Ecclesiastes 4:8 Komentář

Solomon, having shown the vanity of this world in the temptation which those in power feel to oppress and trample upon their subjects, here further shows, I. The temptation which the oppressed feel to discontent and impatience (Ecc 4:1-3). II. The temptation which those that love their case feel to take their case and neglect business, for fear of being envied (Ecc 4:4-6). III. The folly of hoarding up abundance of worldly wealth (Ecc 4:7, Ecc 4:8). IV. A remedy against that folly, in being made sensible of the benefit of society and mutual assistance (Ecc 4:9-12). V. The mutability even of royal dignity, not only through the folly of the prince himself (Ecc 4:13, Ecc 4:14), but through the fickleness of the people, let the prince be ever so discreet (Ecc 4:15, Ecc 4:16). It is not the prerogative even of kings themselves to be exempted from the vanity and vexation that attend these things; let none else then expect it.

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 4 In this chapter the wise man reassumes the consideration of the case of the abuse of power, to show that there is no happiness in this world, in grandeur and authority enjoyed; since, as he had observed before, on the one hand, the oppressor shall be judged and condemned at the great day of account; so, on the other hand, the oppressed have their lives made so uncomfortable, that the dead are preferred unto them, and unborn persons to them both, Ecc 4:1; Another vanity he observes, that whereas men expect to be happy by their diligence and industry, this brings upon them the envy of others, Ecc 4:4; hence some, on the other hand, place their happiness in sloth and ease, which is another vanity, Ecc 4:5; and others again in covetousness; who are described by their unsocial life, toilsome labour, unsatisfied desires, and withholding good things from themselves, Ecc 4:7; upon which some things are said, to show the benefits of a social life, Ecc 4:9. And the chapter is concluded with exposing the vanity of the highest instance of worldly power and grandeur, royal dignity, through the folly of a king; the effects of which are mentioned, Ecc 4:13; and through the fickleness of the people, who are soon weary of a prince on the throne, and court his successor, Ecc 4:15

There is one alone, and there is not a second,.... According to Aben Ezra, either no friend or companion, or no servant, or no wife, which last sense he prefers; no friend or companion he chooses, because friendship and fellowship lead to expenses; and no servant who would be chargeable to him; and no wife, which would be more expensive, and bring on a family of children; wherefore, to save charges, he chooses to have neither of these; for this is a covetous man who is here desert bed; yea, he hath neither child nor brother; to inherit his substance, as the Targum adds; some worldly men, whose bellies are filled with hidden treasures, having enjoyed much, when they die, leave the rest of their substance to their babes; but the man here described has no children, nor any relations to leave his wealth unto; yet is there no end of all his labour; when he has executed one scheme to get riches, he forms another; and having finished one work, he enters upon another; he rises early and sits up late, and works and toils night and day, as if he was not worth a dollar, and had a large and numerous family to provide for; or there is no end of what he labours for, or gets by his labour; there is no end of his treasures, Isa 2:7; he is immensely rich, so Aben Ezra interprets it; neither is his eye satisfied with riches: with seeing his bags of gold and silver, though he takes a great deal of sure in looking upon them too, without making use of them; yet he is not satisfied with what he has, he wants more, he enlarges his desire as hell, and like the grave never has enough; see Ecc 5:10; neither saith he, for whom do I labour? having neither wife nor child, nor relation, nor friend, and yet so wretchedly stupid and thoughtless as never once to put this question to himself, Who am I toiling for? I am heaping up riches, and know not who shall gather them; it is a vexation to a worldly man to leave his substance behind him, and even to a man that has an heir to inherit it, when he knows not whether he will be a wise man or a fool; but for a man that has no heir at all, and yet to be toiling and labouring for the world, is gross stupidity, downright madness, and especially when he deprives himself of the comfort of what he is possessed of; and bereave my soul of good? instead of richly enjoying what is given him, he withholds it from himself, starves his back and belly, lives in pinching want amidst the greatest plenty; has not power to eat of what he has, and his soul desireth; see Ecc 6:2. This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail; a very vain and wicked thing; "an evil business", as it may be rendered; a very great sin and folly indeed; it is thought by some divines to be the worst species of covetousness, most cruel and unnatural.

"Then I returned and contemplated futility beneath the sun: a lone and solitary man who has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to his toil, nor is his eye ever sated with riches, nor does he ask himself, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of goodness.' This too is futility, indeed, it is a sorry task." I turned to other people and I saw that they work more than is necessary and amass wealth by good and bad means and do not use it once accumulated; they have all things, brood over their riches, keep it for another, and do not enjoy their work. Then at the end of their life they have neither son nor brother, nor close friend so that the pious work seems reserved for necessities only. And so I discovered nothing more vain than that man, who collects riches, or to whom an ignorant man bequeaths them. We are even able to understand this in a religious interpretation, and understand it as those, who write books and leave them to fastidious readers. Some say that this passage from where it says "there is one, but there is not a second" is about the Saviour, because he came down to save the world alone and without any companion. And although there are many sons of God, they are called his brothers by adoption, though not one remains worthy, who should be joined to him in this work. There is no end to this work, for those carrying our faults and sins and suffering for us; and his eye will not be filled by riches, but always with those desiring our safety, and the more you see his sins, the more he encourages him to repent.

(Ecc. 4:1-16) returned--namely, to the thought set forth (Ecc 3:16; Job 35:9). power--MAURER, not so well, "violence." no comforter--twice said to express continued suffering without any to give comfort (Isa 53:7).

not a second--no partner. child--"son or brother," put for any heir (Deu 25:5-10). eye-- (Ecc 1:8). The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.

"And again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold there the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors goeth forth violence; and they have no comforter." Incorrectly Hahn: And anew I saw, - the observation is different from that of Ecc 3:16, though cognate. Thus: And again I saw, - the expression follows the syntactic scheme of Gen 26:18; regarding the fut. consec. brought into view here and at Ecc 4:7. The second העשׁ is part. pass.; the first, as at Job 35:9, and also at Amo 3:9, is abstract (i.e., bringing the many separate instances under one general idea) pluraletantum (cf. פּדוּיי, redemti, Isa 35:10; and redemtio, pretium redemtionis, Num 3:46); the plur. נע אשׁר need not appear strange, since even חיּים is connected with the plur. of the pred., e.g., Psa 31:11; Psa 88:4. דּמעת has, as at Isa 25:8 (cf. Rev 21:4, πᾶν δάκρυον), a collective sense. The expression כּח ... וּמיּד is singular. According to the most natural impression, it seems to signify: "and from the hand of their oppressors no power of deliverance" (carrying forward אין); but the parallelism of the palindromically constructed verse (as at Ecc 1:6; Ecc 2:10; Ecc 3:16) excludes this meaning. Thus כּח is here once-nowhere else-used, like the Greek βία, in the sense of violence; Luzzatto prefers the reading וּביד, by which the expression would be in conformity with the linguistic usage; but also מיד is explained: the force which they have in their hands is, in going forth from their hands, thought of as abused, and, as taking the form of שׁד or חזקה. In view of this sorrow which men bring upon their fellow-men, life for Koheleth lost all its worth and attraction.