Verse 3

Yes, better is he than both, who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Other Translations

• GT, oversatt fra Hebraisk

  Men bedre enn både de levende og de døde er den som aldri har vært til, han som aldri har sett de onde gjerningene som skjer under solen.

• Moderne oversettelse av Bibelen fra 1611 KJV med hebraisk kontekst

  Ja, bedre er han som ennå ikke har vært, som ikke har sett de onde handlingene som gjøres under solen.

• Norsk King James

  Ja, bedre er han enn begge, som ikke har vært til, og som ikke har sett det onde som skjer under solen.

• Modernisert Norsk Bibel 1866

  Ja, enda bedre er den som ennå ikke har vært født, som ikke har sett den onde gjerning som blir gjort under solen.

• Oversettelse av hebraiske Bibeltekster til moderne norsk bokmål

  Enda bedre enn begge er han som ennå ikke har blitt til, som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som skjer under solen.

• Bibelen: En Moderne Oversettelse av King James Version 1611

  Ja, bedre er den enn begge disse som ennå ikke har vært, og som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som skjer under solen.

• o3-mini KJV Norsk

  Ja, den som ennå ikke har eksistert, som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som utføres under solen, er bedre enn dem begge.

• En Moderne Oversettelse av King James Version 1611 (mar 2025)

  Ja, bedre er den enn begge disse som ennå ikke har vært, og som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som skjer under solen.

• Lingvistisk bibeloversettelse fra grunntekst

  Enda bedre enn begge er den som ennå ikke har blitt til, som ikke har sett de onde handlingene som blir gjort under solen.

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  But better than both is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

• biblecontext

  { "verseID": "Ecclesiastes.4.3", "source": "וְטוֹב֙ מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־עֲדֶ֖ן לֹ֣א הָיָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־רָאָה֙ אֶת־הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה הָרָ֔ע אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃", "text": "*wə-ṭôḇ* from-*šənêhem* *ʾēt* who-*ʿăden* not *hāyāh* who not-*rāʾāh* *ʾet*-the-*maʿăśeh* the-*rāʿ* which *naʿăśâh* *taḥat* the-*šāmeš*", "grammar": { "*wə-ṭôḇ*": "conjunction + adjective, masculine singular - and better", "*šənêhem*": "numeral, dual construct + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - both of them", "*ʾēt*": "direct object marker", "*ʿăden*": "adverb - yet/still", "*hāyāh*": "Qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he was/existed", "*rāʾāh*": "Qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he saw", "*maʿăśeh*": "noun, masculine singular - work/deed/action", "*rāʿ*": "adjective, masculine singular - evil/bad", "*naʿăśâh*": "Niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - was done" }, "variants": { "*ṭôḇ*": "better/good/preferable", "*maʿăśeh*": "work/deed/action/activity", "*rāʿ*": "evil/bad/harmful/wicked/distressing", "*taḥat ha-šāmeš*": "under the sun/in this world/in this life" } }

• GT, oversatt fra hebraisk Aug2024

  Men bedre enn begge er den som ennå ikke har vært, som ikke har sett det onde verket som blir gjort under solen.

• Original Norsk Bibel 1866

  Ja, (den haver) bedre end de begge, som endnu ikke haver været til, som ikke saae den onde Gjerning, der gjøres under Solen.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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.

• KJV 1769 norsk

  Ja, bedre er den som ennå ikke har vært, som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som blir gjort under solen.

• Norsk oversettelse av Webster

  Ja, bedre enn begge disse er den som ennå ikke har vært til, som ikke har sett den onde gjerning som gjøres under solen.

• Norsk oversettelse av Youngs Literal Translation

  Og bedre enn begge er den som ikke enda har vært, fordi han ikke har sett de onde gjerninger som skjer under solen.

• Norsk oversettelse av ASV1901

  ja, bedre enn begge aktet jeg ham som ennå ikke er, som ikke har sett det onde arbeidet som blir gjort under solen.

• Norsk oversettelse av BBE

  Ja, lykkeligere enn de døde eller de levende, syntes han å være, den som aldri har vært, som ikke har sett det onde som blir gjort under solen.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  yee him that is yet vnborne to be better at ease the they both, because he seith not the miserable workes that are done vnder the Sonne.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And I count him better then them both, which hath not yet bin: for he hath not seene the euill workes which are wrought vnder the sunne.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Yea him that is yet vnborne, to be better at ease then they both: because he seeth not the miserable workes that are done vnder the sunne.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  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.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  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.

• World English Bible (2000)

  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.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

Referenced Verses

• Luke 23:29 : 29 For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never nursed.
• Job 3:10-16 : 10 Because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes. 11 Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not expire when I came out of the belly? 12 Why were there knees to receive me? Or why breasts that I should nurse? 13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have slept: then I would have been at rest, 14 With kings and counselors of the earth, who built ruins for themselves; 15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I would not have existed; like infants who never saw light.
• Job 3:22 : 22 Who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
• Job 10:18-19 : 18 Why then have You brought me forth out of the womb? Oh, that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! 19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
• Ps 55:6-9 : 6 And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest. 7 Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. 8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. 9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go about it upon its walls; mischief and sorrow are in the midst of it. 11 Wickedness is in the midst of it; deceit and guile do not depart from its streets.
• Eccl 1:14 : 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
• Eccl 2:17 : 17 Therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
• Eccl 6:3-5 : 3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, yet his soul is not filled with good, and indeed he has no burial; I say, that a premature birth is better than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun nor known anything: this has more rest than the other.
• Jer 9:2-3 : 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers; that I might leave my people and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 And they bend their tongues like a bow for lies; but they are not valiant for the truth on the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says the LORD.
• Jer 20:17-18 : 17 Because he did not slay me from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great with me. 18 Why did I come forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
• Matt 24:19 : 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those nursing babies in those days!