Text -- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NET)

Labor is Beneficial When Its Rewards Are Shared

4:9 Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor. 4:10 For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up. 4:11 Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm, but how can one person keep warm by himself? 4:12 Although an assailant may overpower one person, two can withstand him. Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Ecc 4:9

¹ tn Heb “they have.”

² tn Heb “a good reward.”

NET Notes: Ecc 4:10

¹ tn Heb “woe to him.”

NET Notes: Ecc 4:12

¹ tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).