Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 9:4

"For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion." — Ecclesiastes 9:4 (ASV)

There is a variant reading here in the Hebrew. Our translators, following the older translators, adopt the reading of the margin. The textual reading, instead of 'joined,' offers a word meaning 'chosen.' The best way to understand this is to translate it as, For who is excepted? This translation would connect it with the previous verse, and the current verse would then begin, To all the living... etc.

Regarding the statement of the following verses, compare Psalm 6:3 and the marginal references given there. The shepherd’s dog is mentioned in Job 30:1, and watchdogs in Isaiah 56:10. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the dog is an unclean animal, whether living or dead.