13:18. Haehhad is appos. connecting itself to the pronominal suff., as, e.g., in a far more inappropriate manner, Ps 86:2; the prep. is not in appos. usually repeated, Gen 2:19; Gen 9:4 (exceptions: Ps. 18:51; Ps 74:14). Whether we translate שׁיּפּל by qui ceciderit (Eccles 11:3), or by quum ceciderit (Jerome), is all one. יקים is potential: it is possible and probable that it will be done, provided he is a טוב חבר, i.e., a true friend (Pirke aboth, ii. 13).
John Gill
4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow,.... That is, if anyone of them fall, the other will lift him up, as they are travelling together, in whatsoever manner; if one falls from his horse, or out of his carriage, or into a ditch, the other will endeavour to raise him up again: this, as it is true in a natural, so in a figurative and metaphorical sense, with religious persons especially;
"if one of them falls upon the bed, and lies sick,''
as the Targum paraphrases it, his friend and brother in a religions community will visit him, and sympathize with him, and speak a word of comfort to him, and pray with him, which may issue in his restoration. So the Targum,
"the other will cause his friend to rise by his prayer;''
or if he fall into outward distress, poverty, and want, his spiritual friend or friends will distribute to his necessity; if he falls into errors, as a good man may, such as are of the same religious society with him will take some pains to convince him of the error of his way, and to convert him from it, and to save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins; and if he falls into sin, to which the best of men are liable, such as are spiritual will endeavour to restore him in a spirit of meekness;
but woe to him that is alone when he falleth! for he hath not another to help him up; no companion to raise him up when fallen; no Christian friend to visit and comfort him when sick, to relieve him under his necessities, when poor and afflicted, or to recover him from errors in judgment, or immoralities in practice; and especially if he has not Christ with him to raise him up, keep, and uphold him.
John Wesley
4:10 They - One of them. Fall - Into any mistake, or sin, or danger.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:10 if they fall--if the one or other fall, as may happen to both, namely, into any distress of body, mind, or soul.
4:114:11: Զի եթէ ննջիցեն երկու՝ ջեռուցանեն զմիմեանս. եւ մին՝ զիա՞րդ ջեռնուցու[8499]։ [8499] Ոմանք. Իսկ մին զիա՛րդ։
11 Եւ եթէ երկուսը միասին քնեն, կը տաքացնեն միմեանց, բայց միայնակ մարդն ինչպէ՞ս պիտի տաքանայ:
11 Երկու մարդ մէկտեղ պառկելով կը տաքնան, Բայց մէկը ի՞նչպէս կրնայ տաքնալ երբ առանձինն է։
Զի եթէ ննջիցեն երկու` ջեռուցանեն զմիմեանս, եւ մին զիա՞րդ ջեռնուցու:

4:11: Զի եթէ ննջիցեն երկու՝ ջեռուցանեն զմիմեանս. եւ մին՝ զիա՞րդ ջեռնուցու[8499]։
[8499] Ոմանք. Իսկ մին զիա՛րդ։
11 Եւ եթէ երկուսը միասին քնեն, կը տաքացնեն միմեանց, բայց միայնակ մարդն ինչպէ՞ս պիտի տաքանայ:
11 Երկու մարդ մէկտեղ պառկելով կը տաքնան, Բայց մէկը ի՞նչպէս կրնայ տաքնալ երբ առանձինն է։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:114:11 Также, если лежат двое, то тепло им; а одному как согреться?
4:11 καί και and; even γε γε in fact ἐὰν εαν and if; unless κοιμηθῶσιν κοιμαω doze; fall asleep δύο δυο two καὶ και and; even θέρμη θερμος he; him καὶ και and; even ὁ ο the εἷς εις.1 one; unit πῶς πως.1 how θερμανθῇ θερμαινω warm
4:11 גַּ֛ם gˈam גַּם even אִם־ ʔim- אִם if יִשְׁכְּב֥וּ yiškᵊvˌû שׁכב lie down שְׁנַ֖יִם šᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two וְ wᵊ וְ and חַ֣ם ḥˈam חמם be hot לָהֶ֑ם lāhˈem לְ to וּ û וְ and לְ lᵊ לְ to אֶחָ֖ד ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one אֵ֥יךְ ʔˌêḵ אֵיךְ how יֵחָֽם׃ yēḥˈām חמם be hot
4:11. et si dormierint duo fovebuntur mutuo unus quomodo calefietAnd if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed?
11. Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth: but how can one be warm ?
4:11. And if two are sleeping, they warm one another. How can one person alone be warmed?
4:11. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm [alone]?
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm:

4:11 Также, если лежат двое, то тепло им; а одному как согреться?
4:11
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
κοιμηθῶσιν κοιμαω doze; fall asleep
δύο δυο two
καὶ και and; even
θέρμη θερμος he; him
καὶ και and; even
ο the
εἷς εις.1 one; unit
πῶς πως.1 how
θερμανθῇ θερμαινω warm
4:11
גַּ֛ם gˈam גַּם even
אִם־ ʔim- אִם if
יִשְׁכְּב֥וּ yiškᵊvˌû שׁכב lie down
שְׁנַ֖יִם šᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two
וְ wᵊ וְ and
חַ֣ם ḥˈam חמם be hot
לָהֶ֑ם lāhˈem לְ to
וּ û וְ and
לְ lᵊ לְ to
אֶחָ֖ד ʔeḥˌāḏ אֶחָד one
אֵ֥יךְ ʔˌêḵ אֵיךְ how
יֵחָֽם׃ yēḥˈām חמם be hot
4:11. et si dormierint duo fovebuntur mutuo unus quomodo calefiet
And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed?
4:11. And if two are sleeping, they warm one another. How can one person alone be warmed?
4:11. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm [alone]?
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ all ▾
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:11: Kg1 1:1, Kg1 1:2
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:11
"Moreover, if two lie together, then there is heat to them: but how can it be warm with one who is alone?" The marriage relation is not excluded, but it remains in the background; the author has two friends in his eye, who, lying in a cold night under one covering (Ex 22:26; Is 28:20), cherish one another, and impart mutual warmth. Also in Aboth de-Rabbi Nathan, c. 8, the sleeping of two together is spoken of as an evidence of friendship. The vav in vehham is that of the consequent; it is wanting 10a, according to rule, in haehhad, because it commonly comes into use with the verb, seldom (e.g., Gen 22:1) with the preceding subj.
John Gill
4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat,.... The Targum adds, in the winter; when it is a cold season, they warm one another by lying together. The Targum interprets it of a man and his wife; it is true of others; see 3Kings 1:1;
but how can one be warm alone? not soon, nor easily, in time of cold weather. This is true in a spiritual sense of persons in a Christian communion and religious society; when they are grown cold in their love, lukewarm in their affections, and backward and indifferent to spiritual exercises, yet by Christian conversation may be stirred up to love and good works: so two cold flints struck against each other, fire comes out of them; and even two cold Christians, when they come to talk with each other about spiritual things, and feel one another's spirits, they presently glow in their affections to each other, and to divine things; and especially if Christ joins them with his presence, as he did the two disciples going to Emmaus, then their hearts burn within them.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:11 (See on 3Kings 1:1). The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties (Lk 24:32; Acts 28:15).
4:124:12: Եւ եթէ բռնասցի մին՝ երկուքն կայցեն ընդդէմ նորա. եւ առասան երեքկին՝ ո՛չ վաղվաղակի խզեսցի[8500]։ [8500] Ոմանք. Երկուքն կալցեն զդէմ նորա. եւ առասան երեքկուղ, ո՛չ վաղ՛՛։ Ուր Ոսկան. երեքկուղի ո՛չ վաղ՛՛։
12 Եւ եթէ մէկի վրայ բռնանան, երկուսը դէմ կը կանգնեն. չէ՞ որ երեքտակ թելն էլ հեշտ չի կտրւում:
12 Եթէ մէկը անոնց բռնութիւն ընէ, Երկուքը կրնան անոր դէմ դնել։Երեքպատիկ դերձանը դիւրաւ չի կտրուիր։
Եւ եթէ բռնասցի [41]մին` երկուքն կայցեն ընդդէմ նորա. եւ առասան երեքկին` ոչ վաղվաղակի խզեսցի:

4:12: Եւ եթէ բռնասցի մին՝ երկուքն կայցեն ընդդէմ նորա. եւ առասան երեքկին՝ ո՛չ վաղվաղակի խզեսցի[8500]։
[8500] Ոմանք. Երկուքն կալցեն զդէմ նորա. եւ առասան երեքկուղ, ո՛չ վաղ՛՛։ Ուր Ոսկան. երեքկուղի ո՛չ վաղ՛՛։
12 Եւ եթէ մէկի վրայ բռնանան, երկուսը դէմ կը կանգնեն. չէ՞ որ երեքտակ թելն էլ հեշտ չի կտրւում:
12 Եթէ մէկը անոնց բռնութիւն ընէ, Երկուքը կրնան անոր դէմ դնել։Երեքպատիկ դերձանը դիւրաւ չի կտրուիր։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:124:12 И если станет преодолевать кто-либо одного, то двое устоят против него: и нитка, втрое скрученная, нескоро порвется.
4:12 καὶ και and; even ἐὰν εαν and if; unless ἐπικραταιωθῇ επικραταιοω the εἷς εις.1 one; unit οἱ ο the δύο δυο two στήσονται ιστημι stand; establish κατέναντι κατεναντι opposite; before αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him καὶ και and; even τὸ ο the σπαρτίον σπαρτιον the ἔντριτον εντριτος not ταχέως ταχεως quickly ἀπορραγήσεται απορρησσω break away; forbidding
4:12 וְ wᵊ וְ and אִֽם־ ʔˈim- אִם if יִתְקְפֹו֙ yiṯqᵊfˌô תקף overpower הָ hā הַ the אֶחָ֔ד ʔeḥˈāḏ אֶחָד one הַ ha הַ the שְּׁנַ֖יִם ššᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two יַעַמְד֣וּ yaʕamᵊḏˈû עמד stand נֶגְדֹּ֑ו neḡdˈô נֶגֶד counterpart וְ wᵊ וְ and הַ ha הַ the חוּט֙ ḥûṭ חוּט thread הַֽ hˈa הַ the מְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ mᵊšullˈāš שׁלשׁ be three לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not בִ vi בְּ in מְהֵרָ֖ה mᵊhērˌā מְהֵרָה haste יִנָּתֵֽק׃ yinnāṯˈēq נתק pull off
4:12. et si quispiam praevaluerit contra unum duo resistent ei funiculus triplex difficile rumpiturAnd if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a threefold cord is not easily broken.
12. And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
4:12. And if a man can prevail against one, two may withstand him, and a threefold cord is broken with difficulty.
4:12. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken:

4:12 И если станет преодолевать кто-либо одного, то двое устоят против него: и нитка, втрое скрученная, нескоро порвется.
4:12
καὶ και and; even
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
ἐπικραταιωθῇ επικραταιοω the
εἷς εις.1 one; unit
οἱ ο the
δύο δυο two
στήσονται ιστημι stand; establish
κατέναντι κατεναντι opposite; before
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
καὶ και and; even
τὸ ο the
σπαρτίον σπαρτιον the
ἔντριτον εντριτος not
ταχέως ταχεως quickly
ἀπορραγήσεται απορρησσω break away; forbidding
4:12
וְ wᵊ וְ and
אִֽם־ ʔˈim- אִם if
יִתְקְפֹו֙ yiṯqᵊfˌô תקף overpower
הָ הַ the
אֶחָ֔ד ʔeḥˈāḏ אֶחָד one
הַ ha הַ the
שְּׁנַ֖יִם ššᵊnˌayim שְׁנַיִם two
יַעַמְד֣וּ yaʕamᵊḏˈû עמד stand
נֶגְדֹּ֑ו neḡdˈô נֶגֶד counterpart
וְ wᵊ וְ and
הַ ha הַ the
חוּט֙ ḥûṭ חוּט thread
הַֽ hˈa הַ the
מְשֻׁלָּ֔שׁ mᵊšullˈāš שׁלשׁ be three
לֹ֥א lˌō לֹא not
בִ vi בְּ in
מְהֵרָ֖ה mᵊhērˌā מְהֵרָה haste
יִנָּתֵֽק׃ yinnāṯˈēq נתק pull off
4:12. et si quispiam praevaluerit contra unum duo resistent ei funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur
And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a threefold cord is not easily broken.
4:12. And if a man can prevail against one, two may withstand him, and a threefold cord is broken with difficulty.
4:12. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ all ▾
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:12: And if: This is well illustrated by the fable of the dying father, who, to shew his sons the advantages of union, gave them a bundle of twigs, which could not be broken when bound together, but were easily snapped asunder one by one.
and a: Sa2 23:9, Sa2 23:16, Sa2 23:18, Sa2 23:19, Sa2 23:23; Dan 3:16, Dan 3:17; Eph 4:3
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:12
"And if one shall violently assail him who is alone, two shall withstand him; and (finally) a threefold cord is not quickly broken asunder." The form yithqepho for yithqephehu, Job 15:24, is like hirdepho, Hos 8:3 = hirdephehu, Judg 9:40. If we take תקף in the sense of to overpower, then the meaning is: If one can overpower him who is alone, then, on the contrary, two can maintain their ground against him (Herzf.); but the two אם, Eccles 4:10, Eccles 4:11, which are equivalent to ἐάν, exclude such a pure logical εἰ. And why should תקף, if it can mean overpowering, not also mean doing violence to by means of a sudden attack? In the Mishnic and Arab. it signifies to seize, to lay hold of; in the Aram. אתקף = החזיק, and also at Job 14:20; Job 15:24 (vid., Comm.), it may be understood of a violent assault, as well as of a completed subjugation; as נשׂא means to lift up and carry; עמד, to tread and to stand. But whether it be understood inchoat. or not, in any case האחד is not the assailant, who is much rather the unnamed subj. in יתקפי, but the one (the solitarius) who, if he is alone, must succumb; the construction of hithqepho haehhad follows the scheme of Ex 2:6, "she saw it, the child." To the assault expressed by תקף, there stands opposed the expression נגד עמד, which means to withstand any one with success; as עמד לפני, 4Kings 10:4; Ps 147:17; Dan 8:7, means to maintain one's ground. Of three who hold together, 12a says nothing; the advance from two to three is thus made in the manner of a numerical proverb (vid., Proverbs, vol. I p. 13). If two hold together, that is seen to be good; but if there be three, this threefold bond is likened to a cord formed of three threads, which cannot easily be broken. Instead of the definite specific art. הח הם, we make use of the indefinite. Funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur is one of the winged expressions used by Koheleth.
Geneva 1599
4:12 And if one prevaileth against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold (g) cord is not quickly broken.
(g) By this proverb he declares how necessary it is, that men should live in society.
John Gill
4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him,.... If an enemy, or a thief, or a robber, attack anyone of them, in friendship and fellowship together, and is more than a match for him; both joined together will be able to resist him; so that he shall not succeed in his enterprise, and do the mischief he designed; see 2Kings 10:11; Thus, when Satan attacks a single believer, which he chooses to do when alone; so he tempted Eve in the garden, and Christ in the wilderness; and one or more fellow Christians know of it, they are capable of helping their tempted friend, by their advice and counsel, they not being ignorant of Satan's devices; and by striving together in their prayers to God for him: so when false teachers make their efforts, as they usually do, Satan like, upon the weaker sex, and, when alone, they too often succeed; but when saints stand fast in one spirit, and strive together for the faith of the Gospel, they stand their ground, withstand the enemy, and maintain truth;
and a threefold cord is not quickly broken; or "in haste" (c); as two are better than one, so three or more united together, it is the better still; they are able to make head against an enemy; and to conquer him, "vis unita fortior est": if a family, community, city, or kingdom, are divided against themselves, they cannot stand; but, if united, in all probability nothing can hurt them. This doctrine is taught in the fable of the bundle of sticks the old man gave to his sons to break; which, while fastened together, could not be done; but, when art bound, and took out singly, were easily snapped asunder; teaching them thereby unity among themselves, as their greatest security against their common enemy. The same instruction is given by this threefold cord; while it remains twisted together, it is not easily broke, but if the threads are untwisted and unloosed, they are soon snapped asunder: so persons in religious fellowship, be they more or fewer, while they keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, they are terrible, as an army with banners, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against them. And if this is true of the united love and affections of saints, it must be much more so of the love of Father, Son, and Spirit; that threefold cord, with which the saints are drawn and held; and of which it may be said, that it not only is not quickly broken, but that it cannot be broken at all; and therefore those who are held by it are in the utmost safety. Some apply this to the three principal graces, faith, hope, and love, which are abiding ones; and, though they may sometimes be weak and low in their acts and exercise, can never be lost.
(c) "in festinatia", Montanus; "in celeritate", Vatablus; "in festinatione", Rambachius.
John Wesley
4:12 Prevail - Against either of them.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:12 one--enemy.
threefold cord--proverbial for a combination of many--for example, husband, wife, and children (Prov 11:14); so Christians (Lk 10:1; Col 2:2, Col 2:19). Untwist the cord, and the separate threads are easily "broken."
4:134:13: Լա՛ւ է մանուկ աղքատ եւ իմաստուն՝ քան զթագաւոր ծե՛ր եւ անմիտ. որ ո՛չ իմացաւ հայել եւս[8501] [8501] Ոմանք. Որ ո՛չ եւս իմացաւ հայել։
13 Լաւ է աղքատ եւ իմաստուն տղան, քան թէ ծեր եւ անմիտ թագաւորը, որ էլ չի կարող խորհուրդներ ընկալել,
13 Աղէկ է աղքատ ու իմաստուն տղան, Քան թէ ծեր ու անմիտ թագաւորը, Որ չի գիտեր խրատուիլ։
Լաւ է մանուկ աղքատ եւ իմաստուն` քան զթագաւոր ծեր եւ անմիտ, որ ոչ [42]իմացաւ հայել եւս:

4:13: Լա՛ւ է մանուկ աղքատ եւ իմաստուն՝ քան զթագաւոր ծե՛ր եւ անմիտ. որ ո՛չ իմացաւ հայել եւս[8501]
[8501] Ոմանք. Որ ո՛չ եւս իմացաւ հայել։
13 Լաւ է աղքատ եւ իմաստուն տղան, քան թէ ծեր եւ անմիտ թագաւորը, որ էլ չի կարող խորհուրդներ ընկալել,
13 Աղէկ է աղքատ ու իմաստուն տղան, Քան թէ ծեր ու անմիտ թագաւորը, Որ չի գիտեր խրատուիլ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:134:13 Лучше бедный, но умный юноша, нежели старый, но неразумный царь, который не умеет принимать советы;
4:13 ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good παῖς παις child; boy πένης πενης poor καὶ και and; even σοφὸς σοφος wise ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for βασιλέα βασιλευς monarch; king πρεσβύτερον πρεσβυτερος senior; older καὶ και and; even ἄφρονα αφρων senseless ὃς ος who; what οὐκ ου not ἔγνω γινωσκω know τοῦ ο the προσέχειν προσεχω pay attention; beware ἔτι ετι yet; still
4:13 טֹ֛וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good יֶ֥לֶד yˌeleḏ יֶלֶד boy מִסְכֵּ֖ן miskˌēn מִסְכֵּן poor וְ wᵊ וְ and חָכָ֑ם ḥāḵˈām חָכָם wise מִ mi מִן from מֶּ֤לֶךְ mmˈeleḵ מֶלֶךְ king זָקֵן֙ zāqˌēn זָקֵן old וּ û וְ and כְסִ֔יל ḵᵊsˈîl כְּסִיל insolent אֲשֶׁ֛ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative] לֹא־ lō- לֹא not יָדַ֥ע yāḏˌaʕ ידע know לְ lᵊ לְ to הִזָּהֵ֖ר hizzāhˌēr זהר warn עֹֽוד׃ ʕˈôḏ עֹוד duration
4:13. melior est puer pauper et sapiens rege sene et stulto qui nescit providere in posterumBetter is a child that is poor and wise, than a king that is old and foolish, who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter.
13. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more.
4:13. Better is a boy, poor and wise, than a king, old and foolish, who does not know to look ahead for the sake of posterity.
4:13. Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished:

4:13 Лучше бедный, но умный юноша, нежели старый, но неразумный царь, который не умеет принимать советы;
4:13
ἀγαθὸς αγαθος good
παῖς παις child; boy
πένης πενης poor
καὶ και and; even
σοφὸς σοφος wise
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
βασιλέα βασιλευς monarch; king
πρεσβύτερον πρεσβυτερος senior; older
καὶ και and; even
ἄφρονα αφρων senseless
ὃς ος who; what
οὐκ ου not
ἔγνω γινωσκω know
τοῦ ο the
προσέχειν προσεχω pay attention; beware
ἔτι ετι yet; still
4:13
טֹ֛וב ṭˈôv טֹוב good
יֶ֥לֶד yˌeleḏ יֶלֶד boy
מִסְכֵּ֖ן miskˌēn מִסְכֵּן poor
וְ wᵊ וְ and
חָכָ֑ם ḥāḵˈām חָכָם wise
מִ mi מִן from
מֶּ֤לֶךְ mmˈeleḵ מֶלֶךְ king
זָקֵן֙ zāqˌēn זָקֵן old
וּ û וְ and
כְסִ֔יל ḵᵊsˈîl כְּסִיל insolent
אֲשֶׁ֛ר ʔᵃšˈer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
לֹא־ lō- לֹא not
יָדַ֥ע yāḏˌaʕ ידע know
לְ lᵊ לְ to
הִזָּהֵ֖ר hizzāhˌēr זהר warn
עֹֽוד׃ ʕˈôḏ עֹוד duration
4:13. melior est puer pauper et sapiens rege sene et stulto qui nescit providere in posterum
Better is a child that is poor and wise, than a king that is old and foolish, who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter.
4:13. Better is a boy, poor and wise, than a king, old and foolish, who does not know to look ahead for the sake of posterity.
4:13. Better [is] a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ mh▾ tb▾ all ▾
А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
13-16: Екклезиаст приводит случай, доказывающий изменчивость и непостоянство человеческого счастья. Бедный, но умный юноша занимает место неразумного царя, не умеющего принимать советы. Все переходят на сторону юноши, но, увы, последующее поколение будет холодно и равнодушно к нему.

Лучше (tob) бедный, но умный юноша. Слово tob следует понимать в смысле «счастливее». Но это счастье непродолжительно. Оно — суета и погоня за ветром. Многие комментаторы видели в этих стихах намек на определенные исторические лица: одни – на Иосифа, другие – на Саула и Давида, третьи – на Иеровоама и Равоама и т. п. Но, вероятнее всего, Екклезиаст имел здесь в виду просто возможный случай, чтобы сильнее показать превратность человеческого счастья.
Matthew Henry: Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - 1706
13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. 14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16 There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an uncertain thing; he had before said so (Prov. xxvii. 24, The crown doth not endure to every generation), and his son found it so. Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people's love.
I. A king is not happy unless he have wisdom, v. 13, 14. He that is truly wise, prudent, and pious, though he be poor in the world, and very young, and upon both accounts despised and little taken notice of, is better, more truly valuable and worthy of respect, is likely to do better for himself and to be a greater blessing to his generation, than a king, than an old king, and therefore venerable both for his gravity and for his dignity, if he be foolish, and knows not how to manage public affairs himself nor will be admonished and advised by others--who knows not to be admonished, that is, will not suffer any counsel or admonition to be given him (no one about him dares contradict him) or will not hearken to the counsel and admonition that are given him. It is so far from being any part of the honour of kings that it is the greatest dishonour to them that can be not to be admonished. Folly and wilfulness commonly go together, and those that most need admonition can worst bear it; but neither age nor titles will secure men respect if they have not true wisdom and virtue to recommend them; while wisdom and virtue will gain men honour even under the disadvantages of youth and poverty. To prove the wise child better than the foolish king he shows what each of them comes to, v. 14. 1. A poor man by his wisdom comes to be preferred, as Joseph, who, when he was but young, was brought out of prison to be the second man in the kingdom, to which story Solomon seems here to refer. Providence sometimes raises the poor out of the dust, to set them among princes, Ps. cxiii. 7, 8. Wisdom has wrought not only the liberty of men, but their dignity, raised them from the dunghill, from the dungeon, to the throne. 2. A king by his folly and wilfulness comes to be impoverished. Though he was born in his kingdom, came to it by inheritance, though he has lived to be old in it and has had time to fill his treasures, yet if he take ill courses, and will no more be admonished as he has been, thinking, because he is old, he is past it, he becomes poor; his treasure is exhausted, and perhaps he is forced to resign his crown and retire into privacy.
II. A king is not likely to continue if he have not a confirmed interest in the affections of the people; this is intimated, but somewhat obscurely, in the last two verses. 1. He that is king must have a successor, a second, a child that shall stand up in his stead, his own, suppose, or perhaps that poor and wise child spoken of, v. 13. Kings, when they grow old, must have the mortification of seeing those that are to jostle them out and stand up in their stead. 2. It is common with the people to adore the rising sun: All the living who walk under the sun are with the second child, are in his interests, are conversant with him, and make their court to him more than to the father, whom they look upon as going off, and despise because his best days are past. Solomon considered this; he saw this to be the disposition of his own people, which appeared immediately after his death, in their complaints of his government and their affectation of a change. 3. People are never long easy and satisfied: There is no end, no rest, of all the people; they are continually fond of changes, and know not what they would have. 4. This is no new thing, but it has been the way of all that have been before them; there have been instances of this in every age: even Samuel and David could not always please. 5. As it has been, so it is likely to be still: Those that come after will be of the same spirit, and shall not long rejoice in him whom at first they seemed extremely fond of. To-day, Hosanna--tomorrow, Crucify. 6. It cannot but be a great grief to princes to see themselves thus slighted by those they have studied to oblige and have depended upon; there is no faith in man, no stedfastness. This is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:13: Better is a poor and a wise child - The Targum applies this to Abraham. "Abraham was a poor child of only three years of age; but he had the spirit of prophecy, and he refused to worship the idols which the old foolish king - Nimrod - had set up; therefore Nimrod cast him into a furnace of fire. But the Lord worked a miracle and delivered him. Yet here was no knowledge in Nimrod, and he would not be admonished." The Targum proceeds:
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:13
Child - Rather, young man.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:13: is a poor: Ecc 9:15, Ecc 9:16; Gen 37:2; Pro 19:1, Pro 28:6, Pro 28:15, Pro 28:16
will no more be: Heb. knoweth not to be, Kg1 22:8; Ch2 16:9, Ch2 16:10, Ch2 24:20-22, Ch2 25:16
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:13
"Better is a youth poor and wise, than a king old and foolish, who no longer understands how to be warned," - i.e., who increases his folly by this, that he is "wise in his own eyes," Prov 26:12; earlier, as עוד denotes, he was, in some measure, accessible to the instruction of others in respect of what was wanting to him; but now in his advanced age he is hardened in his folly, bids defiance to all warning counsel, and undermines his throne. The connection of the verb ידע with ל and the inf. (for which elsewhere only the inf. is used) is a favourite form with the author; it means to know anything well, Eccles 5:1; Eccles 6:8; Eccles 10:15; here is meant an understanding resting on the knowledge of oneself and on the knowledge of men. נזהר is here and at Eccles 12:12, Ps 19:12, a Niph. tolerativum, such as the synon. נוסר, Ps 2:10 : to let oneself be cleared up, made wiser, enlightened, warned. After this contrast, the idea connected with חכם also defines itself. A young man (ילד, as at Dan 1:4, but also Gen 4:23) is meant who (vid., above, p. 639, under misken) yet excels the old imbecile and childish king, in that he perceives the necessity of a fundamental change in the present state of public matters, and knows how to master the situation to such a degree that he raises himself to the place of ruler over the neglected community.
John Gill
4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king,.... The wise man proceeds to show the vanity of worldly power and dignity, in the highest instance of it, which is kingly; and, in order to illustrate and exemplify this, he supposes, on the one hand, a person possessed of royal honour; who has long enjoyed it, is settled in his kingdom, and advanced in years; and who otherwise, for his gravity and dignity, would be venerable; but that he is foolish, a person of a mean genius and small capacity; has but little knowledge of government, or but little versed in the arts of it, though he has held the reins of it long in his hand; and, which is worst of all, is vicious and wicked: on the other hand, he supposes one that is in his tender years, not yet arrived to manhood; and so may be thought to be giddy and inexperienced, and therefore taken but little notice of; and especially being poor, becomes contemptible, as well as labours under the disadvantage of a poor education; his parents poor, and he not able to get books and masters to teach him knowledge; nor to travel abroad to see the world, and make his observations on men and things; and yet being wise, having a good genius, which he improves in the best manner he can, to his own profit, and to make himself useful in the world; and especially if he is wise and knowing in the best things, and fears God, and serves him; he is more happy, in his present state and circumstances, than the king before described is in his, and is fitter to take his place, and be a king, than he is; for though he is young, yet wise, and improving in knowledge, and willing to be advised and counselled by others, older and wiser than himself; he is much to be preferred to one that is old and foolish;
who will no more be admonished; or, "knows not to be admonished any more" (d): he neither knows how to give nor take advice; he is impatient of all counsel; cannot bear any admonition; is stubborn and self-willed, and resolved to take his own way. The Jews, in their Midrash, Jarchi, and others, interpret it, allegorically, of the good and evil imagination in men, the principle of grace, and the corruption of nature; the one is the new man, the other the old man; the new man is better than old Adam: the Targum applies it to Abraham and Nimrod; the former is the poor and wise child, that feared God, and worshipped him early; the latter, the old and foolish king, who was an idolater, and refused to be admonished of his idolatry; and so the Midrash.
(d) "non novit moneri adhuc", Montanus; "nescit admoneri amplius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Rambachius.
John Wesley
4:13 Better - More happy. Now he proceeds to another vanity, That of honour and power. Than a king - Who hath neither wisdom to govern himself, nor to receive the counsels of wiser men.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:13 The "threefold cord" [Eccles 4:12] of social ties suggests the subject of civil government. In this case too, he concludes that kingly power confers no lasting happiness. The "wise" child, though a supposed case of Solomon, answers, in the event foreseen by the Holy Ghost, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon, and (3Kings 11:26-40) appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. The "old and foolish king" answers to Solomon himself, who had lost his wisdom, when, in defiance of two warnings of God (3Kings 3:14; 3Kings 9:2-9), he forsook God.
will no more be admonished--knows not yet how to take warning (see Margin) God had by Ahijah already intimated the judgment coming on Solomon (3Kings 11:11-13).
4:144:14: եթէ ՚ի տանէ կապանաց ելանիցէ թագաւորել. նա եւ ՚ի թագաւորութեան իւրում եղեւ աղքատ[8502]։ [8502] Ոսկան. ՚Ի տանէ կապանաց ելցէ այլ ոմն առ ՚ի թագաւորել։ Ուր ոմանք. զի եւ ՚ի թագաւորութեանն։
14 որովհետեւ տղան կարող է կալանատնից դուրս գալ եւ թագաւորել, հակառակ որ իր թագաւորութեան մէջ ծնուել էր աղքատ:
14 Քանզի մէկը բանտէն կ’ելլէ, որպէս զի թագաւորէ, Բայց ուրիշ մը, որ թագաւոր* ծնած է, աղքատ կ’ըլլայ։
եթէ`` ի տանէ կապանաց ելանիցէ թագաւորել. նա ի թագաւորութեան իւրում եղեւ աղքատ:

4:14: եթէ ՚ի տանէ կապանաց ելանիցէ թագաւորել. նա եւ ՚ի թագաւորութեան իւրում եղեւ աղքատ[8502]։
[8502] Ոսկան. ՚Ի տանէ կապանաց ելցէ այլ ոմն առ ՚ի թագաւորել։ Ուր ոմանք. զի եւ ՚ի թագաւորութեանն։
14 որովհետեւ տղան կարող է կալանատնից դուրս գալ եւ թագաւորել, հակառակ որ իր թագաւորութեան մէջ ծնուել էր աղքատ:
14 Քանզի մէկը բանտէն կ’ելլէ, որպէս զի թագաւորէ, Բայց ուրիշ մը, որ թագաւոր* ծնած է, աղքատ կ’ըլլայ։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:144:14 ибо тот из темницы выйдет на царство, хотя родился в царстве своем бедным.
4:14 ὅτι οτι since; that ἐξ εκ from; out of οἴκου οικος home; household τῶν ο the δεσμίων δεσμιος prisoner ἐξελεύσεται εξερχομαι come out; go out τοῦ ο the βασιλεῦσαι βασιλευω reign ὅτι οτι since; that καί και and; even γε γε in fact ἐν εν in βασιλείᾳ βασιλεια realm; kingdom αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him ἐγεννήθη γενναω father; born πένης πενης poor
4:14 כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that מִ mi מִן from בֵּ֥ית bbˌêṯ בַּיִת house הָ hā הַ the סוּרִ֖ים sûrˌîm אסר bind יָצָ֣א yāṣˈā יצא go out לִ li לְ to מְלֹ֑ךְ mᵊlˈōḵ מלך be king כִּ֛י kˈî כִּי that גַּ֥ם gˌam גַּם even בְּ bᵊ בְּ in מַלְכוּתֹ֖ו malᵊḵûṯˌô מַלְכוּת kingship נֹולַ֥ד nôlˌaḏ ילד bear רָֽשׁ׃ rˈāš רושׁ be poor
4:14. quod et de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatur ad regnum et alius natus in regno inopia consumaturBecause out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a kingdom: and another born king is consumed with poverty.
14. For out of prison he came forth to be king; yea, even in his kingdom he was born poor.
4:14. For sometimes, one goes forth from prison and chains, to a kingdom, while another, born to kingly power, is consumed by need.
4:14. For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.
For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor:

4:14 ибо тот из темницы выйдет на царство, хотя родился в царстве своем бедным.
4:14
ὅτι οτι since; that
ἐξ εκ from; out of
οἴκου οικος home; household
τῶν ο the
δεσμίων δεσμιος prisoner
ἐξελεύσεται εξερχομαι come out; go out
τοῦ ο the
βασιλεῦσαι βασιλευω reign
ὅτι οτι since; that
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
ἐν εν in
βασιλείᾳ βασιλεια realm; kingdom
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
ἐγεννήθη γενναω father; born
πένης πενης poor
4:14
כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that
מִ mi מִן from
בֵּ֥ית bbˌêṯ בַּיִת house
הָ הַ the
סוּרִ֖ים sûrˌîm אסר bind
יָצָ֣א yāṣˈā יצא go out
לִ li לְ to
מְלֹ֑ךְ mᵊlˈōḵ מלך be king
כִּ֛י kˈî כִּי that
גַּ֥ם gˌam גַּם even
בְּ bᵊ בְּ in
מַלְכוּתֹ֖ו malᵊḵûṯˌô מַלְכוּת kingship
נֹולַ֥ד nôlˌaḏ ילד bear
רָֽשׁ׃ rˈāš רושׁ be poor
4:14. quod et de carcere catenisque interdum quis egrediatur ad regnum et alius natus in regno inopia consumatur
Because out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a kingdom: and another born king is consumed with poverty.
4:14. For sometimes, one goes forth from prison and chains, to a kingdom, while another, born to kingly power, is consumed by need.
4:14. For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also [he that is] born in his kingdom becometh poor.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:14: For out of prison he cometh to reign - "Then Abraham left the country of the idolaters, where he had been imprisoned, and came and reigned over the land of Canaan; and Nimrod became poor in this world." This is the fact to which the ancient rabbins supposed Solomon to allude.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:14
Rather: For out of the house of bondage he goes forth to be a king; although he was born poor in his kingdom, i. e., in the country over which he became king.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:14: For out: This is probably an allusion to some fact with which we are unacquainted. History furnishes many instances of mean persons raised to sovereign authority, and of kings being reduced to the meanest offices, and to a morsel. Agrippa mounted the throne of Israel after having been long in prison; and similar instances are not wanting in modern times. Gen 41:14, Gen 41:33-44; Job 5:11; Psa 113:7, Psa 113:8
also: Kg1 14:26, Kg1 14:27; Kg2 23:31-34, Kg2 24:1, Kg2 24:2, Kg2 24:6, Kg2 24:12, Kg2 25:7, Kg2 25:27-30; Lam 4:20; Dan 4:31
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:14
"For out of the prison-house he goeth forth to reign as king, although he was born as a poor man in his kingdom." With כּי the properties of poverty and wisdom attributed to the young man are verified, - wisdom in this, that he knew how to find the way from a prison to a throne. As harammim, 2Chron 22:5 = haarammim, 4Kings 8:28, so hasurim = haasurim (cf. masoreth = maasoreth, Ezek 20:37); beth haasirim (Kerı̂; haasurim), Judg 16:21, Judg 16:25, and beth haesur, Jer 38:15, designate the prison; cf. Mod katan, Eccles 3:1. The modern form of the language prefers this elision of the א, e.g., אפלּוּ = אף אלּוּ, אלתּר = אל־אתר, בּתר post = בּאתר contra, etc. The perf. יחא is also thought of as having reached the throne, and having pre-eminence assigned to him as such. He has come forth from the prison to become king, רשׁ ... כּי. Zckler translates: "Whereas also he that was born in his kingdom was poor," and adds the remark: "גם כי, after the כי of the preceding clause, does not so much introduce a verification of it, as much rather an intensification; by which is expressed, that the prisoner has not merely transitorily fallen into such misery, but that he was born in poor and lowly circumstances, and that in his own kingdom בּם, i.e., in the same land which he should afterwards rule as king." But גם כי is nowhere used by Koheleth in the sense of "ja auch" (= whereas also); and also where it is thus to be translated, as at Jer 14:18; Jer 23:11, it is used in the sense of "denn auch" (= for also), assigning proof. The fact is, that this group of particles, according as כי is thought of as demonst. or relat., means either "denn auch," Eccles 4:16; Eccles 7:22; Eccles 8:16, or "wenn auch" = ἐὰν καί, as here and at Eccles 8:12. In the latter case, it is related to כּי גּם (sometimes also merely גּם, Ps 95:9; Mal 3:15), as ἐὰν (εἰ) καί, although, notwithstanding, is to καὶ ἐάν (εἰ), even although.
(Note: That the accentuation separates the two words גם־ כי is to be judged from this, that it almost everywhere prefers אם־ כי (vid., under Comm. to Ps 1:2).)
Thus 14b, connecting itself with למלך, is to be translated: "although he was born (נולד,not נולד) in his kingdom as a poor man."
(Note: נולד רש cannot mean "to become poor." Grtz appeals to the Mishnic language; but no intelligent linguist will use נולד רשׁ of a man in any other sense than that he is originally poor.)
We cannot also concur with Zckler in the view that the suff. of :_b refers to the young upstart: in the kingdom which should afterwards become his; for this reason, that the suff. of תח, Eccles 4:16, refers to the old king, and thus also that this designation may be mediated, בם must refer to him. מלכות signifies kingdom, reign, realm; here, the realm, as at Neh 9:35, Dan 5:11; 6:29. Grtz thinks Eccles 4:13-16 ought to drive expositors to despair. But hitherto we have found no room for despair in obtaining a meaning from them. What follows also does not perplex us. The author describes how all the world hails the entrance of the new youthful king on his government, and gathers together under his sceptre.
Geneva 1599
4:14 For out of (h) prison he cometh to reign; though also [he that is] (i) born in his kingdom becometh poor.
(h) That is, from a poor and base estate or out of trouble and prison as Joseph did, (Gen 41:14).
(i) Meaning, that is born a king.
John Gill
4:14 For out of prison he cometh to reign,.... That is, this is sometimes the case of a poor and wise child; he rises out of a low, mean, abject, obscure state and condition, to the highest dignity; from a prison house, or a place where servants are, to sit among princes, and even to have the supreme authority: so Joseph, to whose case Solomon is thought to have respect, and which is mentioned in the Midrash; who was but a young man, and poor and friendless, but wise; and was even laid in prison, though innocent and guiltless, from whence he was fetched, and became the second man in the kingdom of Egypt; so David, the youngest of Jesse's sons, was taken from the sheepfold, and set upon the throne of Israel: though Gussetius (e) interprets this of the old and foolish king, who comes out of the house or family, of degenerate persons, as he translates the word, with a degenerate genius to rule; the allusion being to a degenerate vine; which sense agrees with Eccles 4:13, and with what follows;
whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor; who is born of royal parents, born to a kingdom; is by birth heir to one, has it by inheritance, and has long possessed it; and yet, by his own misconduct, or by the rebellion of his subjects, he is dethroned and banished; or by a foreign power is taken and carried captive, and reduced to the utmost poverty, as Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar, and others: or if born poor, so Gussetius; with a poor genius, not capable of ruling, and so loses his kingdom, and comes to poverty. Or it may be rendered, "although in his kingdom he is born poor" (f); that is, though the poor and wise child is born poor in the kingdom of the old and foolish king; yet, out of this low estate, in which he is by birth, he comes and enjoys the kingdom in his room to such a strange turn of affairs are the highest honours subject: or, "for in his kingdom he is born poor" (g); even the person that is born heir to a crown is born a poor man; he comes as naked out of his mother's womb as the poorest man does; the conditions of both are equal as to birth; and therefore it need not seem strange that one out of prison should come to a kingdom. But the first sense seems best.
(e) Ebr. Comment. p. 553. (f) "quamvis etiam", Gejerus. (g) "Nam etiam", Tigurine version, Cocceius; "quia etiam", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt, Rambachius, so Aben Ezra.
John Wesley
4:14 For he - The poor and wise child is often advanced to the highest dignity. Whereas - That old king is deprived of his kingdom.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:14 out of prison--Solomon uses this phrase of a supposed case; for example, Joseph raised from a dungeon to be lord of Egypt. His words are at the same time so framed by the Holy Ghost that they answer virtually to Jeroboam, who fled to escape a "prison" and death from Solomon, to Shishak of Egypt (3Kings 11:40). This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul (which may have been before Solomon's mind), had so far their counterpart in that of Jeroboam.
whereas . . . becometh poor--rather, "though he (the youth) was born poor in his kingdom" (in the land where afterwards he was to reign).
4:154:15: Տեսի ես զամենայն կենդանիս որ գնան ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական, հանդերձ երիտասարդաւն երկրորդաւ որ յարիցէ փոխանակ նորա[8503]։ [8503] Ոմանք. Տեսի միանգամայն զամենայն կենդանիս որ շրջին ՚ի ներ՛՛... որ յառնելոցն է փոխանակ նորա։
15 Ես տեսայ, որ արեգակի ներքոյ բոլոր ապրողները գնում են այն տղայի՝ այն երկրորդի հետ, որ պիտի փոխարինի նրան:
15 Տեսայ արեւուն տակ քալող բոլոր կենդանիները Այն տղուն հետ, որ թագաւորին երկրորդն էր Ու անոր տեղը պիտի անցնէր
Տեսի ես զամենայն կենդանիս որ գնան ի ներքոյ արեգական, հանդերձ երիտասարդաւն երկրորդաւ որ յարիցէ փոխանակ նորա:

4:15: Տեսի ես զամենայն կենդանիս որ գնան ՚ի ներքոյ արեգական, հանդերձ երիտասարդաւն երկրորդաւ որ յարիցէ փոխանակ նորա[8503]։
[8503] Ոմանք. Տեսի միանգամայն զամենայն կենդանիս որ շրջին ՚ի ներ՛՛... որ յառնելոցն է փոխանակ նորա։
15 Ես տեսայ, որ արեգակի ներքոյ բոլոր ապրողները գնում են այն տղայի՝ այն երկրորդի հետ, որ պիտի փոխարինի նրան:
15 Տեսայ արեւուն տակ քալող բոլոր կենդանիները Այն տղուն հետ, որ թագաւորին երկրորդն էր Ու անոր տեղը պիտի անցնէր
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:154:15 Видел я всех живущих, которые ходят под солнцем, с этим другим юношею, который займет место того.
4:15 εἶδον οραω view; see σὺν συν with; [definite object marker] πάντας πας all; every τοὺς ο the ζῶντας ζαω live; alive τοὺς ο the περιπατοῦντας περιπατεω walk around / along ὑπὸ υπο under; by τὸν ο the ἥλιον ηλιος sun μετὰ μετα with; amid τοῦ ο the νεανίσκου νεανισκος young man τοῦ ο the δευτέρου δευτερος second ὃς ος who; what στήσεται ιστημι stand; establish ἀντ᾿ αντι against; instead of αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
4:15 רָאִ֨יתִי֙ rāʔˈîṯî ראה see אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker] כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole הַ֣ hˈa הַ the חַיִּ֔ים ḥayyˈîm חַי alive הַֽ hˈa הַ the מְהַלְּכִ֖ים mᵊhallᵊḵˌîm הלך walk תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part הַ ha הַ the שָּׁ֑מֶשׁ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun עִ֚ם ˈʕim עִם with הַ ha הַ the יֶּ֣לֶד yyˈeleḏ יֶלֶד boy הַ ha הַ the שֵּׁנִ֔י ššēnˈî שֵׁנִי second אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative] יַעֲמֹ֖ד yaʕᵃmˌōḏ עמד stand תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ taḥtˈāʸw תַּחַת under part
4:15. vidi cunctos viventes qui ambulant sub sole cum adulescente secundo qui consurgit pro eoI saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second young man, who shall rise up in his place.
15. I saw all the living which walk under the sun, that they were with the youth, the second, that stood up in his stead.
4:15. I saw all the living who are walking under the sun, and I saw the next generation, who shall rise up in their places.
4:15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead:

4:15 Видел я всех живущих, которые ходят под солнцем, с этим другим юношею, который займет место того.
4:15
εἶδον οραω view; see
σὺν συν with; [definite object marker]
πάντας πας all; every
τοὺς ο the
ζῶντας ζαω live; alive
τοὺς ο the
περιπατοῦντας περιπατεω walk around / along
ὑπὸ υπο under; by
τὸν ο the
ἥλιον ηλιος sun
μετὰ μετα with; amid
τοῦ ο the
νεανίσκου νεανισκος young man
τοῦ ο the
δευτέρου δευτερος second
ὃς ος who; what
στήσεται ιστημι stand; establish
ἀντ᾿ αντι against; instead of
αὐτοῦ αυτος he; him
4:15
רָאִ֨יתִי֙ rāʔˈîṯî ראה see
אֶת־ ʔeṯ- אֵת [object marker]
כָּל־ kol- כֹּל whole
הַ֣ hˈa הַ the
חַיִּ֔ים ḥayyˈîm חַי alive
הַֽ hˈa הַ the
מְהַלְּכִ֖ים mᵊhallᵊḵˌîm הלך walk
תַּ֣חַת tˈaḥaṯ תַּחַת under part
הַ ha הַ the
שָּׁ֑מֶשׁ ššˈāmeš שֶׁמֶשׁ sun
עִ֚ם ˈʕim עִם with
הַ ha הַ the
יֶּ֣לֶד yyˈeleḏ יֶלֶד boy
הַ ha הַ the
שֵּׁנִ֔י ššēnˈî שֵׁנִי second
אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʔᵃšˌer אֲשֶׁר [relative]
יַעֲמֹ֖ד yaʕᵃmˌōḏ עמד stand
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ taḥtˈāʸw תַּחַת under part
4:15. vidi cunctos viventes qui ambulant sub sole cum adulescente secundo qui consurgit pro eo
I saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second young man, who shall rise up in his place.
4:15. I saw all the living who are walking under the sun, and I saw the next generation, who shall rise up in their places.
4:15. I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
ru▾ LXX-gloss▾ bhs-gloss▾ vulgate▾ erva_1895▾ catholic_pdv▾ kjv_1900▾
jfb▾ jw▾ jg▾ gnv▾ kad▾ tr▾ ab▾ ac▾ all ▾
Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:15: With the second child that shall stand up - The Targum applies this to the case of Jeroboam and Rehoboam. History affords many instances of mean persons raised to sovereign authority, and of kings being reduced to the meanest offices, and to a morsel of bread. Agrippa himself ascended the throne of Israel after having been long in prison. See Josephus, Ant. lib. 18: c. 8. This the heathens attributed to fortune.
Si fortuna volet, fies de rhetore consul;
Si volet haec eadem, fies de consule rhetor.
Juv. Sat. vii., ver. 197.
Though I have given what the Jews suppose to be the allusion in these verses, yet the reader may doubt whether the reference be correct. There is a case implied, whether from fact or assumption I cannot say; but it seems to be this:
A king who had abused the authority vested in him by oppressing the people, had a son whose prudent conduct promised much comfort to the nation, when he should come to the throne. The father, seeing the popular wish, and becoming jealous of his son, shut him up in prison. In the interim the old king either dies or is deposed, and the son is brought out of prison, and placed on the throne. Then (Ecc 4:15, Ecc 4:16) multitudes of the people flock to him, and begin to walk under the sun; i.e., the prosperous state to which the nation is raised by its redemption from the former tyranny. However, the wise man insinuates that this sunshine will not last long. The young king, feeling the reins in his own hands, and being surrounded by those whose interest it was to flatter in order to obtain and continue in court favor, he also becomes corrupted so that those who come after shall have no cause of rejoicing in him. This appears to be the case; and similar cases have frequently occurred, not only in Asiatic, but also in European history, I have, in another place, referred to the case of Rushn Achter, who was brought out of prison and set upon the throne of Hindoostan. This is expressed in the following elegant Persian couplet, where his fortune is represented as similar to that of the patriarch Joseph: -
"The bright star is now become a moon:
Joseph is taken out of prison, and become a king."
Rushn Achter signifies a bright or splendid star.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:15
I considered ... - literally, I saw "all the population of the young man's kingdom."
The second child - This second youth is generally understood to be identical with the one mentioned in Ecc 4:13.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:15: child: Sa2 15:6
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
4:15
"I saw all the living which walk under the sun on the side of the youth, the second who shall enter upon the place of the former: no end of all the people, all those at whose head he stands." The author, by the expression "I saw," places himself back in the time of the change of government. If we suppose that he represents this to himself in a lively manner, then the words are to be translated: of the second who shall be his successor; but if we suppose that he seeks to express from the standpoint of the past that which, lying farther back in the past, was now for the first time future, then the future represents the time to come in the past, as at 4Kings 3:27; Ps 78:6; Job 15:28 (Hitz.): of the second who should enter on his place (עמד, to step to, to step forth, of the new king, Dan 8:23; Dan 11:2.; cf. קוּם, 3Kings 8:20). The designation of the crowd which, as the pregnant עם expresses, gathered by the side of the young successor to the old king, by "all the living, those walking under the sun (המה, perhaps intentionally the pathetic word for הלכים, Isa 42; 5)," would remain a hyperbole, even although the throne of the Asiatic world-ruler had been intended; still the expression, so absolute in its universality, would in that case be more natural (vid., the conjectural reference to Cyrus and Astygates). השּׁני, Ewald refers to the successor to the king, the second after the king, and translates: "to the second man who should reign in his stead;" but the second man in this sense has certainly never been the child of fortune; one must then think of Joseph, who, however, remains the second man. Hitzig rightly: "The youth is the second שׁני, not אחר, in contrast to the king, who, as his predecessor, is the first." "Yet," he continues, "הילד should be the appos. and השׁני the principal word," i.e., instead of: with the second youth, was to be expected: with the second, the youth. It is true, we may either translate: with the second youth, or: with the second, the youth - the_ form of expression has in its something incorrect, for it has the appearance as if it treated of two youths. But similar are the expressions, Mt 8:21, ἓτερος κ.τ.λ., "another, and that, too, one of His disciples;" and Lk 23:32, ἤγοντο κ.τ.λ All the world ranks itself by the side (thus we may also express it) of the second youthful king, so that he comes to stand at the head of an endless multitude. The lxx, Jerome, and the Venet. render incorrectly the all (the multitude) as the subject of the relative clause, which Luther, after the Syr., corrects by reading לפניו for לפניהם: of the people that went for him there was no end. Rightly the Targ.: at whose head (= בּרישׁיהון) he had the direction, לפני, as with יצא ובא, 1Kings 18:16; 2Chron 1:10; Ps 68:8, etc. All the world congregates about him, follows his leadership; but his history thus splendidly begun, viewed backwards, is a history of hopes falsified.
"And yet they who come after do not rejoice in him: for that also is vain, and a grasping after the wind." For all that, and in spite of that (gam has here this meaning, as at Eccles 6:7; Jer 6:15; Ps 129:2; Ewald, 354a), posterity (הא, as at Eccles 1:11; cf. Is 41:4) has no joy in this king, - the hopes which his contemporaries placed in the young king, who had seized the throne and conquered their hearts, afterwards proved to be delusions; and also this history, at first so beautiful, and afterwards so hateful, contributed finally to the confirmation of the truth, that all under the sun is vain. As to the historical reminiscence from the time of the Ptolemies, in conformity with which Hitzig (in his Comm.) thinks this figure is constructed; Grtz here, as always, rocks himself in Herodian dreams. In his Comm., Hitz. guesses first of Jeroboam, along with Rehoboam the שׁני ילד, who rebelled against King Solomon, who in his old age had become foolish. In an essay, "Zur Exeg. u. Kritik des B. Koheleth," in Hilgenfeld's Zeitschr. XIV 566ff., Saul, on the contrary, appears to him to be the old and foolish king, and David the poor wise youth who rose to the throne, and took possession of the whole kingdom, but in his latter days experienced desertion and adversities; for those who came after (the younger men) had no delight in him, but rebelled against him. But in relation to Saul, who came from the plough to be king, David, who was called from being a shepherd, is not נולד רשׁ; and to Jewish history this Saul, whose nobler self is darkened by melancholy, but again brightens forth, and who to his death maintained the dignity of a king of Israel, never at any time appears as וכסיל ... מלך. Moreover, by both combinations of that which is related with the הסורים בּית (for which הסּ is written) of the history of the old Israelitish kings, a meaning contrary to the usage of the language must be extracted. It is true that סוּר, as the so-called particip. perfecti, may mean "gone aside (to a distance)," Is 49:21; Jer 17:13; and we may, at any rate, by סורים, think on that poor rabble which at first gathered around David, 1Kings 22:2, regarded as outcasts from honourable society. But בית will not accord therewith. That David came forth from the house (home) of the estranged or separated, is and remains historically an awkward expression, linguistically obscure, and not in accordance with the style of Koheleth. In order to avoid this incongruity, Bttcher regards Antiochus the Great as the original of the ילד. He was the second son of his father, who died 225. When a hopeful youth of fifteen years of age, he was recalled to the throne from a voluntary banishment into Farther Asia, very soon gained against his old cousin and rival Achaeus, who was supported by Egypt, a large party, and remained for several years esteemed as a prince and captain; he disappointed, however, at a later time, the confidence which was reposed in him. But granting that the voluntary exile of Antiochus might be designated as האס בית, he was yet not a poor man, born poor, but was the son of King Seleucus Callincus; and his older relative and rival Achaeus wished indeed to become king, but never attained unto it. Hence השׁני is not the youth as second son of his father, but as second on the throne, in relation to the dethroned king reckoned as the first. Thus, far from making it probable that the Book of Koheleth originated in the time of the Diadochs, this combination of Bttcher's also stands on a feeble foundation, and falls in ruins when assailed.
The section Eccl 1:12-4:16, to which we have prefixed the superscription, "Koheleth's Experiences and their Results," has now reached its termination, and here for the first time we meet with a characteristic peculiarity in the composition of the book: the narrative sections, in which Koheleth, on the ground of his own experiences and observations, registers the vanities of earthly life, terminate in series of proverbs in which the I of the preacher retires behind the objectivity of the exhortations, rules, and principles obtained from experience, here recorded. The first of these series of proverbs which here follows is the briefest, but also the most complete in internal connection.
Geneva 1599
4:15 I considered all the living who walk under the sun, (k) with the second child that shall stand up in his stead.
(k) Who follow and flatter the king's son, or him that will succeed to enter into credit with them in hope of gain.
John Gill
4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun,.... All men that were then alive, who were capable of walking upon the earth; even all of them that were under the heavens, in every land and nation, under whatsoever dominion or government: these, and their manners, Solomon had particularly observed, and made his remarks upon, by which it appeared how fickle the minds of the populace were under every government, and how precarious and uncertain were the honour and dignity of princes;
with the second child that shall stand up in his stead: the heir and successor or every prince, that shall rise up and take the throne of his father or predecessor, and reign in his stead. The wise man observed how the people commonly behaved towards him; how that they generally stood best affected to him, than to the reigning prince; worshipped the rising sun, courted his favour and friendship, soothed and flattered him; expressing their wishes to see him on the throne, and treated with neglect and contempt their lawful sovereign. Some, contrary to the accents, connect this with the word "walk" (h); that walk with the second child, join themselves to him, converse with him, and show him great respect and honour: and there are others that, by this second child, understand the poor and wise child, that succeeds the old and foolish king, whom yet, in time, the people grow weary of; such is the levity and inconstancy of people, that they are not long pleased with princes, old or young, wise or foolish. The Targum interprets this of the foresight Solomon had, by a spirit of prophecy, of those that rebelled against his son Rehoboam, and of those that cleaved unto him, who was his second, and reigned in his stead. Noldius (i) thinks Solomon refers to the history of his friend Hiram, king of Tyre, whose kingdom, in his and in his son's time, was very large, flourishing, and opulent, but in a following reign not so; and he renders and paraphrases the words thus,
""I saw all the works under the sun; with Baleazarus, the son of a friend" (Hiram, for rendered "second", is the same as "a friend"), "who shall stand" or "reign after him: there is no end of all the people",'' &c.
the kingdom in those two reigns being flourishing; yet posterity shall not rejoice in him, in Abdastratus, the grandson of Hiram, destroyed by the four sons of his nurse (k).
(h) So the Tigurine version, Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus. (i) Concord. Part. Ebr. No. 1023. (k) Meander apud Joseph. Contr. Apion. l. 1. s. 18.
John Wesley
4:15 I considered - The general disposition of common people, in all kingdoms, that they are fickle and inconstant. With the second child - This may be understood of the king's child, or son and heir, called second, in respect of his father, whose successor he is. Stand up - Arise to reign.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:15 "I considered all the living," the present generation, in relation to ("with") the "second youth" (the "legitimate successor" of the "old king," as opposed to the "poor youth," the one first spoken of, about to be raised from poverty to a throne), that is, Rehoboam.
in his stead--the old king's.
4:164:16: Ո՛չ գոյ կատարումն ամենայն ժողովրդեանն, ամենեցուն որք եղեն յառաջ քան զնոսա։ Նա եւ յետինքն ո՛չ լինին ուրա՛խ ՚ի վերայ նորա. զի եւ ա՛յն ինքն ունայնութիւն է եւ յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ[8504]։[8504] Ոմանք. Ո՛չ գոյ վախճան ամենայն ժո՛՛... զի եւ այն սնոտի է եւ յօժա՛՛։
16 Վերջ չկար ամբողջ ժողովրդին, բոլորին, որ եղել էին նրանցից առաջ, բայց յետոյ եկողներն էլ պիտի չուրախանան նոր թագաւորով. բայց դա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ հոգու տանջանք:
16 Անոնց առջեւ կեցող* բոլոր ժողովուրդը անթիւ էր. Սակայն ետքը եկողներն ալ պիտի չուրախանան։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն Ու հոգիի տանջանք է։
Ոչ գոյ [43]կատարումն ամենայն ժողովրդեանն, ամենեցուն որք եղեն յառաջ քան զնոսա. նա եւ յետինքն ոչ լինիցին ուրախ ի վերայ նորա. զի եւ այն ինքն ունայնութիւն է եւ [44]յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ:

4:16: Ո՛չ գոյ կատարումն ամենայն ժողովրդեանն, ամենեցուն որք եղեն յառաջ քան զնոսա։ Նա եւ յետինքն ո՛չ լինին ուրա՛խ ՚ի վերայ նորա. զի եւ ա՛յն ինքն ունայնութիւն է եւ յօժարութիւն ոգւոյ[8504]։
[8504] Ոմանք. Ո՛չ գոյ վախճան ամենայն ժո՛՛... զի եւ այն սնոտի է եւ յօժա՛՛։
16 Վերջ չկար ամբողջ ժողովրդին, բոլորին, որ եղել էին նրանցից առաջ, բայց յետոյ եկողներն էլ պիտի չուրախանան նոր թագաւորով. բայց դա եւս ունայնութիւն է եւ հոգու տանջանք:
16 Անոնց առջեւ կեցող* բոլոր ժողովուրդը անթիւ էր. Սակայն ետքը եկողներն ալ պիտի չուրախանան։Ասիկա ալ ունայնութիւն Ու հոգիի տանջանք է։
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:164:16 Не было числа всему народу, который был перед ним, хотя позднейшие не порадуются им. И это суета и томление духа!
4:16 οὐκ ου not ἔστιν ειμι be περασμὸς περασμος the παντὶ πας all; every λαῷ λαος populace; population τοῖς ο the πᾶσιν πας all; every ὅσοι οσος as much as; as many as ἐγένοντο γινομαι happen; become ἔμπροσθεν εμπροσθεν in front; before αὐτῶν αυτος he; him καί και and; even γε γε in fact οἱ ο the ἔσχατοι εσχατος last; farthest part οὐκ ου not εὐφρανθήσονται ευφραινω celebrate; cheer ἐν εν in αὐτῷ αυτος he; him ὅτι οτι since; that καί και and; even γε γε in fact τοῦτο ουτος this; he ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality καὶ και and; even προαίρεσις προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:16 אֵֽין־ ʔˈên- אַיִן [NEG] קֵ֣ץ qˈēṣ קֵץ end לְ lᵊ לְ to כָל־ ḵol- כֹּל whole הָ hā הַ the עָ֗ם ʕˈām עַם people לְ lᵊ לְ to כֹ֤ל ḵˈōl כֹּל whole אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative] הָיָה֙ hāyˌā היה be לִ li לְ to פְנֵיהֶ֔ם fᵊnêhˈem פָּנֶה face גַּ֥ם gˌam גַּם even הָ hā הַ the אַחֲרֹונִ֖ים ʔaḥᵃrônˌîm אַחֲרֹון at the back לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not יִשְׂמְחוּ־ yiśmᵊḥû- שׂמח rejoice בֹ֑ו vˈô בְּ in כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that גַם־ ḡam- גַּם even זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath וְ wᵊ וְ and רַעְיֹ֥ון raʕyˌôn רַעְיֹון striving רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:16. infinitus numerus est populi omnium qui fuerunt ante eum et qui postea futuri sunt non laetabuntur in eo sed et hoc vanitas et adflictio spiritusThe number of the people, of all that were before him is infinite: and they that shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him: but this also is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
16. There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
4:16. The number of people, out of all who existed before these, is boundless. And those who will exist afterwards shall not rejoice in them. But this, too, is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.
4:16. [There is] no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
There is no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit:

4:16 Не было числа всему народу, который был перед ним, хотя позднейшие не порадуются им. И это суета и томление духа!
4:16
οὐκ ου not
ἔστιν ειμι be
περασμὸς περασμος the
παντὶ πας all; every
λαῷ λαος populace; population
τοῖς ο the
πᾶσιν πας all; every
ὅσοι οσος as much as; as many as
ἐγένοντο γινομαι happen; become
ἔμπροσθεν εμπροσθεν in front; before
αὐτῶν αυτος he; him
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
οἱ ο the
ἔσχατοι εσχατος last; farthest part
οὐκ ου not
εὐφρανθήσονται ευφραινω celebrate; cheer
ἐν εν in
αὐτῷ αυτος he; him
ὅτι οτι since; that
καί και and; even
γε γε in fact
τοῦτο ουτος this; he
ματαιότης ματαιοτης superficiality
καὶ και and; even
προαίρεσις προαιρεσις spirit; wind
4:16
אֵֽין־ ʔˈên- אַיִן [NEG]
קֵ֣ץ qˈēṣ קֵץ end
לְ lᵊ לְ to
כָל־ ḵol- כֹּל whole
הָ הַ the
עָ֗ם ʕˈām עַם people
לְ lᵊ לְ to
כֹ֤ל ḵˈōl כֹּל whole
אֲשֶׁר־ ʔᵃšer- אֲשֶׁר [relative]
הָיָה֙ hāyˌā היה be
לִ li לְ to
פְנֵיהֶ֔ם fᵊnêhˈem פָּנֶה face
גַּ֥ם gˌam גַּם even
הָ הַ the
אַחֲרֹונִ֖ים ʔaḥᵃrônˌîm אַחֲרֹון at the back
לֹ֣א lˈō לֹא not
יִשְׂמְחוּ־ yiśmᵊḥû- שׂמח rejoice
בֹ֑ו vˈô בְּ in
כִּֽי־ kˈî- כִּי that
גַם־ ḡam- גַּם even
זֶ֥ה zˌeh זֶה this
הֶ֖בֶל hˌevel הֶבֶל breath
וְ wᵊ וְ and
רַעְיֹ֥ון raʕyˌôn רַעְיֹון striving
רֽוּחַ׃ rˈûₐḥ רוּחַ wind
4:16. infinitus numerus est populi omnium qui fuerunt ante eum et qui postea futuri sunt non laetabuntur in eo sed et hoc vanitas et adflictio spiritus
The number of the people, of all that were before him is infinite: and they that shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him: but this also is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
4:16. The number of people, out of all who existed before these, is boundless. And those who will exist afterwards shall not rejoice in them. But this, too, is emptiness and an affliction of the spirit.
4:16. [There is] no end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
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Adam Clarke: Commentary on the Bible - 1831
4:16: There is no end of all the people - This is supposed to refer to the multitudes of people who hail the advent and accession of a new sovereign; for, as Suetonius remarks, A plerisque adorari solem orientem, "Most people adore the rising sun." But when the new king becomes old, very few regard him; and perhaps he lives long enough to be as much despised by the very persons who before were ready to worship him. This is also a miserable vanity. Thus the blooming heir: -
"Shall feel the sad reverse: honored awhile;
Then, like his sire, contemn'd, abhorr'd, forgot."
C.
Albert Barnes: Notes on the Bible - 1834
4:16
There is - Rather: There was.
That have been before them - Rather, before whom he was, i. e., at the head of whom the young king was. Compare Mic 2:13.
They also that ... him - i. e., The next generation shall forget this chosen king.
R. A. Torrey - Treasury: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge - 1880
4:16: no end: Sa2 15:12, Sa2 15:13; Kg1 1:5-7, Kg1 1:40, Kg1 12:10-16
they also: Jdg 9:19, Jdg 9:20; Sa2 18:7, Sa2 18:8, Sa2 19:9
this: Ecc 1:14, Ecc 2:11, Ecc 2:17, Ecc 2:26
Geneva 1599
4:16 [There is] no (l) end of all the people, [even] of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
(l) They never cease by all means to creep into favour, but when they do not obtain their greedy desires they think themselves abused, as others have been in times past, and so care no more for him.
John Gill
4:16 There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them,.... Before the present generation, the living that walked under the sun; a vast number they were that lived before them, and they were of the same restless temper and disposition; changeable in their affection and behaviour towards their governors; no end of their number, nor any stable affection for, nor settled satisfaction in, their rulers; but this itch of novelty, of having new princes over them, went from age to age, from generation to generation. Some understand this of the king and his son, the predecessor and successor, and of those that went before them; and of their behaviour to the kings that reigned before them; the people have not their end or satisfaction in their governors, but are restless: which comes to the same sense;
they also that come after shall not rejoice in him; that come after the present generation, and after both the reigning prince, and even after his successor; they will not rejoice long in him that shall be upon the throne after them, any more than the present subjects of the old king, or those that now pay their court to the heir apparent; they will be so far from rejoicing in him, that they will loath and despise him, and wish him dead or dethroned, and another in his room.
Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit; to a king, to see himself thus used by his subjects; for a short time extolled and praised, and then despised and forsaken.
John Wesley
4:16 No end - This humour of the common people hath no end, but passes from one generation to another. Before them - Before the present generation. And so here are three generations of people noted, the authors of the present change, and their parents, and their children; and all are observed to have the same inclinations. In him - They shall be as weary of the successor, though a wise and worthy prince, as their parents were of his foolish predecessor.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
4:16 Notwithstanding their now worshipping the rising sun, the heir-apparent, I reflected that "there were no bounds, no stability (2Kings 15:6; 2Kings 20:1), no check on the love of innovation, of all that have been before them," that is, the past generation; so
also they that come after--that is, the next generation,
shall not rejoice in him--namely, Rehoboam. The parallel, "shall not rejoice," fixes the sense of "no bounds," no permanent adherence, though now men rejoice in him.
4:174:17: Զգուշացիր ոտին քում որով երթայցես ՚ի տուն Աստուծոյ. եւ մե՛րձ լեր ՚ի լսել[8505]. [8505] Ոմանք. Զգոյշ լեր ոտին քում որով երթաս ՚ի... եւ մերձ լիցին ՚ի։
17 Զգո՛յշ եղիր քայլիդ համար, երբ Աստծու տուն ես գնում,

Զգուշացիր ոտին քում [45]որով երթայցես ի տուն Աստուծոյ:

4:17: Զգուշացիր ոտին քում որով երթայցես ՚ի տուն Աստուծոյ. եւ մե՛րձ լեր ՚ի լսել[8505].
[8505] Ոմանք. Զգոյշ լեր ոտին քում որով երթաս ՚ի... եւ մերձ լիցին ՚ի։
17 Զգո՛յշ եղիր քայլիդ համար, երբ Աստծու տուն ես գնում,
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:174:17 Наблюдай за ногою твоею, когда идешь в дом Божий,
4:17 φύλαξον φυλασσω guard; keep πόδα πους foot; pace σου σου of you; your ἐν εν in ᾧ ος who; what ἐὰν εαν and if; unless πορεύῃ πορευομαι travel; go εἰς εις into; for οἶκον οικος home; household τοῦ ο the θεοῦ θεος God καὶ και and; even ἐγγὺς εγγυς close τοῦ ο the ἀκούειν ακουω hear ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for δόμα δομα gift τῶν ο the ἀφρόνων αφρων senseless θυσία θυσια immolation; sacrifice σου σου of you; your ὅτι οτι since; that οὔκ ου not εἰσιν ειμι be εἰδότες ειδω realize; have idea τοῦ ο the ποιῆσαι ποιεω do; make κακόν κακος bad; ugly
4:17. custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei multo enim melior est oboedientia quam stultorum victimae qui nesciunt quid faciant maliKeep thy foot, when thou goest into the house of God, and draw nigh to hear. For much better is obedience, than the victims of fools, who know not what evil they do.
KVJ [5.1] Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God:

4:17 Наблюдай за ногою твоею, когда идешь в дом Божий,
4:17
φύλαξον φυλασσω guard; keep
πόδα πους foot; pace
σου σου of you; your
ἐν εν in
ος who; what
ἐὰν εαν and if; unless
πορεύῃ πορευομαι travel; go
εἰς εις into; for
οἶκον οικος home; household
τοῦ ο the
θεοῦ θεος God
καὶ και and; even
ἐγγὺς εγγυς close
τοῦ ο the
ἀκούειν ακουω hear
ὑπὲρ υπερ over; for
δόμα δομα gift
τῶν ο the
ἀφρόνων αφρων senseless
θυσία θυσια immolation; sacrifice
σου σου of you; your
ὅτι οτι since; that
οὔκ ου not
εἰσιν ειμι be
εἰδότες ειδω realize; have idea
τοῦ ο the
ποιῆσαι ποιεω do; make
κακόν κακος bad; ugly
4:17. custodi pedem tuum ingrediens domum Dei multo enim melior est oboedientia quam stultorum victimae qui nesciunt quid faciant mali
Keep thy foot, when thou goest into the house of God, and draw nigh to hear. For much better is obedience, than the victims of fools, who know not what evil they do.
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А. П. Лопухин: Tолковая Библия или комментарий на все книги Св.Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов - 1903-1914
17: До сих пор Екклезиаст рассуждал, знакомил читателя со своими наблюдениями и выводами; теперь он обращается к нему с положительными советами и увещаниями применительно к высказанным ранее положениям. Он подробно описывает настроение человека, ищущего счастья в добром труде и чистых радостях. Такой человек должен тщательно следить за собой во время богослужения, избегая всего, что может нарушить благочестивое расположение духа, сообразуя с ним даже свое внешнее поведение. Его благочестие должно выражаться не столько в механических жертвоприношениях без веры и покаяния, сколько в благоговейном слушании и исполнении слова Божия.

Ибо они не думают, что худо делают. Екклезиаст говорит о своих современниках, жертвы которых, чуждые веры и благоговения, были «мерзостью пред Господом» (ср. Притч 21:27).
4:184:18: քանզի պատուական է քան զտուրս անզգամաց՝ զոհ քո. զի ո՛չ եթէ գիտակ ինչ են առնելոյ բարիս[8506]։[8506] Ոսկան. Զի լաւագոյն է հնազանդութիւն քան զտուրս անզ՛՛։ Ոմանք. Վասն զի ո՛չ են գիտակ բարի առնելոյ։
18 եւ մօտեցի՛ր լսելու համար. որովհետեւ քո զոհն աւելի յարգի է, քան ընծաներն անզգամների, որոնք չգիտեն բարիք գործել:

եւ մերձ լեր ի լսել, [46]քանզի պատուական է քան զտուրս անզգամաց` զոհ քո``, զի ոչ եթէ գիտակ ինչ են [47]առնելոյ բարիս:

4:18: քանզի պատուական է քան զտուրս անզգամաց՝ զոհ քո. զի ո՛չ եթէ գիտակ ինչ են առնելոյ բարիս[8506]։
[8506] Ոսկան. Զի լաւագոյն է հնազանդութիւն քան զտուրս անզ՛՛։ Ոմանք. Վասն զի ո՛չ են գիտակ բարի առնելոյ։
18 եւ մօտեցի՛ր լսելու համար. որովհետեւ քո զոհն աւելի յարգի է, քան ընծաներն անզգամների, որոնք չգիտեն բարիք գործել:
zohrab-1805▾ eastern-1994▾ western am▾
4:18[4:17] и будь готов более к слушанию, нежели к жертвоприношению; ибо они не думают, что худо делают.
KJV [5.2] and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil:

[4:17] и будь готов более к слушанию, нежели к жертвоприношению; ибо они не думают, что худо делают.
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