Ecclesiastes 4:2

And I am praising the dead who have already died above the living who are yet alive.

Young's Literal Translation

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 have turned, and I see all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and lo, the tear of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and at the hand of their oppressors [is] power, and they have no comforter.

3And better than both of them [is] he who hath not yet been, in that he hath not seen the evil work that hath been done under the sun.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Cross References

Job 3:11Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

Job 3:21Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

Ecclesiastes 2:17And I have hated life, for sad to me [is] the work that hath been done under the sun, for the whole [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 9:4But [to] him who is joined unto all the living there is confidence, for to a living dog it [is] better than to the 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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