Ecclesiastes 4

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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.

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.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>And I returned and considered. By means of the Holy Spirit. All the oppressions. Who were made to be oppressed in Gehinnom for the deeds that were committed.¹Alternatively, one cannot rejoice in view of the injustice and robbery committed in the world. (Ibn Ezra) Under the sun. תַּחַת [meaning] in exchange for the Torah.²See above 2:18. And behold, tears of the oppressed. Weeping for their souls, which are oppressed in the hand of the destructive and cruel angels, and similarly it says, “Transgressors in the valley of weeping, transform it into a fountain,”³Tehillim 84:7. these are the ones who descend to Gehinnom. And this verse too is expounded in this manner in Sifre. And from the hand of their oppressors [flows the] power. Their oppressors overwhelm them and attack them with force.</html>

Verse 2

<html>Who already died. Before the evil inclination overpowered them to push them back from the Holy One, Blessed Is He,⁴Alternatively, I am able to determine the praise of those who died [ושבח אני את המתים], by observing the conduct and type of life style of their children who are alive [מן החיים]. (Yalkot Eliezer) like the early Patriarchs,⁵Rashi answers the apparent contradiction between this verse which praises the dead and below [9:4]. Koheles states “for a live dog is better than a dead lion.” (Sifsei Chachomim) for Moshe was answered only through them [i.e., their merit].⁶See Maseches Shabbos 30a. Moshe said many prayers and God did not answer, but when he mentioned the merit of the Patriarchs in his prayers, he was immediately answered. (Sifsei Chachomim) And like my father Dovid, for I was not answered with twenty-four praises⁷See Maseches Shabbos 30a. The Gemara there relates that the gates in the Bais Hamikdosh clung to each other when Shlomo attempted to place the Holy Ark into the Kodesh Hakadoshim. He said twenty-four expressions of entreaty and was not answered until he mentioned the kind deeds of Dovid. (Sifsei Chachomim) until I said, “Remember the kind deeds of Your servant Dovid.”⁸II Divrei Hayomim 6:42. </html>

Verse 3

<html>Yet. Yet עֲדַיִן=עֲדֶן.⁹‘עדן’ is a shortened version of עד הנה [=as yet]. (Ibn Ezra) Who has not seen the [evil] deed. I saw in Midrash Koheles that these are the 974 generations that were decreed to be created, but were not created.¹⁰Of the one thousand generations that were decreed to be created before the giving of the Torah, 974 were not created. However, 26 generations after God created the world He gave the Torah. There were ten generations from Adam to No’ach, ten generations from No’ach to Avrohom, and six generations from Avrohom to Moshe. Thus 974 + 26 equals one thousand generations. See Rashi in Maseches Chagigah 14a. </html>

Verse 4

<html>And I observed that all labor. These are the sins, which are toil in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed Is He. And all skillful work. Which is not for the sake of Heaven, but for one’s envy of his friend, both of which are vanity. Is the result of man’s envy. Which is the result of man’s envy of his neighbor.</html>

Verse 5

<html>The fool. The wicked person.¹¹Alternatively, “the fool.” (Targum) Folds his hands. And does not toil, and he eats only from robbery. And eats his own flesh. On the Day of Judgement, when he sees the righteous bestowed with honor, while he is being judged.¹²Alternatively, because he did not toil, he eventually dies from starvation (Ibn Ezra); or בשרו refers to “his relatives” that suffer on his account. See Rashi below 5:5 and also in Yeshayahu 58:7. It is expounded in this manner in Sifre. </html>

Verse 6

<html>Better is a handful [earned] in contentment. To acquire few possessions, but with his toil, so that his Creator should have satisfaction from them. Than two handfuls [earned]. Many possessions [acquired] through sin,¹³Alternatively, the verse refers to giving charity, i.e., better a lesser amount given to a poor person but with a pleasant demeanor, than giving twice as much, but causing the poor man to feel uncomfortable. (Nachal Eshkol) which is toil and grief to the Omnipresent. </html>

Verse 7

<html>Under the sun. Is the same as, “under the heavens.” </html>

Verse 8

<html>There is one who is alone with none other beside him. There is a person who does his work alone. He has neither son nor brother. If he is Torah scholar, he neither acquires for himself a disciple, who is like a son, nor a companion, who is like a brother. And if he is a bachelor, he does not take a wife, to be to him like a brother, as a helper and to beget a son. And if he is a merchant, he does not acquire partners for himself, but he goes out on the road by himself. Yet there is no end to his labor. He toils in study, and if he is a merchant, he labors in business. Neither is his eye ever satisfied with riches. He will not be sated from the insights of Torah, for a person learns much Torah from his students, and regarding money, he constantly pursues money. And for whom do I labor. Since I do not develop students, and I do not take a wife to beget children. </html>

Verse 9

<html>Two are better. In all aspects. Than one. Therefore, a person should acquire for himself a companion and marry a woman, for they have a greater return in their labor. Much work is accomplished by two, because [there are tasks that] an individual would not start on his own. </html>

Verse 10

<html>For if they fall. [To be understood] according to its apparent meaning. And regarding Torah studies, if his studies are too difficult for him, his companion will review them with him, or if he errs and is not exact in what he heard from his teacher, his companion will set him on the truth[ful course].¹⁴The Gemara in Maseches Berachos 63b states that Torah scholars who sit alone and engage in Torah study become foolish and will eventually sin [by erring]. But woe to him. But woe to him וְאוֹי לוֹ=וְאִי לוֹ.¹⁵Rashi renders this interpretation because ואילו is spelled ‘full’, i.e. with a yud. (Sifsei Chachomim) </html>

Verse 11

<html>They can be warm. [To be understood] according to its apparent meaning, regarding male and female, who are aroused by one another and procreate.¹⁶Alternatively, these verses refers to the performance of a mitzvah, i.e., if each one performs a mitzvah on his own then if he slackens off, there is no one to encourage him and “uplift him.” However, when two people perform a mitzvah together, it adds “warmth” to their performance of the mitzvah. (Divrei Avrohom) </html>

Verse 12

<html>And if an individual attacks. If thieves came to attack him, if they are two, they will stand up to them, and certainly, if they are three, “and the threefold cord is not quickly severed.” Another explanation: Whoever is a Torah scholar, as well as his son and his grandson, the Torah will never cease from his seed, as [Scripture] states, “[My words] will not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your offspring nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring.”¹⁷Yeshayahu 59:21. Another explanation: [And] “the threefold cord,” [i.e., one well versed] in Scripture, Mishnah, and [having] good manners, will not quickly sin. It is expounded in the Midrash in other ways, “There is one who is alone with none other beside”¹⁸Above Verse 8. Him, but the sequence of all these verses does not correspond with their interpretations. </html>

Verse 13

<html>Better a poor but wise child. This is the good inclination, and why is it called “child”? Because it comes to a person only at the age of thirteen years.¹⁹Alternatively, this verse refers to Avrohom who had a Divine prophecy at the age of three years old and refused to bow before Nimrod’s idols. (Targum) Poor. Because the limbs do not obey it, as [they obey] the evil inclination.²⁰According to Rashi that this verse is referring to the good inclination and evil inclination, the expression “better” is somewhat difficult, because “better” implies that both are “good” and one is “better” that the other, but what “good” can be attributed to the evil inclination. The Amtachas Binyomin therefore suggests that the first mem of ממלך does not mean “than” rather it means “as a result of”, i.e., it is better to follow the good inclination “as a result of defeating, after a struggle, the evil inclination, as opposed to one who has not been exposed to the evil inclination, where the probability is a greater that he will be enticed. Wise. Which gives a person intelligence to [follow] the right way. Than an old and foolish king. This is the evil inclination, which rules over all the limbs. “Old,” for when a child is born, it comes to him,²¹The evil inclination is referred to as “king” because all obey it, and “old” because it becomes part of man long before the good inclination. as it is stated, “sin rests at the opening.”²²Bereishis 4:7. And foolish. Because it misleads him in the way of evil. It is expounded in the Midrash in this manner. Who no longer knows how to be vigilant. Because he has aged and no longer accepts reproof.</html>

Verse 14

<html>Even though he [the child] emerged from prison to be king. From the place of filth and stench [=הָסוּרִים, as Targum renders, ‘וַיִּבְאַשׁ’, “and it became putrid וּסְרִי.” Even though in his own kingdom. Since he reigned over man, the poor one was born; who was better than he, and who came out of purity, not out of the filth of the womb. So it was expounded in the Midrash. Another explanation: “Better a poor but wise child, etc.” [to be understood] according to its apparent meaning, “[one] who no longer knows to be vigilant,” for he has already aged in his wickedness and foolishness. “Even though he [the child] emerged from prison to be king.” For the poor child; it will ultimately be said about him that he went out to reign from the midst of his affliction and from his prison cell, for the samech of הָסוּרִים is punctuated without a dagesh, which is the equivalent of הָאֲסוּרִים. (Some editions: As in, “And no Arab will pitch יַהֵל his tent there,”²³Yeshayahu 13:20. which is the same as “יַאֲהֵל.”) For so we find that Yoseif reigned following his being freed from prison, and so Dovid, “I have taken you from the sheepcote, from following the flocks.”²⁴II Shmuel 7:8. Even though in his own kingdom he was born a pauper. For it is fitting and proper that he should reign, because even in his kingship, he changed from the tradition of the ruling class and he humbled himself to the sages, which is characteristic of the poor. And so, “and from [one who is like] a wild donkey, a man will be born,”²⁵Iyov 11:12. [meaning,] that he will be changed and converted from what he was, resembling a wild donkey, and he will become a man. He was born. נוֹלַד means] “becomes,” and it is in the present tense. </html>

Verse 15

<html>I observed that all the living, etc. I found in the Midrash of this Book, that this refers to the generation of the flood, about which it is stated, “And of every living thing.”²⁶Bereishis 6:19. Were supportive of the young successor. Who will exist instead of that generation, i.e., No’ach and his sons. </html>

Verse 16

<html>There was no limit to all the peoples. They were fruitful and multiplied too much, as it is stated, “their children are [well established] in their sight,”²⁷Iyov 21:8. a woman would conceive and bear in three days, “They send out their infants [i.e., carefree] like sheep.”²⁸Ibid. Verse 11. To all of them whom he lead. There was no end to all the good that they had, but all was lost, and in an instant descended to the grave. Even though [it is so now] those who come after [the next generation]. The generation of dispersion. Will not rejoice. Also they, with the good that was given into their hands. For this too. Its end is that of vanity and frustration, when a person follows his [evil] inclination. </html>

Verse 17

<html>Guard your foot when you go to the House of God. [“Watch”] how you go, if you bring a thanksgiving offering or a peace offering, that is good.²⁹Alternatively, this verse refers to one’s behavior when entering the House of God, i.e., he should enter in a manner that reflects reverence for God; or, one should make sure that his shoes are clean before entering. But “watch” yourself that you should not have to go and bring sin offerings or guilt offerings. Come near. To obey the words of the Holy One , Blessed Is He, and be good and near the Holy One, Blessed Is He. Rather than offer sacrifices like the fools. That he should sin and bring a sacrifice. For they do not know that they do evil. The fool does not realize that he is harming himself.³⁰The fool thinks that it is okay to sin as long as he brings a sin offering. (Metsudas Dovid)</html>

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Table of Contents

Ecclesiastes 4

Ecclesiastes 4

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17