Ecclesiastes 4:1
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.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
In Context
2Therefore I praised the dead who have long been dead more than the living who are yet alive.
Cross References
Exodus 1:16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
Exodus 2:23And it came to pass in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
Exodus 5:18Go therefore now, and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet ye shall deliver the number of bricks.
Deuteronomy 28:48therefore thou shall serve thine enemies that LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he has destroyed thee.
Judges 10:7And the anger of LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the sons of Ammon.
Job 6:29Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice. Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:1
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… Read the whole commentary →