Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 verse 3 Holy Bible
yea, better than them both `did I esteem' him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.
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and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
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And better than both of them `is' he who hath not yet been, in that he hath not seen the evil work that hath been done under the sun.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been. Thus we have Job's passionate appeal (Job 3:11), "Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came forth," etc.? And in the Greek poets the sentiment of the text is re-echoed. Thus Theognis, 'Paroen.,' 425 - Πάντων μὲν μὴ φῦναι ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἄριστονΜηδ ἐσιδεῖν αὐγὰς ὀξέος ἠελίουΦύντα δ ὅπως ὤκιστα πύλας Ἀι'´δαο περῆσαιΚαὶ κεῖσθαι πολλὴν γῆν ἐπαμησάμενον "'Tis best for mortals never to be born,Nor ever see the swift sun's burning rays;Next best, when born, to pass the gates of deathRight speedily, and rest beneath the earth." (Comp. Soph., '(Ed. Colossians,' 1225-1228.) Cicero, 'Tusc. Disp.,' 1:48, renders some lines from a lost play of Euripides to the same effect - "Nam nos decebat, caetus celebrantes, domumLugere, ubi esset aliquis in lucern editus,Humanae vitae varia reputantes mala;At qui labores metre finisset graves,Hunc omni amicos lauds et laetitia exsequi." Herodotus (5. 4) relates how some of the Thracians had a custom of bemoaning a birth and rejoicing at a death. In our own Burial Service we thank God for delivering the departed "out of the miseries of this sinful world." Keble alludes to this barbarian custom in his poem on' The Third Sunday after Easter.' Speaking of a Christian mother's joy at a child's birth, he says - . . .
