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Ecclesiastes 4

Eccl. 4:1 KJV (With Strong’s)

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So I returned
shuwb (Hebrew #7725)
to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbial, again
KJV usage: ((break, build, circumcise, dig, do anything, do evil, feed, lay down, lie down, lodge, make, rejoice, send, take, weep)) X again, (cause to) answer (+ again), X in any case (wise), X at all, averse, bring (again, back, home again), call (to mind), carry again (back), cease, X certainly, come again (back), X consider, + continually, convert, deliver (again), + deny, draw back, fetch home again, X fro, get (oneself) (back) again, X give (again), go again (back, home), (go) out, hinder, let, (see) more, X needs, be past, X pay, pervert, pull in again, put (again, up again), recall, recompense, recover, refresh, relieve, render (again), requite, rescue, restore, retrieve, (cause to, make to) return, reverse, reward, + say nay, send back, set again, slide back, still, X surely, take back (off), (cause to, make to) turn (again, self again, away, back, back again, backward, from, off), withdraw.
Pronounce: shoob
Origin: a primitive root
, and considered
ra'ah (Hebrew #7200)
to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)
KJV usage: advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.
Pronounce: raw-aw'
Origin: a primitive root
all the oppressions
`ashuwq (Hebrew #6217)
passive participle of 6231; used in plural masculine as abstractly, tyranny
KJV usage: oppressed(-ion). (Doubtful.)
Pronounce: aw-shook'
Origin: or mashuq {aw-shook'}
that are done
`asah (Hebrew #6213)
to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows)
KJV usage: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.
Pronounce: aw-saw'
Origin: a primitive root
under the sun
shemesh (Hebrew #8121)
the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement
KJV usage: + east side(-ward), sun ((rising)), + west(-ward), window. See also 1053.
Pronounce: sheh'-mesh
Origin: from an unused root meaning to be brilliant
: and behold the tears
dim`ah (Hebrew #1832)
weeping
KJV usage: tears.
Pronounce: dim-aw'
Origin: feminine of 1831
of such as were oppressed
`ashaq (Hebrew #6231)
to press upon, i.e. oppress, defraud, violate, overflow
KJV usage: get deceitfully, deceive, defraud, drink up, (use) oppress((-ion)), -or), do violence (wrong).
Pronounce: aw-shak'
Origin: a primitive root (compare 6229)
, and they had no comforter
nacham (Hebrew #5162)
properly, to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself)
KJV usage: comfort (self), ease (one's self), repent(-er,-ing, self).
Pronounce: naw-kham'
Origin: a primitive root
; and on the ηside
yad (Hebrew #3027)
a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.), in distinction from 3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote (as follows)
KJV usage: (+ be) able, X about, + armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, X bounty, + broad, (broken-)handed, X by, charge, coast, + consecrate, + creditor, custody, debt, dominion, X enough, + fellowship, force, X from, hand(-staves, -y work), X he, himself, X in, labour, + large, ledge, (left-)handed, means, X mine, ministry, near, X of, X order, ordinance, X our, parts, pain, power, X presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, + swear, terror, X thee, X by them, X themselves, X thine own, X thou, through, X throwing, + thumb, times, X to, X under, X us, X wait on, (way-)side, where, + wide, X with (him, me, you), work, + yield, X yourselves.
Pronounce: yawd
Origin: a primitive word
of their oppressors
`ashaq (Hebrew #6231)
to press upon, i.e. oppress, defraud, violate, overflow
KJV usage: get deceitfully, deceive, defraud, drink up, (use) oppress((-ion)), -or), do violence (wrong).
Pronounce: aw-shak'
Origin: a primitive root (compare 6229)
there was power
koach (Hebrew #3581)
from an unused root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard
KJV usage: ability, able, chameleon, force, fruits, might, power(-ful), strength, substance, wealth.
Pronounce: ko'-akh
Origin: or (Dan. 11:6) kowach {ko'-akh}
; but they had no comforter
nacham (Hebrew #5162)
properly, to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself)
KJV usage: comfort (self), ease (one's self), repent(-er,-ing, self).
Pronounce: naw-kham'
Origin: a primitive root
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η
band.

More on:

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Comforter,
Sun

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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1-3:  Vanity is increased unto men by oppression;
4:  by envy;
5-6:  by idleness;
7-8:  by covetousness;
9-12:  by solitariness;
13-16:  by wilfulness.
I returned.
Job 6:29• 29Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it. (Job 6:29)
;
Mal. 3:18• 18And ye shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. (Mal. 3:18)
and considered.
Eccl. 3:16• 16And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there. (Eccl. 3:16)
;
Eccl. 5:8• 8If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they. (Eccl. 5:8)
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Eccl. 7:7• 7Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad, and a gift destroyeth the heart. (Eccl. 7:7)
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Ex. 1:13‑14,16,22• 13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with harshness;
 14and they embittered their life with hard labour in clay and bricks, and in all manner of labour in the field: all their labour with which they made them serve was with harshness.
 16and he said, When ye help the Hebrew women in bearing, and see them on the stool, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if a daughter, then she shall live.
 22Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, but every daughter ye shall save alive. (Ex. 1:13‑14,16,22)
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Ex. 2:23‑24• 23And it came to pass during those many days, that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and cried; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage;
 24and God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob; (Ex. 2:23‑24)
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Ex. 5:16‑19• 16There is no straw given to thy bondmen, and they say to us, Make brick; and behold, thy bondmen are beaten, but it is the fault of thy people.
 17And he said, Ye are idle, idle! therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.
 18And now go--work! and straw shall not be given you, and ye shall deliver the measure of bricks.
 19And the officers of the children of Israel saw that it stood ill with them, because it was said, Ye shall not diminish anything from your bricks, the daily work. (Ex. 5:16‑19)
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Deut. 28:33,48• 33The fruit of thy ground and all thy labour, shall a people that thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed continually.
 48thou shalt serve thine enemies whom Jehovah will send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of everything; and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. (Deut. 28:33,48)
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Judg. 4:3• 3And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel twenty years. (Judg. 4:3)
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Judg. 10:7‑8• 7And the anger of Jehovah was hot against Israel, and he sold him into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the children of Ammon.
 8And they oppressed and crushed the children of Israel in that year; eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. (Judg. 10:7‑8)
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Neh. 5:1‑5• 1And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
 2And there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many, and we must procure corn that we may eat and live.
 3And there were that said, We have had to pledge our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, that we might procure corn in the dearth.
 4And there were that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and vineyards;
 5yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and behold, we must bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already; neither is it in the power of our hand to redeem them, for other men have our fields and our vineyards. (Neh. 5:1‑5)
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Job 24:7‑12• 7They pass the night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold;
 8They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and for want of a shelter embrace the rock …
 9They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor:
 10These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf;
 11They press out oil within their walls, they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
 12Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and +God imputeth not the impiety. (Job 24:7‑12)
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Psa. 10:9‑10• 9He lieth in wait secretly, like a lion in his thicket; he lieth in wait to catch the afflicted: he doth catch the afflicted, drawing him into his net.
 10He croucheth, he boweth down, that the wretched may fall by his strong ones. (Psa. 10:9‑10)
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Prov. 28:3,15‑16• 3A poor man who oppresseth the helpless is a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.
 15A roaring lion, and a ranging bear, is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
 16The prince void of intelligence is also a great oppressor: he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days. (Prov. 28:3,15‑16)
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Isa. 5:7• 7For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight: and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry. (Isa. 5:7)
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Isa. 51:23• 23and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street to them that went over. (Isa. 51:23)
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Isa. 59:7,13‑15• 7Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths;
 13in transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
 14And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
 15And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment. (Isa. 59:7,13‑15)
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Mal. 3:5• 5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired servant in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. (Mal. 3:5)
the tears.
Psa. 42:3,9• 3My tears have been my bread day and night, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God?
 9I will say unto *God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? (Psa. 42:3,9)
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Psa. 80:5• 5Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure: (Psa. 80:5)
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Psa. 102:8‑9• 8Mine enemies reproach me all the day; they that are mad against me swear by me.
 9For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, (Psa. 102:8‑9)
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Mal. 2:13• 13And further ye do this: ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the oblation any more, nor receiveth it with satisfaction at your hand. (Mal. 2:13)
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James 5:4• 4Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. (James 5:4)
they had.
Job 16:4• 4I also could speak as ye: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could join together words against you, and shake my head at you; (Job 16:4)
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Job 19:21‑22• 21Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends; for the hand of +God hath touched me.
 22Why do ye persecute me as *God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? (Job 19:21‑22)
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Psa. 69:20• 20Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed: and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. (Psa. 69:20)
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Psa. 142:4• 4Look on the right hand and see; there is no man that knoweth me: refuge hath failed me; no man careth for my soul. (Psa. 142:4)
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Prov. 19:7• 7All the brethren of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him: he pursueth them with words,--they are not to be found. (Prov. 19:7)
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Lam. 1:2,9• 2She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath no comforter; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
 9Her impurity was in her skirts, she remembered not her latter end; and she came down wonderfully: she hath no comforter. Jehovah, behold my affliction; for the enemy hath magnified himself. (Lam. 1:2,9)
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Matt. 26:56• 56But all this is come to pass that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled. (Matt. 26:56)
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2 Tim. 4:16‑17• 16At my first defence no man stood with me, but all deserted me. May it not be imputed to them.
 17But the Lord stood with me, and gave me power, that through me the proclamation might be fully made, and all those of the nations should hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. (2 Tim. 4:16‑17)
side.
Heb. hand.
• {v.1-3} Wherever men have power they use it to bring forth tears; therefore far better, cries Solomon, to be out of such a scene altogether; yea, better still, never to have come into it at all. (“Ecclesiastes 4” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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And I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and they had no comforter.