🌀WEB · Ecclesiastes 4:8
What does Ecclesiastes 4:8 mean?
"There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business."
— Ecclesiastes 4:8 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The fool folds his hands together and ruins himself.
Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone?
Explanation
Ecclesiastes 4:8 paints a portrait of a man who has isolated himself in pursuit of work and wealth. He has no son, no brother, no family or companion to share his life with, yet he labors endlessly, never satisfied with what he accumulates. The verse captures him in a moment of self-reflection, almost catching himself mid-life to ask the haunting question: "For whom am I doing all this? Why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" The Preacher's verdict is blunt — this is vanity, an empty and miserable pursuit.
This verse comes from Ecclesiastes, traditionally attributed to Solomon (identified as "the Preacher" or "Qoheleth," son of David, king in Jerusalem), writing to Israel, likely in his later years as he reflects on a lifetime of pursuits — wealth, wisdom, pleasure, achievement — and evaluates their ultimate worth "under the sun." Chapter 4 as a whole examines various forms of human suffering and folly: oppression, envy-driven labor, the loneliness of isolation, and misplaced ambition. Verse 8 fits into a section (verses 7-12) contrasting solitary toil with the value of companionship, immediately followed by the famous "two are better than one" passage. The isolated laborer here has cut himself off from relationships that give life meaning, and Solomon uses him as an example of misdirected effort.
Theologically, this verse exposes the emptiness of work and wealth when they become ends in themselves, detached from relation
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