Ecclesiastes 4:2 BSB

Ecclesiastes 4:2

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

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive;

KJV

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

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Commentary

2 voices

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

21:7), David (Ps 73:3, &c.), Jeremiah (Jer 12:1), Habakkuk (Hab 1:13), all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment" (Ps 73:17;

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

I praised - I judged them less miserable. For this is certain, that setting aside the future life, which Solomon doth not meddle with in the present debate; and considering the uncertainty, and vanity, and manifold calamities of the present life, a wise man would not account it worth his while to live.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְשַׁבֵּ֧חַ	ve.sha.Be.ach	and I congratulated	H7623 →
אֲנִ֛י	'a.Ni	I	H589 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הַמֵּתִ֖ים	ha.me.Tim	the dead	H4191 →
שֶׁכְּבָ֣ר	she.ke.Var	who already	H3528 →
מֵ֑תוּ	Me.tu	they had died	H4191 →
מִן־	min-	more than	H4480 →
הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים	ha.chai.Yim	the living	H2416 →
אֲשֶׁ֛ר	'a.Sher	who	H834 →
הֵ֥מָּה	He.mah	they	H1992 →
חַיִּ֖ים	chai.Yim	[were] alive	H2416 →
עֲדֶֽנָה׃	'a.De.nah	still <towards>	H5728 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

H3528shekevarwho already9×

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ecclesiastes 2:17
So 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.
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:11
  Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to…
- Jonah 4:8
  As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me…
- Ecclesiastes 6:9
  Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Psalms 89:47
  Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
- Jeremiah 20:14–18
  Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 4 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 4 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Ecclesiastes