A Threefold Cord Is Not Quickly Broken

This chapter briefly discusses four topics. The first one relates to situation where those who were oppressed had no comforters while their oppressors continue to wield great power over them. If the author of this is Solomon, then it may be that Solomon was referring to neighbouring kingdoms.
The second topic describes a man who works for his own sake. He has no companion and he works constantly. The author asks who does he work for that he has to sacrifice enjoying goodness. The implication is that such work deprives one of enjoying the fruits of the labour.
The third topic gives the famous saying "And a threefold cord is not quickly broken". It tells of the strength derived from being in companionship. They can enjoy the fruits of their labour together. If one should fall, the other will help them up again.
The fourth topic tells from an example of one from humble beginning who was made king. He became ruler over many and so gained popularity. However, he grew foolish with age, and soon was no longer remembered.


Ecclesiastes 4

1 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun:
And look! The tears of the oppressed,
But they have no comforter—
On the side of their oppressors there is power,
But they have no comforter.
2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead,
More than the living who are still alive.
3 Yet, better than both is he who has never existed,
Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil
4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
5 The fool folds his hands
And consumes his own flesh.
6 Better a handful with quietness
Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:
8 There is one alone, without companion:
He has neither son nor brother.
Yet there is no end to all his labors,
Nor is his eye satisfied with riches.
But he never asks,
“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good?”
This also is vanity and a grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend
9 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away
13 Better a poor and wise youth
Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.
14 For he comes out of prison to be king,
Although he was born poor in his kingdom.
15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun;
They were with the second youth who stands in his place.
16 There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king;
Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Job stands his ground

Here is another volley fired by Job at his friends, not so much with malice, but rather to set the record straight.   He calls them "miserable comforters" - wouldn't we like to have friends like that? 


Job says that if his position was reversed, he would act as a comforter to his friends. Then he describes how tired he is of this situation and the debate with his friends. Once again he describes God as the one punishing him. Yet in the midst of attributing such punishments to God, and knowing his innocence, he continues to cry and plead with God. This is because Job also knows that he has an advocate in Heaven (hinting at our Lord Jesus), as he says " Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high."




Job 16
Job Reproaches His Pitiless Friends
 ¹ Then Job answered and said:
 ² “I have heard many such things;
      Miserable comforters are you all!
 ³ Shall words of wind have an end?
      Or what provokes you that you answer?
 ⁴ I also could speak as you do,
      If your soul were in my soul’s place.
      I could heap up words against you,
      And shake my head at you;
 ⁵ But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
      And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.
 ⁶ “ Though I speak, my grief is not relieved;
      And if I remain silent, how am I eased?
 ⁷ But now He has worn me out;
      You have made desolate all my company.
 ⁸ You have shriveled me up,
      And it is a witness against me;
      My leanness rises up against me
      And bears witness to my face.
 ⁹ He tears me in His wrath, and hates me;
      He gnashes at me with His teeth;
      My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.
 ¹⁰ They gape at me with their mouth,
      They strike me reproachfully on the cheek,
      They gather together against me.
 ¹¹ God has delivered me to the ungodly,
      And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
 ¹² I was at ease, but He has shattered me;
      He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces;
      He has set me up for His target,
 ¹³ His archers surround me.
      He pierces my heart^[a] and does not pity;
      He pours out my gall on the ground.
 ¹⁴ He breaks me with wound upon wound;
      He runs at me like a warrior.^[b]
 15 “I have sewn sackcloth over my skin,
      And laid my head^[c] in the dust.
 ¹⁶ My face is flushed from weeping,
      And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
 ¹⁷ Although no violence is in my hands,
      And my prayer is pure.
 ¹⁸ “O earth, do not cover my blood,
      And let my cry have no resting place!
 ¹⁹ Surely even now my witness is in heaven,
      And my evidence is on high.
 ²⁰ My friends scorn me;
      My eyes pour out tears to God.
 ²¹ Oh, that one might plead for a man with God,
      As a man pleads for his neighbor!
 ²² For when a few years are finished,
      I shall go the way of no return.