Ecclesiastes 4:2

Thereupon praised I the dead that are already dead, more than the living who are still alive;

Leeser Tanakh

In The King James Version

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

In Context

1And I turned about, and beheld all the oppressed that are made so under the sun: and, behold, there are the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors they suffer violence; and they have no comforter.

3And as happier than both of them, him who hath not yet come into being, who hath not seen the evil-doing that is done under the sun.—

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

Job 3:11Why did I not die [the moment I issued] from the womb, and [why] was I not born merely to perish at once?

Job 3:21Who wait for death, which [cometh] not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures;

Ecclesiastes 2:17Therefore I hated life; because I felt displeased with the work that is wrought under the sun; for all is vanity and a torture of the spirit.

Ecclesiastes 9:4For whoever is yet united with all the living hath still hope; for a living dog fareth 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 →

This Verse In Other Editions

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