Ecclesiastes 4:1

But 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.

JPS TaNaKH 1917

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

2Wherefore I praised the dead that are already dead more than the living that are yet alive;

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

Exodus 1:16and he said: 'When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: 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 children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

Exodus 5:18Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.'

Deuteronomy 28:48therefore shalt thou serve thine enemy whom the 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 have destroyed thee.

Judges 10:7And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them over into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children 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 →

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