"Some understand the meaning of this verse as a description of work which is the effect of rivalry with a neighbor." Read verse in New King James Version 2 I x said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. It’s like chasing the wind. thinks this figure is constructed; Grtz here, as always, rocks himself in Herodian dreams. King Solomon, who wrote Ecclesiastes, then tells us that the young man had a humble beginning. Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to … I saw the tears of those who are suffering. There are many of them. Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 New International Version (NIV) Advancement Is Meaningless. 13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind. Surely this also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. They include general commands that are true for all time and some that are no longer applicable. Ecclesiastes 4:15 I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. May we all listen carefully as Solomon reveals to us the true meaning to life and answer the question… “What Is Our Life If Not Lived for The Lord ?”. Zac Derr. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. Isaiah 41:4) has no joy in this king, - the hopes which his contemporaries placed in the young king, who had seized the throne and conquered their hearts, afterwards proved to be delusions; and also this history, at first so beautiful, and afterwards so hateful, contributed finally to the confirmation of the truth, that all under the sun is vain. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. Even another passage in Ecclesiastes disputes annihilationism, Ecclesiastes 4:2–3, where Solomon delineates three different states of consciousness. Power is on the side of those who treat them badly. Ecclesiastes 4:16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them. When a hopeful youth of fifteen years of age, he was recalled to the throne from a voluntary banishment into Farther Asia, very soon gained against his old cousin and rival Achaeus, who was supported by Egypt, a large party, and remained for several years esteemed as a prince and captain; he disappointed, however, at a later time, the confidence which was reposed in him. Kidner's interpretation appears to be the best available. Donations to this ministry are tax-deductible. There was no end to all those people, everyone whom he led.But those who will come later will not be happy with the successor. He was the second son of his father, who died 225. This also is profitless and like 4 chasing the wind.. NIV ©: There was no end to all the people who were before them. (l) They never cease by all means to creep into favour, but when they do not obtain their greedy desires they think themselves abused, as others have been in times past, and so care no more for him. Ecclesiastes 4-6 English Standard Version (ESV) Evil Under the Sun. guesses first of Jeroboam, along with Rehoboam the שׁני ילד, who rebelled against King Solomon, who in his old age had become foolish. Verses 4-6 Solomon notices the sources of trouble peculiar to well-doers, and includes all who labour with diligence, and whose efforts are crowned with success. And they had no comforter — None afforded them either pity or succour. - Acknowledging the providential government of God, which controls events and places man's happiness out of his own power, one is confronted also by the fact that there is much wickedness, much injustice, in the world, which oppose all plans for peaceful enjoyment. NIV. Ecclesiastes Table Of Contents Introduction & Prologue (1:1-3) 3 The Preacher’s Search For Meaning - I (1:4-18) 6 The Preacher’s Search For Meaning - II (2:1-18) 9 The Preacher’s Observations - I (3:1-4:16) 12 The Preacher’s Observations - II (5:1-6:12) 15 Counsel For A Better Life (7:1-14) 18 Counsel For A Balanced Life (7:15-29) 23 Freud and Frankl were two brilliant psychologists who lived in Vienna just before World War II. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Grätz thinks Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 ought to drive expositors to despair. Solomon reveals what one discovers by experience. There was no end to all the people who were before them. Pulpit Commentary. He talks about the great diversity within the Body … New 4-Week Series: Focus. (The number of all the people, who be under him, is great without measure, and yet they who shall come after, shall not be grateful to him; but this is also empty and futile, like chasing the wind.) ECCLESIASTES 4:1-16 Introduction: Late in life Solomon strayed form God. He is omniscient, but He is also filled with compassion and great goodness. Ecclesiastes: Life Change Bible Study NAVPRESS / 2013 / PAPERBACK “Lord, we pray for a hunger for Your Word. One day follows another, on and on, but they are each separated by a period of night. (4:4) “I have also noted that all labor and skillful enterprise come from men’s envy of each other.” (Tanakh) “I considered all toil and all achievement and saw that it springs from rivalry between one person and another.” (REB) “Then I saw all labor and every skilful work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbor. 1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings. Ecclesiastes 3:16 - Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. The Vanity of Self-Indulgence. What follows also does not perplex us. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. Verses 16-22. And because of that, that wise poor child who was formerly in prison and then became king – well, he ends up being forgotten just like anyone else! The young king, feeling the reins in his own hands, and being surrounded by those whose interest it … The message is that almost everyone in the kingdom will eventually be unhappy with the king and desire another king thinking that the next one will be better than the last one. Ecclesiastes Chapter 5. Starting with Ecclesiastes 4:9, God tells us that it is better to not be a loner. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit. Paul lays out a clear picture of the make-up and function of the Body of Christ in his epistle to the Ephesians. who have already died. 4:13-16. In this concluding message on the book of Ecclesiastes youth fades, death rolls in like a thundercloud and unsurprisingly joy reigns supreme. 1 I looked and saw how much people were suffering on this earth. 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