Ecclesiastes 4:2

So I considered ¹  those who are dead and gone ²  more fortunate than those who are still alive. ³ 

And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.

So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living.

So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.

So I congratulated the dead who are already dead instead of the living who are still alive.

So my praise was for the dead who have gone to their death, more than for the living who still have life.

And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive;

Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.

So I considered ¹  those who are dead and gone ²  more fortunate than those who are still alive. ³ 

¹ tn The verb שָׁבַח (shavakh) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to praise; to laud”; and (2) “to congratulate” (HALOT 1387 s.v. I שׁבח; BDB 986 s.v. II שָׁבַח). The LXX translated it as ἐπῄνεσα (ephnesa, “I praised”). The English versions reflect the range of possible meanings: “praised” (KJV, ASV, Douay); “congratulated” (MLB, NASB); “declared/judged/accounted/thought…fortunate/happy” (NJPS, NEB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NAB).

² tn Heb “the dead who had already died.”

³ tn Heb “the living who are alive.”