4 And I saw that the cause of all the work and of everything which is done well was man's envy of his neighbour. This again is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; all is to no purpose, and desire for wind.
Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.
And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering; But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was angry and his face became sad. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your face sad? If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong, sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let it be your master. And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother Abel and put him to death.
These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them. Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him. And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever. And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream. We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine. And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever. Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me. And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you? And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom? And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.
And Saul's fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day. Then the rulers of the Philistines went out to war: and whenever they went out, David did more wisely than all the other servants of Saul, so that his name became greatly honoured.
Wrath is cruel, and angry feeling an overflowing stream; but who does not give way before envy?
To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.
There was no end of all the people, of all those whose head he was, but they who come later will have no delight in him. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.
What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
And the brothers, moved with envy against Joseph, gave him to the Egyptians for money: but God was with him,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
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,
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.
Ecc 4:1-3
Solomon had a large soul (1 Ki. 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 (ch. 3:16, 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,
Ecc 4:4-6
Here Solomon returns to the observation and consideration of the vanity and vexation of spirit that attend the business of this world, which he had spoken of before, ch. 2:11.
Ecc 4:7-12
Here Solomon fastens upon another instance of the vanity of this world, that frequently the more men have of it the more they would have; and on this they are so intent that they have no enjoyment of what they have. Now Solomon here shows,
Ecc 4:13-16
Solomon was himself a king, and therefore may be allowed to speak more freely than another concerning the vanity of kingly state and dignity, which he shows here to be an uncertain thing; he had before said so (Prov. 27:24, The crown doth not endure to every generation), and his son found it so. Nothing is more slippery than the highest post of honour without wisdom and the people's love.