Ecclesiastes 4:3
in Ecclesiastes 4But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
yea, better than them both did I esteem him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseYea, better is he than both they which hath not yet been,.... That is, an unborn person; who is preferred both to the dead that have seen oppression, and to the living that are under it; see Job 3:
This site's exposition
So I admired the dead
on Ecclesiastes 4:2-3
The Teacher writes, I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. Above both he rates the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. The verdict comes after the oppression of verse 1.
This site's exposition
who has not yet existed
Gill takes the one who has not yet existed as the unborn, better off than the dead and the living, and points to Job 3. Wesley reads seen as felt. To see evil, he says, is to suffer it, as to see good is to enjoy it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"So I consider more fortunate the dead, who have already died, than the living, who are still alive. But better than either of them is he who has not yet been, and has never witnessed the evil that is committed under the sun."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"And I judged happier than both," namely than the dead and the living, "him who has not yet been born nor seen the evils that are under the sun"; as though to see or to have seen these evils were a great misery: 1 Maccabees …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Better is he - Who was never born. Not seen - Not felt: for as seeing good is put for enjoying it, so seeing evil is put for suffering it.
); and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it serves to prove that all is vanity and vexation, since life itself is often so; and if we disregard it, in comparison with the favour and fruition of God (as St. Paul, Acts xx.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Which hath not yet been - Better never to have been born into the world, than to have seen and suffered so many miseries.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְטוֹב֙ | vetov | and [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם | misheneihem | more than both of them | H8147 → | 768 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עֲדֶ֖ן | ʾaden | still | H5728 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָיָ֑ה | hayah | he has been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| רָאָה֙ | raah | he has seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה | hamaaseh | the activity | H4639 → | 236 times |
| הָרָ֔ע | hara' | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נַעֲשָׂ֖ה | naasah | it is done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
וְטוֹב֙and [is] good
vetovH2896 →538 times
מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔םmore than both of them
misheneihemH8147 →768 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[one] who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עֲדֶ֖ןstill
ʾadenH5728 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הָיָ֑הhe has been
hayahH1961 →3559 times
אֲשֶׁ֤ר[one] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
רָאָה֙he has seen
raahH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣הthe activity
hamaasehH4639 →236 times
הָרָ֔ע<the> evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נַעֲשָׂ֖הit is done
naasahH6213 →2628 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
Luke 23:29Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
it leads to
- Matthew 24:19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Luke 21:23–24
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- Mark 13:17–19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Hosea 9:12–16
Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Matthew 24:19
Through
Matthew 24:19How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
it leads to
- Luke 23:29–30
Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
- Luke 21:23
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people.
- Deuteronomy 28:53–56
Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict…
- Mark 13:17–18
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Luke 23:29–30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.