Ecclesiastes 4:2

And I praised the dead rather than the living:

Douay-Rheims 1899

In The King James Version

Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

In Context

1I 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.

3And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

Job 3:11Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

Job 3:21That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

Ecclesiastes 2:17And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 9:4There is no man that liveth always, or that hopeth for this: a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:2-4

The Prevalence of Oppression. 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… Read the whole commentary →

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