Ecclesiastes 4:10

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Greed for self 4:7-12The reader cannot miss the folly of working just to accumulate more in this powerful description."Such a man, even with a wife and children, will have little time for them, convinced that he is toiling for their benefit although his heart is elsewhere, devoted and wedded to his projects." [Note: Ibid., pp. 46-47.] Solomon commended sharing, rather than hoarding, by calling attention to several advantages that come from cooperating with other people (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

Vicissitudes of Life. ’Oh, the pity of it!’1-3. The mass of human suffering and the absence of pity are such that better off are the dead and still more the unborn.It is not only through God’s ordinance, but by reason of man’s perversity, that he is disturbed and perplexed by the social disturbances around him. The world is full of trouble. The weak are oppressed by the strong.4-6. Success involves envy. Better be secure and at peace. 4. Right] RV ’skilful,’ RM ’successful.’ For this..... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ecclesiastes 4:10

(10) Woe.—The word occurs only here and in Ecclesiastes 10:16, but is common in post-Biblical Hebrew. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 Compare John Morley's Critical Miscellanies, I. pp. 84 f. Reference. IV. 1. A. W. Momerie, Agnosticism, p. 204. Ecclesiastes 4:8 See Quarles's Emblems, II. 2. Ecclesiastes 4:9 'The best things come, as a general thing,' says Mr. Henry James in his Monograph on Hawthorne (p. 81), 'from the talents that are members of a group; every man works better when he has companions working in the same line, and yielding the stimulus of suggestion, comparison, emulation. Great things... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

SECOND SECTIONThe Quest Of The Chief Good In Devotion To The Affairs Of BusinessEcclesiastes 3:1 - Ecclesiastes 5:20I. IF the true Good is not to be found in the School where Wisdom utters her voice, nor in the Garden in which Pleasure spreads her lures: may it not be found in the Market, in devotion to Business and Public Affairs? The Preacher will try this experiment also. He gives himself to study and consider it. But at the very outset he discovers that he is in the iron grip of immutable... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:9-16

Practical Maxims deduced from this View of the Business life.(b) A noble philosophy this, and pregnant with practical counsels of great value. For if, as we close our study of this Section of the Book, we ask, "What good advice does the Preacher offer that we can take and act upon?" we shall find that he gives us at least three serviceable maxims.A Maxim on Cooperation. Ecclesiastes 4:9-16To all men of business conscious of their special dangers and anxious to avoid them, he says, first:... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

CHAPTER 4 Observations of Different Wrongs 1. Concerning oppressions (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 ) 2. Concerning envy of fools and the rich (Ecclesiastes 4:4-7 ) 3. Concerning the miser (Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 ) 4. Concerning popularity (Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 ) Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 . He observes that the world is filled with oppressions. This connects with the statement made in the previous chapter, (verse 16). Criticism declares in connection with this passage that it could not have been written by... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

MAN’S TIMES (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 ) These are orderly and seasonable, but bring no permanent profit, because man is still ignorant of God’s purpose in them all. He does not know how to fit his work into God’s work. The conclusion is in Ecclesiastes 3:12-15 . GOD’S TIME (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 ) There is a suggestion in verse 17 that this is long. It will be a time, too, of judgment and manifestation (Ecclesiastes 3:17-18 ). Yet, and perhaps because of this, man’s death is not different from... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

A Wise Lesson Ecclesiastes 4:0 Cohleleth appears in this, as in other verses, as a sympathetic man. There is the making of a true philosopher in him, in so far as he observes widely and clearly, though he does not always seem to draw the right conclusion from what he sees. It is very beautiful and instructive to notice how broad are his sympathies and how deep is his interest in human life. We seem to determine for ourselves the size of the world in which we live: if we dwell upon our own... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

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. If we spiritualize these verses, they will be beautiful and instructive. For if Jesus and... read more

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