Ecclesiastes 4:3

“Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.”
King James Version (KJV)

Other Translations of Ecclesiastes 4:3

Yea better is he then both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seene the euill worke that is done vnder the Sunne.
- King James Version (1611) - Compare to scan of original Ecclesiastes chapter 4

But better {off} than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
- New American Standard Version (1995)

yea, better than them both `did I esteem' him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- American Standard Version (1901)

Yes, happier than the dead or the living seemed he who has not ever been, who has not seen the evil which is done under the sun.
- Basic English Bible

and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- Darby Bible

And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun.
- Douay Rheims Bible

Yes, better is he than both they, who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- Webster's Bible

Yes, better than them both is him who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- World English Bible

And better than both of them [is] he who hath not yet been, in that he hath not seen the evil work that hath been done under the sun.
- Youngs Literal Bible

but better than they both is he that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- Jewish Publication Society Bible

B J Manuel's comment on 2013-04-19 20:53:18:

It would be an error for anyone to imagine that this scripture was a defense for abortion. It is rather a comparison of the supposed bliss in the safety of a loving womb to the woes of living in the grown-up world. It was preferred to having seen and experienced suffering, sadness, grief and the evils of any time period. This verse was written before the dispensation of Christ, wherein is to be found "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Then again there is a cost attached to being a child of God in Christ Jesus and suffering is a particular cost. ". . . If any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God on this behalf." (1Peter 4:16) Maturity in Christ is something Solomon never had the pleasure of experiencing; We, on the other hand, can and by the grace of God will experience. The unborn are sacred but how much more so those persons who have come of age and been reborn in Christ Jesus to reside forever in Him.

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