John Gill Commentary Ecclesiastes 4

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are
done under the sun

The wise man, according to Aben Ezra, returned from the thought, which he had expressed in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that it was good for a man to rejoice in his works, and called it in; since he could not rejoice, when he considered the oppression and violence that were in the world; but it does not appear that he did call it in, for he afterwards repeats it: or rather he returns to his former subject, the abuse of power and authority, mentioned (Ecclesiastes 3:16) ; and from where he had digressed a little by the above observation; and takes a review of all kinds of oppressions which are done, and of all sorts of "oppressed" ^F24 ones, as some render it, which become so, under the sun; subjects by their prince; the stranger, widow, and fatherless, by unjust judges; the poor by the rich; servants and labourers by their masters; and the like.

Moreover, he saw by the Holy Ghost, as Jarchi paraphrases it, all oppressions by a spirit of prophecy; he foresaw all the oppressions that would be done under the sun; as all the injuries done to the people of Israel in their several captivities; so to the church of Christ in Gospel times; all the persecutions of Rome Pagan, and also of Rome Papal; all that has or will be done by antichrist, the man of the earth, who before long will oppress no more, (Psalms 10:18) ; the Targum restrains these oppressions to those which are done to the righteous in this world: and it is well observed by the wise man, that they are such as are under the sun, for there are none above it, nor any beyond the grave, (Job 3:17Job 3:18) ;

and behold the tears of [such as were] oppressed ;
which their eyes poured out, and which ran down their cheeks, and were all they could do, having no power to help themselves:

It is in the singular number, "and behold the tear" ^F25 ; as if it was one continued stream of tears, which, like a torrent, flowed from them; or as if they had so exhausted the source of nature by weeping, that the fountain of tears was dried up, and scarce another could drop; or it was as much as could be, that another should drop from them: and this the wise man could not well behold, without weeping himself; it being the property of a good man to weep with them that weep, especially with good men oppressed;

and they had no comforter ;
to speak a comfortable word to them; not so much as to do that which would be some alleviation of their sorrow, much less to help them, no human comforter; and this is a very deplorable condition, (Lamentations 1:2Lamentations 1:9Lamentations 1:16Lamentations 1:17) (Psalms 69:20) ; indeed, when this is the case, good men under their oppressions have a divine Comforter; God comforts them under all their tribulations; one of the names of the Messiah is "the Consolation of Israel", (Luke 2:25) ; and the Spirit of God is "another Comforter", (John 14:16) ; and such are well off, when all other comforters are miserable ones, or other men have none;

and on the side of their oppressors [there was] power ;
to crush them and keep them under, or to hinder others from helping or comforting them: or there was no "power [to deliver them] out of the hand of their oppressors" ^F26 ; so some render and supply the words; with which sense agrees the Targum,

``and there is none to redeem them out of the hand of their oppressors, by strength of hand and by power.'' It may be rendered, "out of the hand of their oppressors [comes] power", or violence; such as the oppressed are not able to withstand; so the Arabic version;

but they had no comforter :
which is repeated, not so much for confirmation, as to excite attention and pity, and to express the affliction of the oppressed, and the cruelty of others; and this following on the other clause, leads to observe, that the power of the oppressor is what hinders and deters others from comforting. Jarchi interprets this whole verse of the damned in hell, punished for their evil works, weeping for their souls oppressed by the destroying angels; and so, he says, it is, explained in an ancient book of theirs, called Siphri.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: (Myqveh) "oppressos", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Drusius, Schmidt, Rambachius, so Broughton; "fraudatos", Cocceius.
• F25: (temd) "lachryma", Montanus, Tigurine version, Cocceius, Rambachius.
• F26: (xk Mhyqve dymw) "et quia deest facultas se vindicandi e manu opprimentium ipsos", Tigurine version; "aut evadendi e manu opprimentium se virtus", Junius & Tremellius; "nec vires ad evadendum a manu opprimentium ipsos", Piscator.

Wherefore I praised the dead, which are already dead
Truly and properly so; not in a figurative sense, as dead sinners, men dead in trespasses and sins; norcarnal professors, that have a name to live, and are dead; nor in a civil sense, such as are in calamity anddistress, as the Jews in captivity, or in any affliction, which is sometimes called death: but such who aredead in a literal and natural sense, really and thoroughly dead; not who may and will certainly die, but whoare dead already and in their graves, and not all these; not the wicked dead, who are in hell, in everlastingtorments; but the righteous dead, who are taken away from the evil to come, and are free from all theoppressions of their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world. The Targum is,

The wise man did not make panegyrics or encomiums on those persons, but he pronounced them happy; he judged them in his ownmind to be so; and to be much more
happy than the living which are yet alive :
that live under the oppression of others; that live in this world in trouble until now, as the Targum; ofwhom it is as much as it can be said that they are alive; they are just alive, and that is all; they are asit were between life and death. This is generally understood as spoken according to human sense, and thejudgment of the flesh, without any regard to the glory and happiness of the future state; that the dead mustbe preferred to the living, when the quiet of the one, and the misery of the other, are observed; and whichsense receives confirmation from (Ecclesiastes 4:3) :

otherwise it is a great truth, that the righteousdead, who die in Christ and are with him, are much more happy than living saints; since they are freed fromsin; are out of the reach of Satan's temptations; are no more liable to darkness and desertions; are freedfrom all doubts and fears; cease from all their labours, toil, and trouble; and are delivered from allafflictions, persecutions, and oppressions; which is not the case of living saints: and besides, the joyswhich they possess, the company they are always in, and the work they are employed about, give theminfinitely the preference to all on earth; see (Revelation 14:13) (Philippians 1:21Philippians 1:23) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: "Stulte, quid est semnus gelidae nisi mortis imago?" Ovid. Plato in Ciceron. Tuscul. Quaest. l. 1. c. 58.
• F2: Iliad. 16. v. 672, 682. Vid. Pausan. Laconica, sive l. 3. p. 195.

Yea, better [is he] than both they who has not yet been ,
&c.] That is, an unborn person; who is preferred both to the dead that have seen oppression, and to the living that are under it; see (Job 3:10–16) (Job 10:18Job 10:19) .

This supposes a person to be that never was, a mere nonentity; and the judgment made is according to sense, and regards the dead purely as such, and so as free from evils and sorrows, without any respect to their future state and condition; for otherwise an unborn person is not happier than the dead that die in Christ, and live with him: and it can only be true of those that perish, of whom indeed it might be said, that it would have been better for them if they had never been born, according to those words of Christ, (Matthew 26:24) ; and is opposed to the maxim of some philosophers, that a miserable being is better than none at all.

The Jews, from this passage, endeavour to prove the pre-existence of human souls, and suppose that such an one is here meant, which, though created, was not yet sent into this world in a body, and so had never seen evil and sorrow; and this way some Christian writers have gone.

It has been interpreted also of the Messiah, who in Solomon's time had not yet been a man, and never known sorrow, which he was to do, and has, and so more happy than the dead or living.

But these are senses that will not bear; the first is best; and the design is to show the great unhappiness of mortals, that even a nonentity is preferred to them;

who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun ?
the evil works of oppressors, and the sorrows of the oppressed.

Again I considered all travail, and every right work

The pains that men take to do right works. Some apply themselves, with great diligence and industry, to the study of the liberal arts and sciences; and to attain the knowledge of languages; and to writing books, for the improvement of those things, and the good of mankind: and others employ themselves in mechanic arts, and excel in them, and bring their works to great perfection and accuracy; when they might expect to be praised and commended, and have thanks given them by men.

But instead thereof, so it is, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour; who will be sure to find fault with what he has done, spoke contemptibly of him and his work, and traduce him among men. This is also true of moral works; which are right, when done from a right principle, from love to God, in faith, and with a view to the glory of God; and which when done, and ever so well done, draw upon a man the envy of the wicked, as may be observed in the case of Cain and Abel, (1 John 3:12).

Though some understand this, not passively, of the envy which is brought upon a man, and he endures, for the sake of the good he excels in; but actively, of the spirit of emulation with which he does it; though the work he does, as to the matter of it, is right; yet the manner of doing it, and the spirit with which he does it, are wrong; he does not do it with any good affection to the thing itself, nor with any good design, only from a spirit of emulation to outdo his neighbour: so the Targum paraphrases it,

``this is the emulation that a man emulates his neighbour, to do as he; if he emulates him to do good, the heavenly Word does good to him; but if he emulates him to do evil, the heavenly Word does evil to him;'' and to this sense Jarchi; compare with this, (Philippians 1:15–18).

This [is] also vanity, and vexation of spirit; whether it be understood in the one sense or the other; how dissatisfying and vexatious is it, when a man has taken a great deal of pains to do right works for public good, instead of having thanks and praise, is reproached and calumniated for it? and if he does a right thing, and yet has not right ends and views in it, it stands for nothing; it has only the appearance of good, but is not truly so, and yields no solid peace and comfort.

The fool foldeth his hands together. In order to get more sleep, or as unwilling to work; so the Targum adds, "he folds his hands in summer, and will not labour;" see (Proverbs 6:10) .

Some persons, to escape the envy which diligence and industry bring on men, will not work at all, or do any right work, and think to sleep in a whole skin; this is great folly and madness indeed.

and eateth his own flesh. Such a man is starved and famished for want of food, so that his flesh is wasted away; or he is so hungry bitten, that he is ready to eat his own flesh; or he hereby brings to ruin his family, his wife, and children, which are his own flesh, (Isaiah 58:7) .

The Targum is, "in winter he eats all he has, even the covering of the skin of his flesh."

Some understand this of the envious man, who is a fool, traduces the diligent and industrious, and will not work himself; and not only whose idleness brings want and poverty on him as an armed man, but whose envy eats up his spirit, and is rottenness in his bones, (Proverbs 6:11) (14:30) .

Jarchi, out of a book of theirs called Siphri, interprets this of a wicked man in hell, when he sees the righteous in glory, and he himself judged and condemned.