TRV
Translation
King James Version
¶ 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.
KJV (with Strong's)
So I returned H7725, and considered H7200 all the oppressions H6217 that are done H6213 under the sun H8121: and behold the tears H1832 of such as were oppressed H6231, and they had no comforter H5162; and on the side H3027 of their oppressors H6231 there was power H3581; but they had no comforter H5162.
Complete Jewish Bible
But I turned away and thought about all the kinds of oppression being done under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them. The power was on the side of their oppressors, and they had no one to comfort them.
Berean Standard Bible
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
American Standard Version
Then I returned and saw 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.
World English Bible Messianic
Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
Geneva Bible (1599)
So I turned and considered all the oppressions that are wrought vnder the sunne, and beholde the teares of the oppressed, and none comforteth them: and lo, the strength is of the hand of them that oppresse them, and none comforteth them.
Young's Literal Translation
And I have turned, and I see all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and lo, the tear of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and at the hand of their oppressors is power, and they have no comforter.
In the KJVVerse 17,383 of 31,102
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Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4 verses 1–3
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.
2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
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.
Solomon had a large soul (Kg1 4:29) and it appeared by this, among other things, that he had a very tender concern for the miserable part of mankind and took cognizance of the afflictions of the afflicted. He had taken the oppressors to task (Ecc 3:16, Ecc 3:17) and put them in mind of the judgment to come, to be a curb to their insolence; now here he observes the oppressed. This he did, no doubt, as a prince, to do them justice and avenge them of their adversaries, for he both feared God and regarded men; but here he does it as a preacher, and shows,
I. The troubles of their condition (Ecc 4:1); of these he speaks very feelingly and with compassion. It grieved him, 1. To see might prevailing against right, to see so much oppression done under the sun, to see servants, and labourers, and poor workmen, oppressed by their masters, who take advantage of their necessity to impose what terms they please upon them, debtors oppressed by cruel creditors and creditors too by fraudulent debtors, tenants oppressed by hard landlords and orphans by treacherous guardians, and, worst of all, subjects oppressed by arbitrary princes and unjust judges. Such oppressions are done under the sun; above the sun righteousness reigns for ever. Wise men will consider these oppressions, and contrive to do something for the relief of those that are oppressed. Blessed is he that considers the poor. 2. To see how those that were wronged laid to heart the wrongs that were done them. He beheld the tears of such as were oppressed, and perhaps could not forbear weeping with them. The world is a place of weepers; look which way we will, we have a melancholy scene presented to us, the tears of those that are oppressed with one trouble or other. They find it is to no purpose to complain, and therefore mourn in secret (as Job, Job 16:20; Job 30:28); but Blessed are those that mourn. 3. To see how unable they were to help themselves: On the side of their oppressors there was power, when they had done wrong, to stand to it and make good what they had done, so that the poor were borne down with a strong hand and had no way to obtain redress. It is sad to see power misplaced, and that which was given men to enable them to do good perverted to support them in doing wrong. 4. To see how they and their calamities were slighted by all about them. They wept and needed comfort, but there was none to do that friendly office: They had no comforter; their oppressors were powerful and threatening, and therefore they had no comforter; those that should have comforted them durst not, for fear of displeasing the oppressors and being made their companions for offering to be their comforters. It is sad to see so little humanity among men.
II. The temptations of their condition. Being thus hardly used, they are tempted to hate and despise life, and to envy those that are dead and in their graves, and to wish they had never been born (Ecc 4:2, Ecc 4:3); and Solomon is ready to agree with them, for it serves to prove that all is vanity and vexation, since life itself is often so; and if we disregard it, in comparison with the favour and fruition of God (as St. Paul, Act 20:24, Phi 1:23), it is our praise, but, if (as here) only for the sake of the miseries that attend it, it is our infirmity, and we judge therein after the flesh, as Job and Elijah did. 1. He here thinks those happy who have ended this miserable life, have done their part and quitted the stage; "I praised the dead that are already dead, slain outright, or that had a speedy passage through the world, made a short cut over the ocean of life, dead already, before they had well begun to live; I was pleased with their lot, and, had it been in their own choice, should have praised their wisdom for but looking into the world and then retiring, as not liking it. I concluded that it is better with them than with the living that are yet alive and that is all, dragging the long and heavy chain of life, and wearing out its tedious minutes." This may be compared not with Job 3:20, Job 3:21, but with Rev 14:13, where, in times of persecution (and such Solomon is here describing), it is not the passion of man, but the Spirit of God, that says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Note, The condition of the saints that are dead, and gone to rest with God, is upon many accounts better and more desirable than the condition of living saints that are yet continued in their work and warfare. 2. He thinks those happy who never began this miserable life; nay, they are happiest of all: He that has not been is happier than both they. Better never to have been born than be born to see the evil work that is done under the sun, to see so much wickedness committed, so much wrong done, and not only to be in no capacity to mend the matter, but to suffer ill for doing well. A good man, how calamitous a condition soever he is in in this world, cannot have cause to wish he had never been born, since he is glorifying the Lord even in the fires, and will be happy at last, for ever happy. Nor ought any to wish so while they are alive, for while there is life there is hope; a man is never undone till he is in hell.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–3. Public domain.
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Gregory of NeocaesareaAD 270
And leaving all these reflections, I considered and turned in aversion from all the forms of oppression which are done among men; whence some receiving injury weep and lament, who are struck down by violence in utter default of those who protect them, or who should by all means comfort them in their trouble. And the men who make might their right are exalted to an eminence, from which, however, they shall also fall. Yea, of the unrighteous and audacious, those who are dead fare better than those who are still alive. And better than both these is he who, being destined to be like them, has not yet come into being, since he has not yet touched the wickedness which prevails among men. And it became clear to me also how great is the envy which follows a man from his neighbours, like the sting of a wicked spirit; and I saw that he who receives it, and takes it as it were into his breast, has nothing else but to eat his own heart, and tear it, and consume both soul and body, finding inconsolable vexation in the good fortune of others. And a wise man would choose to have one of his hands full, if it were with ease and quietness, rather than both of them with travail and with the villany of a treacherous spirit. Moreover, there is yet another thing which I know to happen contrary to what is fitting, by reason of the evil will of man. He who is left entirely alone, having neither brother nor son, but prospered with large possessions, lives on in the spirit of insatiable avarice, and refuses l to give himself in any way whatever to goodness. Gladly, therefore, would I ask such an one for what reason he labours thus, fleeing with headlong speed from the doing of anything good, and distracted by the many various passions for making gain Far better than such are those who have taken up an order of life in common, from which they may reap the best blessings. For when two men devote themselves in the right spirit to the same objects, though some mischance befalls the one, he has still at least no slight alleviation in having his companion by him. And the greatest of all calamities to a man in evil fortune is the want of a friend to help and cheer him. And those who live together both double the good fortune that befalls them, and lessen the pressure of the storm of disagreeable events; so that in the day they are distinguished for their frank confidence in each other, and in the night they appear notable for their cheerfulness. But he who leads a solitary life passes a species of existence full of terror to himself; not perceiving that if one should fall upon men welded closely together, he adopts a rash and perilous course, and that it is not easy to snap the threefold cord. Moreover, I put a poor youth, if he be wise, before an aged prince devoid of wisdom, to whose thoughts it has never occured that it is possible that a man may be raised from the prison to the throne, and that the very man who has exercised his power unrighteously shall at a later period be righteously cast out. For it may happen that those who are subject to a youth, who is at the same time sensible, shall be free from trouble—those, I mean, who are his elders. Moreover, they who are born later cannot praise another, of whom they have had no experience, and are led by an unreasoning judgment, and by the impulse of a contrary spirit. But in exercising the preacher's office, keep this before your eyes, that your own life be rightly directed, and that you pray in behalf of the foolish, that they may get understanding, and know how to shun the doings of the wicked.
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
DEATH AS A GOOD 7:28
We desire each day to know what is new, and what is knowledge itself but our daily sorrow and abasement? All things that are have already been, and “nothing is new under the sun,” but “all is vanity. Therefore I hated the whole of this life,” said Ecclesiastes. He who hated his life certainly commended death. And so he praised the dead rather than the living and judged him happy that did not come into this life nor take up this vain toil. “My heart took a circuit to know the joy of the impious man and to examine carefully and to seek wisdom and a mode of calculating and to know joy through the impious man and trouble and disquietude, and I find that it is bitterer than death”—not because death is bitter, but because it is bitter for the impious one. And yet life is bitterer than death. For it is a greater burden to live for sin than to die in sin, because the impious person increases his sin as long as he lives, but if he dies, he ceases to sin.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Ecclesiastes
"And I
returned and contemplated all the acts of oppression that are committed beneath
the sun: Behold! Tears of the oppressed with none to comfort them, and their
oppressors have the power - with none to comfort them. "After considering this I turned my eyes and attention
to this, so that I saw the slanderers and those sustaining chicanery. And look on those who, oppressed unjustly by
more powerful men, are not able to find a comforter for their tears. For this is only permitted in disasters and
in protest at the ill will of the matter.
And wherever there is more distress and inconsolable suffering they see
the slanderers as stronger in their difficulties. And this is the cause: because they are not
worthy of consolation. He describes this
idea more fully in the seventy-second psalm of David, and Jeremiah in his own
book.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, 2 Peter 3:13
He praised the innocent dead rather than the living because the latter were still engaged in the struggle but the former had been given their reward of everlasting happiness. He complained that he had seen deceit beneath the sun because he knew that above the sun there is a just judge “who dwells on high and looks down upon humble things.” Above the sun there are dwelling places in which the righteous receive due rewards for their righteousness.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Ecclesiastes 4:1 captures the Preacher's profound and sorrowful observation of pervasive injustice and suffering in the world, viewed from an earthly perspective "under the sun." He witnesses the raw, unmitigated grief of the oppressed, whose tears flow without any source of solace or advocacy. In stark contrast, their oppressors wield unchecked power, ensuring that the victims' cries for help remain unheard and their anguish unalleviated. This verse powerfully underscores the Preacher's overarching theme of the vanity and futility of life when detached from a divine, transcendent purpose, highlighting a reality where righteousness often goes unrewarded and wickedness thrives with impunity.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ecclesiastes 4:1 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its somber message. The most prominent is Juxtaposition, where the utter helplessness, isolation, and tearful suffering of the oppressed are placed in stark contrast with the unchecked "power" of their oppressors. This creates a vivid and disturbing image of profound societal imbalance and injustice. The repeated phrase "they had no comforter" functions as Repetition, serving as a poignant refrain that emphasizes the profound isolation and despair of the victims. This repetition hammers home the tragic reality of their abandonment and the absence of any alleviating presence. The phrase "under the sun" is a recurring Motif throughout Ecclesiastes, consistently grounding Qoheleth's observations in a purely earthly, human perspective, devoid of transcendent hope or immediate divine intervention, which makes the observed injustices all the more bleak and unresolvable from a human standpoint. The "tears" themselves function as powerful Symbolism, representing not just physical weeping but the deep, pervasive sorrow, pain, and helplessness that result from systemic oppression and the absence of justice.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ecclesiastes 4:1 offers a raw, unflinching portrayal of human suffering and injustice, a theme deeply woven into the fabric of biblical theology. While Qoheleth's perspective is confined to life "under the sun," his lament over the uncomforted oppressed resonates profoundly with God's own heart for justice and compassion. The Bible consistently portrays God as a fierce defender of the weak, the marginalized, and the vulnerable, and as the ultimate judge of all oppressors. This verse highlights the profound brokenness of a world marred by sin, where power is often misused, and the innocent are exploited. It implicitly raises timeless questions about divine justice and the apparent delay of its manifestation, a tension explored throughout the wisdom literature and prophetic books of Scripture. The devastating absence of a human comforter in this verse points to the ultimate, desperate need for a divine one, foreshadowing the hope found in God's character and His promised future intervention to set all things right.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ecclesiastes 4:1 serves as a stark and challenging mirror, reflecting the enduring and often disheartening reality of injustice and suffering in our fallen world. It compels us to move beyond superficial observations and to truly "consider" the deep anguish of those who are oppressed, whose tears often go unnoticed and whose cries remain uncomforted. This verse demands that we cultivate a profound empathy for the vulnerable, recognizing that their suffering is not merely an abstract problem but a tangible, soul-crushing reality. In a world where power is still frequently wielded for selfish gain, and the marginalized continue to be exploited, the Preacher's lament is a timeless call to critical awareness and compassionate engagement. For believers, this awareness should ignite a fervent passion for justice and a steadfast commitment to being the "comforters" that Qoheleth observed were so desperately lacking. While the Preacher's "under the sun" perspective often leads to despair, our faith in a sovereign and just God should move us to Spirit-empowered action—to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, and to extend tangible compassion where there is none. This verse reminds us that true comfort and lasting justice are ultimately found not in human systems alone, but in aligning ourselves with God's righteous character and His unwavering heart for the oppressed.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Ecclesiastes 4:1 suggest that God is absent or uncaring about injustice?
Answer: Ecclesiastes 4:1, when viewed in isolation and strictly "under the sun," indeed presents a bleak picture where the oppressed have "no comforter" and oppressors wield unchecked "power." This verse reflects Qoheleth's honest struggle to reconcile the existence of pervasive, unaddressed injustice with the concept of a just and sovereign God, a tension common in wisdom literature. However, within the broader biblical narrative, this verse does not ultimately suggest God's absence or uncaring nature. Instead, it highlights the human perception of these realities when divine intervention or ultimate justice is not immediately apparent in the present fallen world. The rest of Scripture, particularly the Prophets and Psalms (e.g., Psalm 9:9, Amos 5:24), consistently portrays God as deeply concerned with justice, a fervent defender of the oppressed, and the ultimate judge of all wrongdoing. Ecclesiastes serves to underscore the profound need for God's ultimate justice and comfort, which is often not fully realized in the present broken world, thereby pointing to a hope beyond earthly limitations.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Ecclesiastes 4:1 powerfully articulates the desperate human need for a comforter and a champion against oppression, a need that finds its ultimate and glorious fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Preacher's lament over those who "had no comforter" echoes the universal cry of a fallen humanity alienated from God and subjected to the tyranny of sin and its pervasive consequences. Jesus, the true Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, enters this world of profound oppression not with earthly power to dominate, but with divine authority to liberate. He is the ultimate "Comforter" promised by the Father, sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within believers, offering profound solace, divine guidance, and supernatural strength in the midst of suffering. Unlike the earthly oppressors whose power leads to tears and despair, Christ's power is demonstrated supremely through sacrificial love, bringing healing to the brokenhearted and release to the captives (Isaiah 61:1-3). He profoundly identifies with the oppressed, declaring that what is done to "the least of these" is done to Him (Matthew 25:40). Ultimately, Christ's redemptive work on the cross and His promised future return establish a new heaven and a new earth where God Himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Revelation 21:4). Thus, the despair and uncomforted tears of Ecclesiastes 4:1 find their glorious and eternal resolution in the person and work of Jesus, who is both the compassionate Comforter and the righteous Judge who will finally bring an end to all oppression.