Key Verse Spotlight
Ecclesiastes 4:2 — Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing—and how to apply it today
King James Version
" Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. "
Ecclesiastes 4:2
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
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.
Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
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.
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.
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From This Chapter
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."
Ecclesiastes 4:3
"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."
Ecclesiastes 4:4
"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."
Ecclesiastes 4:5
"The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh."
Ecclesiastes 4:6
"Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit."
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