Parallel Verses
Amplified
But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
New American Standard Bible
But
King James Version
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.
Holman Bible
But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed,
International Standard Version
Better than both of them is someone who has not yet been born, because he hasn't experienced evil on earth.
American Standard Version
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.
Bible in Basic English
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.
Darby Translation
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.
Julia Smith Translation
And good above them two which were not yet, which saw not the evil work which was done under the sun.
King James 2000
Yea, better is he than both, who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Lexham Expanded Bible
But better [off] than both of them is the one who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
Modern King James verseion
Yea, better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
Yea, him that is yet unborn to be better at ease than they both, because he seeth not the miserable works that are done under the Sun.
NET Bible
But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.
New Heart English Bible
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.
The Emphasized Bible
and, as better than both, him who had not yet come into being, - who had not seen the vexatious work, which was done under the sun.
Webster
Yes, better is he than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
World English Bible
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.
Youngs Literal Translation
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.
Interlinear
Towb
Sh@nayim
Ra'ah
References
Fausets
Word Count of 19 Translations in Ecclesiastes 4:3
Verse Info
Context Readings
The Existence Of Oppression In The World Makes Human Existence Miserable
2 So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living. 3 But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. 4 I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.
Cross References
Luke 23:29
Job 3:10-16
Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide trouble from my eyes.
Job 3:22
Who rejoice exceedingly,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
Job 10:18-19
‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
Psalm 55:6-11
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:17
So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 6:3-5
If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,
Jeremiah 9:2-3
Oh that I had in the wilderness
A lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,
That I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the Lord],
[They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].
Jeremiah 20:17-18
Because he did not kill me before my birth,
So that my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always pregnant.
Matthew 24:19