Ecclesiastes 4:2

So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

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

In Context

1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

3But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

Job 3:11Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?

Job 3:21who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,

Ecclesiastes 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 9:4There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live 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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