3 Yea, better _is he_ than │ and better off than both those both they, which hath not yet │ who have not yet been: who have been, who hath not seen the │ not yet had [_the pleasure!_] evil work that is done under │ to see that work so evil which the sun. │ will be done to them in this │ hot work-day world. (3.) =And good above both= (equals our ‘better off than either’) =which as yet= (עֲדֶן here only, differing again from עֵדֶן, ‘delight,’ ‘Eden,’ only in the pointing) =have not been which= (this being repeated, is equivalent to ‘even those who’) =do not see= the =workings= so =evil which are worked= (niphal, ‘suffered’) =under the sun=. It is remarkable that in both cases the sentence may be rendered, without any violence to its grammar, with each of these unusual words, translated ‘pleasantness’ and ‘pleasure’ respectively, as they ought to be thus, ‘Then I praised the dead which are now in the state of the dead, above the living, in so far as they are living pleasantly (Hebrew idiom, pleasantness), and better off than both to whom the pleasure is not, who is not seeing that evil work which is done under the sun.’ No one can, of course, for a moment doubt that the true meaning is given by the former rendering, while this latter is only an equivoke, but it is an equivoke which helps the sense, and gives a peculiar sarcastic tone to the whole. I have endeavoured to represent this in the paraphrase by an equivoke between the words ‘pleasant’ and ‘present,’ which I am almost inclined to withdraw, so feebly does it render the grave biting sarcasm of the original. Koheleth now touches on another instance of unsatisfactoriness which besets successful toil. 4 ¶ Again, I considered │ I have furthermore myself all travail, and ¹every right │ observed of all toil, when it work, that ²for this a man is │ comes to any successful issue, envied of his neighbour. This │ what envy [hence] arises of _is_ also vanity and vexation │ a man from his fellows; and of spirit. │ this is another instance of │ evanescence and vexation of ¹ _Hebrew_ all rightness of │ spirit. work. │ │ ² _Hebrew_ this is the │ envy of a man from his │ neighbour. │