ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL (ECCLESIASTES 4)
My wife and I arrived in Hong Kong on Aug 18, 2008. After my wife passed away on May 22, 2016, Rev. So invited me for holiday dinner (July 1, 2016). I asked him, “How am I different from other coworkers whose wives passed away?” He said, “Different. You do not have any relatives in Hong Kong.” Other coworkers can go home to their parents’ place for dinner. My relatives were siblings on my wife’s side – two sisters in Hong Kong, and we had no children. So I know what is like to be alone and abandoned in Hong Kong, even though I do have a brother in Malaysia, a sister in USA and my mother in Singapore. Truth to be told, there are worse. There is at least three.
Preach to the suffering and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew. British pastor Joseph Parker Chapter four has a pointed, popular but painful phrase in the book – vexation of spirit. There are three “vexation of spirit” occurs nine times in the Bible, thrice in chapter four, in verses 4, 6, and 16, the most in any chapter of the book or the Bible, along with chapter 2. Spirit is more than wind in Hebrew, which is the normal translation nowadays besides KJV. The more popular translations include Spirit or spirit (232x), wind (92x), and breath (27x). Wind is too specific as compared to spirit, which is non-object, physical or mobile. Vexation is taken from the root raah, translated mostly as feed (75x), shepherd (63x), pastor (8x), herdmen (7x) in KJV. So the whole phrase could mean eating, consuming or digesting spirit, air or breath. It can mean endless, elusive, erratic, empty and exasperating. It could mean discouragement, desolation or deficiency.
Afflicted vv 1-6 Alone vv 7-12 Aging vv 13-16
Who is your neighbor? How can we give and receive help? Why are we not an island to ourselves?
Be Sensitive to Sufferers
1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter. 2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. 3 But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. 4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 5 Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. 6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
There was a king whose officers, in the midst of battle, decided to go and take food that was desperately needed from some homes in the area. When they came back with it, the king asked, “Did you pay them for what you took?”
The officers said, “No, the king doesn't have to pay.”
The king said, “Go back and pay them for everything that you took.”
An African proverb says, “To love a king is not bad, but a king who loves you is better.”
There are at least five traditional groups in society that suffer oppression or are vulnerable to oppression: the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, the poor (Zech 7:10) and the hireling (Mal 3:5).
The verb “see” is a progression (vv 1, 3). The author first “saw” all the “oppressions” (Eccl 4:1), the tears (v 1), power (v 1), no comforter (v 1), then the “evil work” (v 3). The word “oppression” is a verb and not a noun, an act and no longer a discussion. The verb occurs merely five times in the Bible, of which verse 2 is its second occurrence in the Bible. The first occurrence is in Job 35:9, where the oppressed “cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.” The verb is derived from another verb that is translated as deceive (Lev 6:2), defraud (Lev 19:13), wrong (1 Chron 16:21), drinketh up (Job 40:23), doeth violence (Prov 28:17), so it is an issue of might, money and morality. Are there worse things than suffer oppressions? What can be worse than oppression? Of course, there are worse things than wicked oppression, of which the first is without comfort. Twice the verse says “they have no comforter,” which is translated as ease (Isa 1:24), meaning no support – no calm, consolation, care, Of course, there is something worse than wicked oppression, that is, without comfort, but crying, cruelty and coldness and casualness.
Power (v 1) is translated as strength (Gen 4:12), might (Gen 49:3) and ability (Ezra 2:69). It’s been said, “Power in the hands of a tyrant is a curse,” “Power in the hands of a tyrant is the most dangerous thing” and “Power in the hands of a tyrant always makes everybody cry.” The text underscores the absence or lack of comfort and compassion more than the presence of power and oppression. Sin and suffering will never die on earth, but strength, support, sharing and solidarity must increase and intensify.
The writer uses an intensive piel verb “declare” (v 2). He is not urging us to die, but to praise the dead. The dead does not have to see or suffer oppression or evil forbidden of oppressors.
The second worse thing than oppression is the envy of a neighbor (v 4). The author’s sadness was heightened and compounded when he discovered his neighbor envied him, of which “neighbor can be translated as friend (Gen 38:12), companion (Ex 32:270) and fellow (Ex 2:13). The neighbor was no different. Envy is as intense as love and hatred in Ecclesiastes (Eccl 9:6). Envy is basically zeal in the Bible. It is powerful, passionate and provocative.
The third is the fool who folds his hands (v 5). He is his own oppressor, his worst enemy and his personal blind spot.
One does not voice support, the second’s neighbors are green with envy, and the last folded his hands.
Be Strong in Support
7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: 8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business! 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
On the week I started preparing for this sermon, I met a person who was hauling a big fish tank about two feet by one and a half feet big with a thread of straw strings. He was flinging his hands as if the hands were on fire. I had returned from my walk to the 17th block and he was still standing there, so I carried the back part and urged him to carry the front end. We walked a few blocks until he was inside the apartment by the lift. He told me he took a taxi but still had to walk the five blocks home and thanked me and asked for my name and showed me the fish and tadpoles he bought.
The “hands” (v 5) is the same word as “side” (v 1). The three hands in verses 5 and 6 are different words in Hebrew (v 5 hands, v 6 handful, hands KJV). Verse 5 and 6 contrasts the person with no hand (v 5 yad), handful/palm (v 6 kaph) and handful/fists (v 6 chophen). The fool has no idea what to do with the power in his hands; it is folded (v 5) - passive. The number “one” appears six times in the chapter (vv 8, 9, 10 2x, 11 12). It’s been said, “One is a lonely number,” “Two is a team” and “Two is company, four is a party, three is a crowd, one is a wanderer.”
“There is not” (ayin) is a progression:
Eccl 4:8 and there is not a second
Eccl 4:8 hath neither child nor brother
Eccl 4:8 yet is there no end of all his labour
Eccl 4:10 for he hath not another to help him up
Eccl 4:16 There is no end of all the people
No relatives No rescue No help
“second” is repeated in verse 8, 10, 15:
Eccl 4:8 there is not a second
Eccl 4:10 for he hath not another to help him up
Eccl 4:15 the second child that shall stand up in his stead
The text is outstanding numerically with six “one,” (vv 8, 9, 10 twice, 11, 12), but each one is balanced by a two even though the number two is less or half the occurrences of “one,” but the number “three” (v 12) triumphs..
8 There is one alone, and there is not a second (sheniy)
9 Two (shenayim) are better than one
10 the one will lift up his fellow (chaber)
10 alone when he falleth; for he hath not another (sheniy)
11 two (shenayim) lie together, then they have heat: but how can one
12 one prevail against him, two (shenayim) shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. KJV
Son and brother (v 8) refer to relationship, toil (v 8) refers to work. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth means valuing resources over relationship. The alone person is stuck in a rut, earning money but having no person to spend with. A person cannot spend his life with money.
Deprive (v 8) is translated as abated (Gen 8:3), decreased (Gen 8:5), lack (Gen 18:28), want (Deut 15:8), fail (1 Kings 17:14), need (Prov 31:11), bereave (Eccl 4:8) and lower (Ps 8:5). One is not good for the toil/mind (amal), eye or myself/soul (v 8). “Myself” is “soul” in Hebrew (v 8). One has less energy, exchange, enjoyment, expectation and effort.
Two is better than one (v 9). The word “return” is translated as reward (Gen 15:1), hire (Gen 30:18), wages (Gen 30:28), worth (Deut 15:18), fare (Jonah 1:3) and price (Zech 11:12).
The verbs “fall” (v 10, twice) and “help” (v 10, twice) are repeated twice each, but it is the infinitive of purpose in “help” which is the focus (TO help). “Help” is translated as rose up (Gen 4:8), establish (Gen 6:18), stand up (Gen 23:3), stablish (Est 9:21), confirm (Est 9:29). The 1-2, 2-1 and 1-2-3 equation appears in verses 8-12:
8 one...second
9 Two...one
10 one...fellow
alone...another
11 two... one
12 one...two... threefold KJV
Broken (v 12) means drawn away (Josh 8:16), (up)rooted (Job 18:14),
break asunder (Ps 2:3), pluck away (Jer 6:29), pulled out (Jer 12:3), burst (Jer 30:8). It speaks of strength, stability and solidarity.
Finally, there is a contrast of “no end of all his labour” (v 8) versus “good reward for their labour” (v 9).
Be Strong in Succession
13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Gary Hoy (1955 – 1993) was a Canadian lawyer and a respected senior partner at a Toronto law firm. Before going to law school, Hoy had gotten a degree in engineering, and the robustness of modern building techniques was a subject of particular interest to him. He was peculiarly proud of the tensile strength of the windows at his office in the Toronto Dominion Center, a downtown high rise, and was in the habit of demonstrating the windows’ sturdiness by body checking them. As things turned out, and as he discovered on July 9th, 1993, it was an ill-advised habit.
That evening, Hoy was at a welcoming party being thrown for a group of incoming law student summer interns, in a conference room on the 24th floor of the high rise. Wishing to impress the interns with the office windows’ strength, Hoy sought to demonstrate that they were unbreakable by throwing himself at a glass wall. He had done so many a time before and always ended up bouncing off harmlessly.
As Toronto police detective described what happened next: “At this Friday night party, Mr. Hoy did it again and bounced off the glass the first time. However, he did it a second time, and this time crashed right through the middle of the glass“. He fell to his death 24 floors below.
His unfortunate death could have been averted had he left window tensile strength testing to the experts. As a structural engineer told the Toronto Star about Hoy’s peculiar methodology in the aftermath of the fatal mishap: “I don’t know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160 pound man to run up against a glass window and withstand it“. https://historycollection.com/bizarre-circumstances-12-unusual-deaths-20th-century/12/
“Poor” (v 13) is derived from a root word that means to be silly, or to do, make or play or turn into a fool. It could also mean fat.
The verb “heed warning” (v 13, infinitive) is translated as admonished (Eccl 4:13) and shine (Dan 12:3). It is the same word for brightness or brilliancy.
Prison (v 14) is definitely a poor choice of translation. About 1960 times this word is translated as house (1,881x), household (54x), home (25x), within (22x), temple (11x), prison (16x). Verse 14’s poverty is different form the word “poor” in previous verse. Poverty here is translated also as lack (Ps 34:10) or needy (Ps 82:3). I take it to mean inexperience, inapt and inadequate. Verse 13 and 15’s youth and verse 14’s born are derived from the same root, the noun and the verb, except that the youth is the child in Hebrew or offspring.
Here is the contrast of the two parties’ body, heart and spirit:
Poor and Wise Child (v 13 ) Old and Foolish King (v 13)
Excited Entitled
Equal Exclusive
Earned Entrenched
Equipped Endowed
Emerging Ending
Endearing Endangered
Engagement Encroachment
Exploring Expiring
Energetic Egoistic
Examination Exemption
Evolving Empty
Conclusion:
Are you a pal or a parent? How do you relate with others?
Are you a participant or a phantom? Are you around when you’re needed?
Are you a pillar or a pinball? Is there stability in your life?
Are you a pupil or a principal? Are you busy learning or lecturing?
Are you a practitioner or a philosopher? Do you practice what you preach?
Victor Yap
Bible.ryl.hk (Grammar Bible)
Preachchrist.com (sermons)
