Reflections on Ecclesiastes 4

 

Ecclesiastes 04 (Contemporary English Version)


1. I looked again and saw people being mistreated everywhere on earth. They were crying, but no one was there to offer comfort, and those who mistreated them were powerful.
   
2. I said to myself, "The dead are better off than the living.
   
3. But those who have never been born are better off than anyone else, because they have never seen the terrible things that happen on this earth."
   
4. Then I realized that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind.
   
5. Fools will fold their hands and starve to death.
   
6. Yet a very little food eaten in peace is better than twice as much earned from overwork and chasing the wind.
   
7. Once again I saw that nothing on earth makes sense.
   
8. For example, some people don't have friends or family. But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more. They should ask themselves, "Why am I always working to have more? Who will get what I leave behind?" What a senseless and miserable life!
   
9. You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn.
   
10. If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.
    
11. If you sleep alone, you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night.
    
12. Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, "A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break."
    
13. You may be poor and young. But if you are wise, you are better off than a foolish old king who won't listen to advice.
    
14. Even if you were not born into the royal family and have been a prisoner and poor, you can still be king.
    
15. I once saw everyone in the world follow a young leader who came to power after the king was gone.
    
16. His followers could not even be counted. But years from now, no one will praise him--this makes no more sense than chasing the wind.
    

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Solomon continues to pursue the question he raised in 1:3 - "What does a man gain for all his efforts he labors at under the sun?" His initial response to this question, which took us through chapter three, led us through a series of pursuits that each resulted in his conclusion that it is all futile. But he did reach a partial answer in 3:22 concluding that "there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities, because that is his reward." If one follows his discussion through these three chapters, they understand him to be saying here that the pursuit of anything as an end in itself is futile. It will bring no satisfaction. The best one can hope for is to be able to enjoy the fruit of his efforts. Pursue your interests, but allow opportunity to enjoy what you have accomplished. This conclusion brought us to a more positive note following a series of futile pursuits.

In chapter 4 Solomon turns his attention to such issues as oppression, envy, and covetousness along with the advantage of having friends and the fleeting nature of power. It may be good if man can enjoy the fruit of his labor, but what about the oppressed? Not so for them. Solomon sees their plight as a hopeless one with no one or no where for them to turn for help. Those who oppress hold all the cards with no options for those they oppress. Solomon suggests it would be better if they had not been born. He offers no other solution.

He turns then to envy. This, he says, is the motivation behind man's efforts in life - jealousy of his friends. Man does what he does to keep his friends from being better off than himself. This is a broad generalization, but probably true for many. People see what others have and are not satisfied until they too can have it. But Solomon concludes that this is merely a pursuit of the wind. One's envy will never be satisfied. Better off is the fool who is lazy and has little but who is content with what he has. Thus, it is better, he says, to have one handful (of anything) and being content with it than to have two handfuls and wanting more.

Similar to envy is covetousness, both in nature and in its futility. Covetousness causes a man to endlessly pursue more riches, never being satisfied with what he has and never sharing what he has with anyone else, including family. It raises the question, "Who am I struggling for, and for what purpose am I depriving myself from good?" Such addictions as envy and covetousness that drive people to endless pursuits they can never satisfy are little different from drug and alcohol addictions.

Solomon turns from the one who covets riches to the exclusion of friends and family to the advantages of having companions. Though he doesn't state it, he makes a case for companions being of greater value than riches. In fact, with a companion to help, one can acquire greater profits with less effort. But consider also when one needs help. What does the person do who has fallen without another to lift him up? He is to be pitied, says Solomon. Furthermore, when there are two they can keep each other warm. I suspect there is more meaning here than simply keeping one's self warm from the cold. There is also greater inner warmth from having a companion. Solomon isn't through, though. He gives two more examples of the advantages of having a companion. Two can resist the one who attempts to overpower them, and a cord of three strands is not easily broken. There is greater strength when there are more companions.

Finally, we come to the fleeting nature of power and influence. The pursuit of power is not unlike being driven by envy or covetousness, either in nature or outcome. The one who pursues power is also pursuing the wind. Solomon says it is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer gives attention to warnings. Then he describes a fairy tale scenario of which many might dream could happen to them. But those who live supposed fairy tale lives seldom live "happily ever after." In Solomon's fairy tale, a youth advances from a life of poverty and imprisonment to become king. He eventually masters innumerable subjects - his accomplishments are great. But it is all short-lived. What happens when he is no longer king? He is soon forgotten and people are critical of his accomplishments. This, too, says Solomon, is a pursuit of the wind.

Where is Solomon going with all this? Stay tuned.