Passage

Ecclesiastes 4.4

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

2. Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive; 3. 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.

4. Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 6. Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:2-6, ASV)

WEB

2. Therefore I praised the dead who have been long dead more than the living who are yet alive. 3. Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

4. Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself. 6. Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:2-6, WEB)

KJV

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. ^{every: Heb. all the rightness of work} ^{for this: Heb. this is the envy of a man from his neighbour}

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. (Ecclesiastes 4:2-6, KJV)

YLT

2. And I am praising the dead who have already died above the living who are yet alive. 3. And better than both of them [is] he who hath not yet been, in that he hath not seen the evil work that hath been done under the sun.

4. And I have seen all the labour, and all the benefit of the work, because for it a man is the envy of his neighbour. Even this [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

The fool is clasping his hands, and eating his own flesh: 6. 'Better [is] a handful [with] quietness, than two handfuls [with] labour and vexation of spirit.' (Ecclesiastes 4:2-6, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

Qohelet examines the motive behind human achievement and finds rivalry. "All labor and every skilful work" comes from this: "a man is envied of his neighbor." The KJV margin gives the Hebrew more literally, "this is the envy of a man from his neighbour." The word is qinah, jealousy or envy.

The diagnosis is about why people work, not whether work is good. Much effort is fueled by comparison, the wish to have what the neighbor has or to have more. Qohelet calls the result "vanity and a striving after wind." The tenth commandment addresses the same root: "Thou shalt not covet... nor anything that is thy neighbor's" (Exodus 20:17).

Qohelet rejects the opposite extreme as well. "The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh" (Ecclesiastes 4:5). His alternative is contentment: "Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 4:6). The same word qinah is used elsewhere of God's own zeal (Isaiah 9:7), which shows the problem is not passion but its object.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H7068 - qinah, qinah, Strong's H7068
H7307 - ruach, ruach, Strong's H7307

Quoted in

Lexicon:

H7068 - qinah

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.