Ecclesiastes 4:4-16--The Loneliness of Wealth

Ecclesiastes 4:4-16
Christian Standard Bible

The Loneliness of Wealth
4 I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

5 The fool folds his arms
and consumes his own flesh.
6 Better one handful with rest
than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.

7 Again, I saw futility under the sun: 8 There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “Who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself of good things?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

9 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. 10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? 12 And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

​13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings. 14 For he came from prison to be king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom. 15 I saw all the living, who move about under the sun, follow a second youth who succeeds him. 16 There is no limit to all the people who were before them, yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

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Solomon speaks to the covetous motives (greed and envy) that drive many worldly people to try to acquire wealth.  They want to compete with their neighbors.  Solomon finds this to also be futile and like striving after the wind.  It would seem better to have just enough and to have some rest than to try to acquire more than you need and have no rest, for having more money does not keep you from dying.  In fact, overexertion may actually lead to poor health and an earlier death.

Even companionship is not enough to satisfy the heart that has a God-shaped hole in it.  Neither relationships nor things can fill this void.  Only a relationship with God can fill it.  Once you have dependents, even if it is only your spouse, you have to think about making enough money to provide for them now and in the future should something happen to you.  No such thought needed to happen if you were single with no dependents.

However, Solomon says that there is an advantage to having a companion.  Two are better than one because they can work together to accomplish better work, and they can keep each other warm (there is physical intimacy that isn't there if you are alone).  They also can defend one another and take care of things if one person is injured or somehow "broken."  Solomon's statement about "a chord of three strands is not easily broken" is usually taken to refer to a relationship with God at the center of it.  This probably pictures a knot that is associated with marriage.

Solomon moves on to say that a young person who is wise but also poor is better off than an old man who is a foolish king.  The foolish king would be replaced by another who had youth but had no morality (he came from prison to lead a rebellion to take the throne).  Without God in the picture, might makes right, and the younger generation will be stronger and will overthrow the older, wiser generation.  The cycle will continue when the next generation rises up to overthrow that king, giving no thought to those who came before him or will come after him.  Solomon says this too is futile.  Though this was the way of the Gentiles, the LORD kept this from being the way of the people of Judah (though this was definitely the story of the northern kingdom of Israel).  Judah would continue to put sons of David on the throne because God was faithful to keep his covenant with David's household, even though they had not been faithful to the LORD.