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Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Ecclesiastes 4:10

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Fellowship;   Friendship;   Union;   Thompson Chain Reference - Friendship;   Friendship-Friendlessness;   The Topic Concordance - Company;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Church;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Fellowship;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Lift;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;   Fellow;   Lift;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Accents in Hebrew;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for July 12;   Every Day Light - Devotion for September 16;  

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, and does not have another to lift him up.
New Century Version
If one falls down, the other can help him up. But it is bad for the person who is alone and falls, because no one is there to help.
New English Translation
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.
Webster's Bible Translation
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth; for [he hath] not another to help him to rise.
World English Bible
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn't have another to lift him up.
Amplified Bible
for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.
English Standard Version
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If oon fallith doun, he schal be vndurset of the tothere; wo to hym that is aloone, for whanne he fallith, he hath noon reisynge him.
English Revised Version
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up.
Berean Standard Bible
For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
Contemporary English Version
If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.
American Standard Version
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up.
Bible in Basic English
And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper.
Complete Jewish Bible
if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up — woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up.
Darby Translation
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and who hath not another to lift him up!
Easy-to-Read Version
If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone when they fall have no one to help them.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and hath not another to lift him up.
King James Version (1611)
For if they fall, the one will lift vp his fellow; but woe to him that is alone, when he falleth: for he hath not another to helpe him vp.
New Life Bible
For if one of them falls, the other can help him up. But it is hard for the one who falls when there is no one to lift him up.
New Revised Standard
For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For if they fal, the one wil lift vp his felow: but wo vnto him that is alone: for he falleth, and there is not a second to lift him vp.
George Lamsa Translation
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls; for there is none to lift him up.
Good News Translation
If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad, because there is no one to help him.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, if the one should fall, the other would raise up his companion, - but alas! for him who is alone when he falleth, with no second to raise him up!
Douay-Rheims Bible
If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.
Revised Standard Version
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But wo is him that is alone: for yf he fal, he hath not another to helpe him vp.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls, and there is not a second to lift him up.
Christian Standard Bible®
For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.
Hebrew Names Version
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn't have another to lift him up.
King James Version
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Lexham English Bible
For if one falls, his companion may help him up. But pity the one who falls and there is no one to help him up.
Literal Translation
For if they fall, this one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him, the one that falls, and there is not another to lift him up.
Young's Literal Translation
For if they fall, the one raiseth up his companion, but wo to the one who falleth and there is not a second to raise him up!
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf one of them fall, his companyon helpeth him vp againe: But wo is him that is alone, for yf he fall, he hath not another to helpe him vp.
New American Standard Bible
for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up!
New King James Version
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
Legacy Standard Bible
For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not a second one to lift him up.

Contextual Overview

7 I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. 8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, "Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?" It is all so meaningless and depressing. 9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 11 Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

if: Exodus 32:2-4, Exodus 32:21, Deuteronomy 9:19, Deuteronomy 9:20, 1 Samuel 23:16, 2 Samuel 11:27, 2 Samuel 12:7-14, Job 4:3, Job 4:4, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:4, Luke 22:31, Luke 22:32, Galatians 2:11-14, Galatians 6:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:11

but: Genesis 4:8, 2 Samuel 14:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:1 - he said Judges 13:23 - his wife Ezra 1:4 - help him Mark 6:7 - two and

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied. "That's why I ate it."
Genesis 4:9
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don't know," Cain responded. "Am I my brother's guardian?"
Genesis 4:10
But the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!
Genesis 9:5
"And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person's life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die.
Genesis 18:20
So the Lord told Abraham, "I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.
Exodus 3:7
Then the Lord told him, "I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
Numbers 35:33
This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder.
Joshua 7:19
Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the Lord , the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don't hide it from me."
2 Kings 9:26
‘I solemnly swear that I will repay him here on this plot of land, says the Lord , for the murder of Naboth and his sons that I saw yesterday.' So throw him out on Naboth's property, just as the Lord said."
Job 16:18
"O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow,.... That is, if anyone of them fall, the other will lift him up, as they are travelling together, in whatsoever manner; if one falls from his horse, or out of his carriage, or into a ditch, the other will endeavour to raise him up again: this, as it is true in a natural, so in a figurative and metaphorical sense, with religious persons especially;

"if one of them falls upon the bed, and lies sick,''

as the Targum paraphrases it, his friend and brother in a religions community will visit him, and sympathize with him, and speak a word of comfort to him, and pray with him, which may issue in his restoration. So the Targum,

"the other will cause his friend to rise by his prayer;''

or if he fall into outward distress, poverty, and want, his spiritual friend or friends will distribute to his necessity; if he falls into errors, as a good man may, such as are of the same religious society with him will take some pains to convince him of the error of his way, and to convert him from it, and to save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins; and if he falls into sin, to which the best of men are liable, such as are spiritual will endeavour to restore him in a spirit of meekness;

but woe to him [that is] alone when he falleth! for [he hath] not another to help him up; no companion to raise him up when fallen; no Christian friend to visit and comfort him when sick, to relieve him under his necessities, when poor and afflicted, or to recover him from errors in judgment, or immoralities in practice; and especially if he has not Christ with him to raise him up, keep, and uphold him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The spectacle of a prosperous man whose condition is rendered vain by his brotherless, childless isolation.

Ecclesiastes 4:8

A second - Any one associated or connected with him.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Compare a saying from the Talmud: “A man without companions is like the left hand without the right.”


 
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