Ecclesiastes 4:7
in Ecclesiastes 4Again, I saw futility under the sun.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
KJV
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
⋯
This verse in Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThen I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. Another vanity besides what he had taken notice of, and is as follows. Aben Ezra's note is, "I turned from considering the words of this fool, and I saw another fool, the reverse of the former.''
This site's exposition
and I saw vanity under the sun
on Ecclesiastes 4:7-8
The Preacher returns to his search and finds a fresh case, a solitary man with no child and no brother, no end to his labour, and an eye never satisfied with the riches he keeps gathering. The man himself never asks for whom do I labour and bereave my soul of good, working without the question that might have stopped him, and the Preacher supplies the question the man never puts to himself. Wesley reads the portrait as the answer to chapter two's argument turned personal: wealth with no one to share it with is vanity, yea, a sore travail, whatever it produces.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Then I returned and contemplated futility beneath the sun: a lone and solitary man who has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to his toil, nor is his eye ever sated with riches, nor does he ask himself, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of goodness.' This too is futility, indeed, it is a sorry task."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Above he treated the vanity of malice; here he treats the vanity of avarice: and first is set forth the consideration of avarice; second, because the avaricious man does not wish to have a companion, in detestation of it is set forth the commendation of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
In our spiritual warfare we may be helpful to one another as well as in our spiritual work; next to the comfort of communion with God, is that of the communion of saints. He concludes with this proverb, A threefold cord is not easily broken, any more than a bundle of arrows, though each single thread, and each single arrow, is.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The spectacle of a prosperous man whose condition is rendered vain by his brotherless, childless isolation. Ecc 4:8 A second - Any one associated or connected with him. Ecc 4:9-12 Compare a saying from the Talmud: “A man without companions is like the left hand without the right.”
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׁ֧בְתִּי | veshavti | and I returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֲנִ֛י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וָאֶרְאֶ֥ה | vaereh | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הֶ֖בֶל | hevel | futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
וְשַׁ֧בְתִּיand I returned
veshavtiH7725 →1056 times
אֲנִ֛יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וָאֶרְאֶ֥הand I saw
vaerehH7200 →1300 times
הֶ֖בֶלfutility
hevelH1892 →73 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun
hashameshH8121 →134 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 4:1Again 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…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 5:8
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…
- Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but…
- 2 Timothy 4:16–17
At my first defense, no one stood with me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be charged against them.
- Psalms 42:3
My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Ecclesiastes 3:16
Through
Zechariah 1:6But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according…
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:17
The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and…
- Ezekiel 12:25–28
because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass,…
- Lamentations 2:17
Through
Psalms 78:33So He ended their days in futility, and their years in sudden terror.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:35
I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will…
- Numbers 14:35
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.