Passage Research
Ecclesiastes 4 — Sermon Preparation
The Teacher reflects on oppression and isolated labor, praising the advantage of companionship and a poor but wise youth over a foolish old king. Below is a research summary for Ecclesiastes 4, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 17
- verses
- 237 / 113
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 4
- classic sermon excerpts
- 3
- preachers & commentators
Ecclesiastes 4 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טוֹב | ṭôwb | H2896 | 6 | good |
| עָמָל | ʻâmâl | H5999 | 4 | toil, wearing effort |
| אֶחָד | ʼechâd | H259 | 6 | united, one |
| הֶבֶל | hebel | H1892 | 4 | emptiness, vanity |
| שֶׁמֶשׁ | shemesh | H8121 | 4 | sun, east |
| רָאָה | râʼâh | H7200 | 5 | see |
| כְּסִיל | kᵉçîyl | H3684 | 3 | fat, stupid |
How preachers through history handled this text
4 public-domain excerpts on Ecclesiastes 4, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“IV The misery of the oppressed and the oppressor, ver. 1-3. Of being envied, which occasions sloth in others, ver. 4-6. The folly of hoarding up wealth, ver. 7, 8. The benefit of society, ver. 9-12. The mutability even of the royal dignity, thro' the foolishness of the prince, and the fickleness of the people, ver. 13-16. 1. I returned - I considered again. Oppressions - Whether by princes, magistrates, or other potent persons. No comforter - None afforded them pity or succor. But they, &c. - No comfort therein. 2. …”
— John Wesley, Wesley's Notes on the Whole Bible, on Ecclesiastes 4:1–30 (Public Domain)
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