Ecclesiastes 4 · Verse 2

Ecclesiastes 4:2

Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
Ecclesiastes 4:2, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 4:2 in other translations

BSBSo I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
WEBTherefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive.
ASVWherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive;
YLTAnd I am praising the dead who have already died above the living who are yet alive.
DARBYThen I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive;
BBESo my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.
WebsterWherefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.

What does Ecclesiastes 4:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account (Ec 3:17, 19), to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all (Ec 7:1). Job (Job 3:12; 21:7), David (Psa 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (Jr 12:1), Habakkuk (Ha 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" (Psa 73:17; Ha 2:20; 3:17, 18). Then they saw the need of delay, before completely punishing the wicked, to give space for repentance, or else for accumulation of wrath (Ro 2:15); and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation (Psa 92:7-12). Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 Wherefore I praised the dead - I considered those happy who had escaped from the pilgrimage of life to the place where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

Miseries from oppression. (Eccl. 4:1-3) troubles from envy. (Eccl. 4:4-6) The folly of covetousness. (Eccl. 4:7,8) The advantages of mutual assistance. (Eccl. 4:9-12) the changes of royalty. (Eccl. 4:13-16) Verses 1-3 It grieved Solomon to see might prevail against right. Wherever we turn, we see melancholy proofs of the wickedness and misery of mankind, who try to create trouble to themselves and to each other…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 →

Ecclesiastes 4:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְשַׁבֵּ֧חַve.sha.Be.achand I congratulatedH7623
אֲנִ֛י'a.NiIH589
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַמֵּתִ֖יםha.me.Timthe deadH4191
שֶׁכְּבָ֣רshe.ke.Varwho alreadyH3528
מֵ֑תוּMe.tuthey had diedH4191
מִן\־min-more thanH4480
הַ֣חַיִּ֔יםha.chai.Yimthe livingH2416
אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.SherwhoH834
הֵ֥מָּהHe.mahtheyH1992
חַיִּ֖יםchai.Yim[were] aliveH2416
עֲדֶֽנָה\׃'a.De.nahstill <towards>H5728

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 4:2

  • Job 3:11-26

    Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; …

  • Ecclesiastes 2:17

    Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Ecclesiastes 9:4-6

    For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:17; 9:4-6; Job 3:17-21

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ecclesiastes 4:1

    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.

  • Ecclesiastes 4:2

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

  • Ecclesiastes 4:3

    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.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 4

Ecclesiastes 4:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y alabé yo los finados que ya murieron, más que los vivientes que hasta ahora están vivos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		C’est pourquoi j’estime heureux les morts qui sont déjà morts, plutôt que les vivants qui sont encore vivants,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ich pries die Toten, die längst gestorben, mehr als die Lebenden, welche jetzt noch leben;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et laudavi magis mortuos quam viventes;