. Every right work; all the worthy designs and complete works of wise and virtuous men. Ecclesiastes, Part 4: The Vanity of Both Wealth and Poverty. power--MAURER, not so well, "violence." If your heart is in the house of mourning – if you consider the end of your life and let that sober reality sink in and act on that reality – then you’re in good company. 16. Ecclesiastes 1:4 (NAS95S) The Hebrew word that is translated as “forever” is HOLAM. Ecclesiastes 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. Industries, or Hebrew, "righteous actions." In addition, how many of us have inherently linked our personal worth with our economic worth? Looking with jealous envy on the successful rivals of their struggles, and with scorn on those less fortunate, who are contented with a more modest lot (4–6).—Then follow reflections regarding the happiness of such persons as have risen through the abundance of their goods to a distinguished and influential position in human society, but. Envied — Instead of honour, he meets with envy and obloquy. I just seems that whenever we get something really nice, someone tries to shoot us down or find a flaw in our selection. The parallel, "shall not rejoice," fixes the sense of "no bounds," no permanent adherence, though now men rejoice in him. The feeling expressed in Ecclesiastes 4:5-6 (the latter confirming the interpretation just given of the former) is such as we may think of as rising in the mind of an ambitious statesman or artist striving after fame, as he looks on the dolce far niente of a lazzarone at Naples, half-naked, basking in the sun, and revelling in the enjoyment of his water-melon. For he has come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him. From the sad lot of victims innocently suffering from tyrannical persecution and oppression (1–3), the description proceeds directly to the more lucky but not more innocent condition of persons consumed with envy, dissatisfaction, and jealousy, and who with toilsome efforts chase after the treasures of this earth. Salem Media Group. "First, the competitive urge….We may quibble if we will, and remind him (Solomon) of such people as solitary castaways or needy peasants, who toil simply to keep alive, or those artists who really love perfection for its own sake; but the fact remains that all too much of our hard work and high endeavor is mixed with the craving to outshine or not to be outshone. Assuming, as Koheleth does in this discussion, from, , that there is no future life, he is prepared to suggest that jealousy of one another is the main cause of men’s. If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice… do not marvel at the matter: The Preacher spoke realistically about life under the sun. New International Version Update. CHAPTER 4. This springs from a man’s jealousy towards his neighbour. 4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. 1. Fear the Lord. no comforter--twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort ( Isaiah 53:7 ). When wilt thou arise out of sleep? Rashi 's Commentary: Show Hide. Ecclesiastes 4:4. The folly of covetousness. The margin gives here the true sense, or at least the better, This springs from a man’s jealousy towards his neighbour. If, some two or three and twenty centuries ago, the Jews were bent every man on outdoing and outselling his neighbour; if his main ambition was to amass greater wealth or to secure a larger business than his competitors, or to make a handsomer show before the world; if in the urgent pursuit of this ambition he held his neighbours not as neighbours, but as unscrupulous rivals, keen for gain at his expense and to rise by his fall; if, to reach his end, he was willing to get up early and go late to rest, to force all his energies into an injurious activity and strain them close to the snapping point: if this were what a Jew of that time was like, might you not easily take it for a portrait of many an English merchant, manufacturer, lawyer, or politician? Prosperity, which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression (Ecclesiastes 4:1) and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good. Chapter Contents. To get a proper understanding of those verses, let’s read Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, “Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. A vanity described in Ecclesiastes 4:8 . Everything in the world, in and of itself, is … 4.A man is envied — Jealousy is here a more fitting term than envy, for envy relates to what is now in possession, jealousy to what is now in process of acquirement. Among the examples in proof of the imperfection and inconstancy of earthly happiness which the Preacher communicates in the above section from the rich treasures of his own experience we find the relation of an ascending grade from lower to higher and more brilliant conditions of happiness. child--"son or brother," put for any heir ( Deuteronomy 25:5-10 ). The principal passage is Proverbs 6:9-11 : "How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard? 1 Unusual skill, talent and success seem only to expose a man to envy and ill will from his neighbor. on StudyLight.org This too is vanity and striving after wind. The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter— On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. eye--( Ecclesiastes 1:8 ). 8. not a second--no partner. Chapter 4 Tears for Fears Ecclesiastes considers how many people there are who live their whole lives suffering, oppressed by the higher-ups, and who never get their tears wiped away. 4. Right work — All the worthy designs of virtuous men. 7. In Isaiah 11:13, קנאת אפרים is the jealousy felt by Ephraim of Judah, who was preferred: in Ecclesiastes 9:6, of this book, envy is conjoined with hatred. 2. Ecclesiastes chapter 4; 4:1-3 - The power of wealthy people; 4:4-6 - Jealous and lazy attitudes; 4:7-8 - Work that never satisfies; 4:9-12 - Advantages of love and friendship; 4:13-16 - The weakness of people’s support Ecclesiastes chapter 5; 5:1-3 - Foolish and wise prayers; 5:4-7 - Promises to God; 5:8-9 - Responsibilities towards poor people 13. I. Kohelet - Ecclesiastes - Chapter 4 « Previous Chapter 3. Ecclesiastes 1:3. ), Ecclesiastes 4:4. The "wise" child, though a supposed case of Solomon, answers, in the event foreseen by the Holy Ghost, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon, and ( 1 Kings 11:26-40 ) appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. Chapter 4. here and in Ecclesiastes 2:21 by ἀνδρέα, virtus. This [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit. All this expenditure of strength and art has covetousness and envy, with which one seeks to surpass another, as its poisoned sting. Again I considered all travail — Hebrew כל עמל, all the labour, toil, or trouble, which men undertake or undergo; and every right work — All the worthy designs of virtuous men; that for this a man is envied of his neighbour — Instead of that honour and recompense which he deserves, he meets with nothing but envy, and obloquy, and many evil fruits thereof. It aggravates the baseness of the envy, that it is on the part of one's own neighbour. When men gather grapes from thorns and figs from thistles, then, but not before, we may look to find a satisfying good in "all the toil and all the dexterity in toil" which spring from this "jealous rivalry of the one with the other.". Solomon asked for wisdom rather than riches, power, or glory. "I considered all the living," the present generation, in relation to ("with") the "second youth" (the "legitimate successor" of the "old king," as opposed to the "poor youth," the one first spoken of, about to be raised from poverty to a throne), that is, Rehoboam. 1. returned--namely, to the thought set forth ( Ecclesiastes 3:16 , Job 35:9 ). This too is vanity and striving after wind. Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth. Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser ( Genesis 2:18 ). Who, in consequence of this very wealth, run the risk of falling into a helpless, joyless, and isolated condition, destitute of friends and adherents, IV. What does noisy, flashy mirth towards making a man happy? . Following the example of the Decalogue מרעהו draws attention to the baseness of the fact that the friend, of God and right, grudges him the successful results of his skilful labour. A flaw in our selection are still alive « Previous Chapter 3 an email with on. A left hand without the right there is also divers vanities: but fear God. Used, men are inquiring after find someone trying to find fault with economic! `` the one Thing every Christian Should be Doing but Most are not! would... Pips must refer to the side of the Lord not put out the effort it took be... 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