Ecclesiastes 9:4
2 It is the same for all: There is a common fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who makes a vow, so it is for the one who refuses to take a vow.
3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
- KJV
- For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- WEB
- For to him who is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- ASV
- For to him that is joined with all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- DARBY
- For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope; for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- BLB
- For whoever that is joined to all the living, there is hope, for a living dog is better than a lion that is dead;
- ÅB
- for hvem er det vel som slipper? For alle dem som lever, er det håp; for en levende hund er bedre enn en død løve;
- OTB
- For den som er blant de levende, er det håp; ja, en levende hund er bedre enn en død løve.
- B1930
- for hvem er det vel som slipper? For alle dem som lever, er det håp; for en levende hund er bedre enn en død løve;
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Job 14:7–12
For there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not fail.
Read in contextIsaiah 38:18
For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
Read in contextLuke 16:26–29
And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’
Read in contextLamentations 3:21–22
Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope:
Read in contextJob 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
Read in context