Ecclesiastes 4:1 - Meaning and Application

Solomon had a large heart (1 Kings 4:29), and it showed in many ways. He had a deep concern for people in misery and paid close attention to the troubles of the afflicted. He had already spoken sharply to the oppressors (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17) and warned them about the judgment to come, to hold back their pride. Now he turns to those who were being crushed. He does this, no doubt, as a ruler, to give them justice and defend them against their enemies, because he feared God and cared about people. But here he speaks as a preacher, and he shows the troubles of their condition.

It grieved him to see power used against right, and so much oppression under the sun. He saw servants, laborers, and poor workers oppressed by their masters, who took advantage of their need and forced them into harsh terms. He saw debtors crushed by cruel creditors, and creditors also cheated by dishonest debtors. He saw tenants burdened by hard landlords, orphans abused by unfaithful guardians, and, worst of all, subjects oppressed by tyrannical princes and unjust judges. Such wrongs happen under the sun, but above the sun, righteousness rules forever. Wise people should think about these wrongs and look for ways to help the oppressed. Blessed is the one who considers the poor.

He was also moved by the tears of those who were oppressed. He saw how they grieved over what was done to them, and he may have wept with them. This world is full of tears. Wherever we look, we see people weeping under one burden or another. They find it useless to complain, so they mourn in secret, as Job did (Job 16:20; Job 30:28). But blessed are those who mourn.

Solomon also saw how helpless they were to help themselves. On the side of their oppressors there was power. Once wrong had been done, the powerful stood by it and kept their advantage, so the poor were pushed down by a strong hand and had no way to get justice. It is sad to see power used badly, and what was given to help people do good twisted into support for doing evil.

He was grieved too by how lightly others treated their suffering. They wept and needed comfort, but no one came to comfort them. They had no comforter. Their oppressors were strong and threatening, so others were afraid to speak kindly to the oppressed. They feared displeasing the powerful and being treated as enemies if they tried to help. It is sad to see so little human kindness among people.

Solomon also shows the temptations that come from such a hard life. People treated this way are tempted to hate life, despise it, envy the dead, and wish they had never been born (Ecclesiastes 4:2-3). Solomon almost agrees with them, because this helps prove that all is vanity and chasing after wind, since life itself is often that way. If we think of life as less important than God’s favor and fellowship, as Paul did (Acts 20:24; Philippians 1:23), then this is a mark of spiritual wisdom. But if we say such things only because of the misery of life, as Job and Elijah did, then it comes from weakness and from judging by outward appearances.

He says that those who have already died are happy, because they have finished their painful life and left the stage. He praised the dead who had already died, whether they died suddenly or passed quickly through the world. It was as if they had taken a short path across the sea of life. If it had been up to them, he would have said they were wise to look at the world and then step away, because they did not like what they saw. He judged their lot better than that of the living who were still alive, still dragging through the long burden of life and wearing out its slow minutes. This can be compared, not with Job 3:20-21, but with Revelation 14:13, where, in times of persecution, it is not human feeling but the Spirit of God who says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

So the condition of believers who have died and gone to rest with God is, in many ways, better and more desirable than the condition of believers still living, still at work, and still in the fight. Solomon goes even further and says that those who never began this painful life are happier still. The one who has not yet been born is better off than both of them. It is better never to be born than to be born and see the evil work done under the sun, to see so much wickedness and wrong, and not only be unable to fix it, but also suffer for doing what is right.

Still, a good person, no matter how troubled this world makes him, has no reason to wish he had never been born. He is glorifying the Lord even in the fire, and he will be happy at last, happy forever. No one should wish this while still alive either, because while there is life there is hope. A man is never truly ruined until he is in hell.