Ecclesiastes 4:7 - Meaning and Application

Solomon points to another example of this world’s emptiness: the more people have, the more they want. They get so fixed on gaining more that they cannot enjoy what they already own. He shows that selfishness is at the root of this problem.

There is a man who thinks only of himself. He cares for no one else and, if he could, would place himself alone in the middle of the earth. He does not want a second person beside him, and he counts one mouth in a house as enough. He grudges anything that has to be shared with others.

This covetous man, a greedy person who clings tightly to money, makes himself a slave to work. He has no wife, child, brother, or poor relative to support, yet his labor never seems to end. He works night and day, early and late, and hardly allows himself or those he hires the rest they need. He does not stay within the limits of his own trade, but tries to get money from anything he can.

He also never thinks he has enough. His eyes are not satisfied with wealth. Greed is called the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16), because the world-loving person seems to want only what he can see. He may have enough for his daily needs, his business, his family, and a decent life, but not enough for his eyes. He can count his money, yet he still wants more.

Even worse, he denies himself the good he already has. If our souls are robbed of good, we ourselves are the ones who rob them. Other people may take away our outward things, but they cannot steal our grace, peace, or other spiritual blessings. Many people are so set on the world that they lose both present joy and eternal life in the chase.

He also has no real excuse for this way of living. He has no child or brother, no one he is bound to support, no one he especially loves, and no one poor or dear to him. He can neither spend his wealth on someone he cares about while he lives, nor leave it to someone he values when he dies.

He also lacks the wisdom to ask himself the right question: “Who am I laboring for?” Should he not work for God’s glory and to have something to give to those in need? Should he not remember that he is working for a body that will die, and that he may be storing up for someone else, perhaps a fool who will waste it, or even an enemy who will not honor his memory? It is wise for people who work hard in this world to ask who all this effort is really for. If they do not, then their life is empty and painful, and they wear themselves out for nothing.

Solomon then turns to the cure for this evil: life with others. People become greedy because they think only of themselves. So he shows, through several examples, that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). In this he is encouraging both marriage and friendship, two things that selfish people often avoid because of the cost. Yet when these are wisely formed, the comfort and help they bring are well worth it. Even in paradise, man was not meant to be happy alone, so God made him a companion.

Solomon states a simple truth: two are better than one. Together they are happier than either could be alone, more helpful to one another, and more able to do good for others. They have a good reward for their work, because what they do for someone else comes back to them in another way. But the person who lives only for himself has only himself to reward him, and he often proves harsher to himself than a friend would be.

That is why Solomon says, “Woe to him who is alone.” A lone person is exposed to many temptations that good company and friendship could help prevent. He loses the support that comes from a friend’s presence, like iron sharpened by iron. A life shut away from others was never meant to be a higher kind of holiness, and those who cannot love other people should not think themselves the greatest lovers of God.

Solomon then shows the value of friendship in several practical ways. If two people travel together, one can help the other if he falls. If a person falls into sin, a friend can help restore him gently. If he falls into trouble, a friend can comfort him and ease his sorrow. A companion is also useful for warmth, since two lying together keep each other warm. In the same way, good company stirs up holy desires, and Christians help one another grow in love and good works.

He also points to united strength. If an enemy finds a man alone, he is more likely to defeat him. One person by himself cannot hold out as well as two together, but two can stand firm. Friends can help each other against their enemies. As Joab and Abishai agreed to help one another in battle (2 Samuel 10:11), so both can win together when they stand side by side. If people fight separately, they are more likely to be overcome.

This is true in spiritual life as well. Believers can help one another in their struggle against sin and in their service to God. Beyond the comfort of fellowship with God, there is also the comfort of fellowship with the saints. Solomon ends with a proverb: a threefold cord is not easily broken, just as a bundle of arrows is stronger than one arrow alone.

He compares two people joined together to a threefold cord. When two are closely united in holy love and fellowship, Christ, by his Spirit, comes to them and makes a third with them. It is like when he joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then the cord had three strands that could never be broken. Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.