--- title: "Ecclesiastes 4 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary" description: "Read Ecclesiastes 4 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 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" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4" --- [ Read](/kjv/ecclesiastes/4)[ Commentary](/study/ecclesiastes/4)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ecclesiastes/4) Audio 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. 4 ¶ Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This *is* also vanity and vexation of spirit.** 5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6 Better *is* an handful *with* quietness, than both the hands full *with* travail and vexation of spirit. 7 ¶ Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 8 There is one *alone*, and *there is* not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet *is there* no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither *saith he*, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This *is* also vanity, yea, it *is* a sore travail. 9 ¶ Two *are* better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him *that is* alone when he falleth; for *he hath* not another to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm *alone*? 12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 13 ¶ Better *is* a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.* 14 For out of prison he cometh to reign; whereas also *he that is* born in his kingdom becometh poor. 15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. 16 *There is* no end of all the people, *even* of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also *is* vanity and vexation of spirit. [Ecclesiastes 3](/study/ecclesiastes/3) [Ecclesiastes 5](/study/ecclesiastes/5) ## Commentary To verse 1 “And again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold there the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors goeth forth violence; and they have no comforter.” Incorrectly Hahn: And anew I saw, - the observation is different from that of [Ecclesiastes 3:16](/kjv/ecclesiastes/3/16), though cognate. Thus: And again I saw, - the expression follows the syntactic scheme of [Genesis 26:18](/kjv/genesis/26/18); regarding the *fut. consec*. brought into view here and at [Ecclesiastes 4:7](/kjv/ecclesiastes/4/7). The second העשׁ is *part. pass*.; the first, as at [Job 35:9](/kjv/job/35/9), and also at [Amos 3:9](/kjv/amos/3/9), is abstract (*i.e.*, bringing the many separate instances under one general idea) *pluraletantum* (cf. פּדוּיי , *redemti*, [Isaiah 35:10](/kjv/isaiah/35/10); and *redemtio, pretium redemtionis*, [Numbers 3:46](/kjv/numbers/3/46)); the plur. נע אשׁר need not appear strange, since even חיּים is connected with the plur. of the pred., *e.g.*, [Psalms 31:11](/kjv/psalms/31/11); [Psalms 88:4](/kjv/psalms/88/4). דּמעת has, as at [Isaiah 25:8](/kjv/isaiah/25/8) (cf. [Revelation 21:4](/kjv/revelation/21/4), πᾶν δάκρυον ), a collective sense. The expression כּח ... וּמיּד is singular. According to the most natural impression, it seems to signify: “and from the hand of their oppressors no power of deliverance” (carrying forward אין ); but the parallelism of the palindromically constructed verse (as at [Ecclesiastes 1:6](/kjv/ecclesiastes/1/6); [Ecclesiastes 2:10](/kjv/ecclesiastes/2/10); [Ecclesiastes 3:16](/kjv/ecclesiastes/3/16)) excludes this meaning. Thus כּח is here once-nowhere else-used, like the Greek βία , in the sense of violence; Luzzatto prefers the reading וּביד , by which the expression would be in conformity with the linguistic usage; but also מיד is explained: the force which they have in their hands is, in going forth from their hands, thought of as abused, and, as taking the form of שׁד or חזקה . In view of this sorrow which men bring upon their fellow-men, life for Koheleth lost all its worth and attraction. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4","name":"Ecclesiastes 4 - Study King James Bible with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ecclesiastes 4 with keil and delitzsch old testament commentary commentary. 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","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary","name":"keil and delitzsch old testament commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes","name":"Ecclesiastes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/keil-and-delitzsch-old-testament-commentary/ecclesiastes/4","name":"4"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```