Chapter commentary
Ecclesiastes Chapter 4
1
Ec 4:1-16.
English original
Ec 4:1-16.
1. returned--namely, to the thought set forth
(Ec 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).
2
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2. 这句话若脱离上下文便是亵渎之语；但就所罗门的主旨而言却恰如其分。若不将宗教纳入考量
(Ec 3:17, 19)，
则尽早死去为妙，免得受苦或目睹「欺压」；更妙的是根本未曾出生
(Ec 7:1)。
约伯
(Job 3:12；21:7)、
大卫
(Ps 73:3
等）、耶利米
(Jer 12:1)、
哈巴谷
(Hab 1:13)
都曾经历同样的困惑，直到他们进入圣所，越过眼前看见将来的「审判」
(Ps 73:17； Hab 2:20；3:17, 18)。
那时他们才明白，在彻底刑罚恶人之前需要有所迟延，或为留悔改的余地，或为积蓄忿怒
(Ro 2:15)；
在彻底赏赐敬虔人之前也需要留出余地，好让信心在患难中得以试炼并坚忍
(Ps 92:7-12)。
然而，神即使现今也常以未来审判的部分预兆作为凭据，使我们虽然面对种种难处，仍确知神治理这地。
English original
2. A profane sentiment if severed from its connection; but just in its bearing on Solomon's scope. If religion were not taken into account
(Ec 3:17, 19),
to die as soon as possible would be desirable, so as not to suffer or witness "oppressions"; and still more so, not to be born at all
(Ec 7:1).
Job
(Job 3:12; 21:7),
David
(Ps 73:3,
&c.), Jeremiah
(Jer 12:1),
Habakkuk
(Hab 1:13),
all passed through the same perplexity, until they went into the sanctuary, and looked beyond the present to the "judgment"
(Ps 73:17; Hab 2:20; 3:17, 18).
Then they saw the need of delay, before completely punishing the wicked, to give space for repentance, or else for accumulation of wrath
(Ro 2:15);
and before completely rewarding the godly, to give room for faith and perseverance in tribulation
(Ps 92:7-12).
Earnests, however, are often even now given, by partial judgments of the future, to assure us, in spite of difficulties, that God governs the earth.
3
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3. 没有见过*——即未曾经历*。
English original
3. not seen--nor experienced.
4
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*4. 灾*——宜译作「通达」（参阅
Ec 2:21)。
人所贪求的通达，正是惹起欺压
(Ec 4:1)
与「嫉妒」的根源，远不能构成至善。
English original
4. right--rather, "prosperous" (see on
Ec 2:21).
Prosperity, which men so much covet, is the very source of provoking oppression
(Ec 4:1)
and "envy," so far is it from constituting the chief good.
5
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5. 然而，
愚昧人（即* wicked*的欺压者）即使在今世也不足羡慕；他「抱着手」闲懒无为
(Pr 6:10；24:33)，
靠着不正当夺取他人之物过活；因为这样的人
*吃自己的肉*——即是个自我折磨者，永不满足，他的心灵自我吞噬
(Isa 9:20；49:26)。
English original
5. Still the
fool (the wicked oppressor) is not to be envied even in this life, who "folds his hands together" in idleness
(Pr 6:10; 24:33),
living on the means he wrongfully wrests from others; for such a one
eateth his own flesh--that is, is a self-tormentor, never satisfied, his spirit preying on itself
(Isa 9:20; 49:26).
6
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6. 希伯来文作：「一满掌的安静，胜过双拳满握的劳碌。」「安静」（来自诚实劳碌的心理安宁），与「吃自己的肉」
(Ec 4:5)
相反，也与为得利而焦虑劳碌相反
(Ec 4:8； Pr 15:16, 17；16:8)。
English original
6. Hebrew; "One open hand (palm) full of quietness, than both closed hands full of travail." "Quietness" (mental tranquillity flowing from honest labor), opposed to "eating one's own flesh"
(Ec 4:5),
also opposed to anxious labor to gain
(Ec 4:8; Pr 15:16, 17; 16:8).
7
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7. 一项虚空描述于
Ec 4:8。
English original
7. A vanity described in
Ec 4:8.
8
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*8. 无二*——没有同伴。
*子*——「子或弟兄」泛指任何继承人
(De 25:5-10)。
*眼目*——
(Ec 1:8)。
吝啬者也无法解释自己的痴迷。
English original
8. not a second--no partner.
child--"son or brother," put for any heir
(De 25:5-10).
eye--
(Ec 1:8).
The miser would not be able to give an account of his infatuation.
9
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*9. 两个人*——与「一个人」
(Ec 4:8)
相对。联合的纽带——婚姻、友谊、宗教的相交——胜过吝啬者自私的孤独
(Ge 2:18)。
*赏赐*——因他们同工而有益处。
《他勒目》说：「没有同伴的人，如同左手没有右手。」
English original
9. Two--opposed to "one"
(Ec 4:8).
Ties of union, marriage, friendship, religious communion, are better than the selfish solitariness of the miser
(Ge 2:18).
reward--Advantage accrues from their efforts being conjoined. The Talmud says, "A man without a companion is like a left hand without the right.
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10. 若是跌倒*——若这人或那人跌倒，正如两人*都可能发生的那样，即跌入身体、心思或灵魂的任何困境中。
English original
10. if they fall--if the one or other fall, as may happen to both, namely, into any distress of body, mind, or soul.
11
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11.（参阅
1Ki 1:1)。
此意象取自夫妻，但普世适用于从社交纽带而来的温暖同情。基督徒的连结也是如此
(Lu 24:32； Ac 28:15)。
English original
11. (See on
1Ki 1:1).
The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties
(Lu 24:32; Ac 28:15).
12
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*12. 一人*——指仇敌。
*三股合成的绳子*——谚语，喻指多人的联合——例如夫、妻、儿女
(Pr 11:14)；
基督徒也是如此
(Lu 10:1； Col 2:2, 19)。
将绳散开，各股便容易「折断」。
English original
12. one--enemy.
threefold cord--proverbial for a combination of many--for example, husband, wife, and children
(Pr 11:14);
so Christians
(Lu 10:1; Col 2:2, 19).
Untwist the cord, and the separate threads are easily "broken."
13
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13. 「三股合成的绳子」
[Ec 4:12]
所论的社交纽带，引出政治的题目。即在此事上，他也断言王权并不能赐人持久的幸福。那「智慧」的孩童，虽是假设的所罗门之例，在圣灵所预见的事上，正应验于耶罗波安；他当时是个贫穷却勇敢的少年，曾是所罗门的「仆人」，并
(1Ki 11:26-40)
蒙神借先知亚希雅指定为将要从罗波安分裂出去的十支派之王国的继承人。那「年老愚昧的王」正应验于所罗门自己，他不顾神两次的警告
(1Ki 3:14；9:2-9)，
离弃了神，便丧失了他的智慧。
*不肯纳谏*——还不知道如何受警戒（参边注）。神已借亚希雅暗示将临到所罗门的审判
(1Ki 11:11-13)。
English original
13. The "threefold cord"
[Ec 4:12]
of social ties suggests the subject of civil government. In this case too, he concludes that kingly power confers no lasting happiness. The "wise" child, though a supposed case of Solomon, answers, in the event foreseen by the Holy Ghost, to Jeroboam, then a poor but valiant youth, once a "servant" of Solomon, and
(1Ki 11:26-40)
appointed by God through the prophet Ahijah to be heir of the kingdom of the ten tribes about to be rent from Rehoboam. The "old and foolish king" answers to Solomon himself, who had lost his wisdom, when, in defiance of two warnings of God
(1Ki 3:14; 9:2-9),
he forsook God.
will no more be admonished--knows not yet how to take warning (see Margin) God had by Ahijah already intimated the judgment coming on Solomon
(1Ki 11:11-13).
14
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*14. 出监牢*——所罗门用此语指一假设之例；例如约瑟从坑中升至埃及的宰相。同时，他的话也被圣灵如此安排，实际上应验于耶罗波安；他曾逃往埃及的示撒，以躲避所罗门所加的「监牢」与死亡
(1Ki 11:40)。
这种对自己与罗波安命运的无意预示，正构成其中的反讽。大卫在扫罗手下从贫穷流亡中被升高（这可能是所罗门心中所想的），与耶罗波安的高升在某种程度上恰好相应。
*至于……贫穷*——宜译作「虽然他（那少年）在他国中（在他将来要治理的地上）生来贫穷」。
English original
14. out of prison--Solomon uses this phrase of a supposed case; for example, Joseph raised from a dungeon to be lord of Egypt. His words are at the same time so framed by the Holy Ghost that they answer virtually to Jeroboam, who fled to escape a "prison" and death from Solomon, to Shishak of Egypt
(1Ki 11:40).
This unconscious presaging of his own doom, and that of Rehoboam, constitutes the irony. David's elevation from poverty and exile, under Saul (which may have been before Solomon's mind), had so far their counterpart in that of Jeroboam.
whereas . . . becometh poor--rather, "though he (the youth) was born poor in his kingdom" (in the land where afterwards he was to reign).
15
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15. 「我见活着的」一切人，即现今这一代，与那「第二少年」（即「老王」的「合法继承人」，与那要从贫穷升至王位的首先论及的「贫穷少年」相对），即罗波安的关系。
*代替他*——指老王的位。
English original
15. "I considered all the living," the present generation, in relation to ("with") the "second youth" (the "legitimate successor" of the "old king," as opposed to the "poor youth," the one first spoken of, about to be raised from poverty to a throne), that is, Rehoboam.
in his stead--the old king's.
16
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16. 尽管他们如今敬拜那如日方升的储君，我却思想到「在他们以前的所有人」——即过去的一代——的爱慕新奇之心，「无节制、不稳定
(2Sa 15:6；20:1)、
无止境」；
*后来的人*——即下一代——
*不喜欢他*——即不喜欢罗波安。平行句的「不喜欢」确定了「无节制」之意——即没有恒久的归顺，虽然如今人都欢喜他。
English original
16. Notwithstanding their now worshipping the rising sun, the heir-apparent, I reflected that "there were no bounds, no stability
(2Sa 15:6; 20:1),
no check on the love of innovation, of all that have been before them," that is, the past generation; so
also they that come after--that is, the next generation,
shall not rejoice in him--namely, Rehoboam. The parallel, "shall not rejoice," fixes the sense of "no bounds," no permanent adherence, though now men rejoice in him.
Ec 4:1-16。
1. 我又转念——即回到先前所提的思想
(Ec 3:16； Job 35:9)。
*势力*——MAURER 译作「强暴」，并不甚妥。
*无人安慰*——重复两次，以表达持续不断的受苦却无人给予安慰
(Isa 53:7)。