Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to br | Good News Bible (British Versio (2024)

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Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to br | Good News Bible (British Versio? ›

If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.

“Threefold cord” is a figurative expression. ( Eccl. 4:12) When applied to marriage, it includes the husband and wife, two strands, who are intertwined with the central strand, God. Being united with God gives a couple the spiritual strength to cope with problems and to achieve happiness.

Ecclesiastes 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

The Targum adds, in the winter; when it is a cold season, they warm one another by lying together. The Targum interprets it of a man and his wife; it is true of others; see ( 1 Kings 1:1 1 Kings 1:2 ) ; but how can one be warm [alone]?

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 reminds us that we need friends who help us persevere in our Christian lives. And then though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him amidst all the attacks of the adversary in this world and all the challenges that come at us from all different sides.

Ecclesiastes 4:11-16 New King James Version (NKJV)

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4 is not a typical passage for married couples to study, but it is one that holds some great truths. In this passage, God expresses to us how two are better than one. God has given you each other to protect and defend and encourage each other in a world that is full of challenges and difficulties.

Ecclesiastes shows us in stunning ways that the key to life is not in life itself. Pleasure, materialism, wisdom, and money are all futile and folly. True happiness comes from centering our lives on God, not ourselves.

Ecclesiastes 4:11-12 New King James Version (NKJV)

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 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. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

Solomon says in verse 2 that he congratulated the dead who are already dead. The dead are congratulated more than the living. They have escaped the tears that come from oppression. Because the dead are freed from this systemic oppression of those who lack power. They have escaped the futility, the vanity.

What is the meaning of the cord of three strands in Ecclesiastes 4:12? ›

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." This verse speaks about the strength of numbers and how the bond between two people can become even stronger with God at the center of their relationship. The Cord of Three Strands represents God, the groom, and the bride.

Ecclesiastes Imparts Wisdom

Like the other books of wisdom in the Bible, Ecclesiastes is concerned with imparting wisdom and teaching all to fear the Lord. However, it serves as a balance for the practical wisdom of Proverbs.

A Relationship With God Gives Life Meaning

Ecclesiastes refers to the pleasures of life and focusing on material things like gaining wealth. You can learn from this part of the Bible that the only thing that brings real meaning to life is establishing and growing your relationship with God.

If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.

If two people sleep together, they will be warm. But a person sleeping alone will not be warm. An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger.

John Gill comments on 1 Corinthians 7 and states that polygamy is unlawful; and that one man is to have but one wife, and to keep to her; and that one woman is to have but one husband, and to keep to him and the wife only has a power over the husband's body, a right to it, and may claim the use of it: this power over ...

Translated more literally, it says, “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.” Some think this refers to being generous toward others or to teaching people various skills that may take a while to learn.

Suffering either gives us to ourselves or destroys us. We can't find ourselves in success; success makes us lose our heads. We can't find ourselves in times of calm and monotony; they make us bored. The only way we can receive ourselves is in the fires of sorrow. This is true in both Scripture and human experience.

In other words, when we come to God, we must realize our own sin and our spiritual emptiness and poverty. We must not be self-satisfied or proud in our hearts, thinking we don't really need God.