to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
saw
וָאֶרְאֶ֥הva.'er.'Eh
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
vanity
הֶ֖בֶלHe.vel
H1892
emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sun
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁha.Sha.mesh
H8121
the sun · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had…
Psalms 78:33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
Zechariah 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
Here Solomon fastens upon another instance of the vanity of this world, that frequently the more men have of it the more they would have; and on this they are so intent that they have no enjoyment of what they have. Now Solomon here shows,
I. That selfishness is the cause of this evil (Ecc 4:7, Ecc 4:8): There is one alone, that minds none but himself, cares for nobody, but would, if he could, be placed alone in the midst of the earth; there is not a second, nor does he desire there should be: one mouth he thinks enough in a house, and grudges every thing that goes beside him. See how this covetous muckworm is here described. 1. He makes himself a mere slave to his business. Though he has no…
Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. Another vanity besides what he had taken notice of, and is as follows. Aben Ezra's note is,
"I turned from considering the words of this fool, and I saw another fool, the reverse of the former.''
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 4:7-8
"There is one without a second, also son and brother he has not; and there is no end of his labour; his eyes nevertheless are not satisfied with riches: For whom do I labour, then, and deny all good to my soul? Also this is vain, and it is a sore trouble." That ואין, as in Psa 104:25; Psa 105:34, has the meaning of בּאין, absque, Nolde has already observed in his Partik.-Concordanz: a solitarius, without one standing by his side, a second standing near him, i.e., without wife and without friend; also, as the words following show, without son and brother. Regarding ואח, for which, with the connect. accus., ואח might be expected (cf. also Ecc 2:7, וצאן with Mahpach; and, on the other hand, Ecc…
"Then I returned and contemplated futility beneath the sun: a lone and solitary man who has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to his toil, nor is his eye ever sated with riches, nor does he ask himself, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of goodness.' This too is futility, indeed, it is a sorry task." I turned to other people and I saw that they work more than is necessary and amass wealth by good and bad means and do not use it once accumulated; they have all things, brood over their riches, keep it for another, and do not enjoy their work. Then at the end of their life they have neither son nor brother, nor close friend so that the pious work seems reserved for necessities only. And so I discovered nothing more vain than that man, who collects riches, or to whom an ignorant man bequeaths them. We are even able to understand this in a religious interpretation, and understand it as those, who write books and leave them to fastidious readers. Some say that this passage from where it says "there is one, but there is not a second" is about the Saviour, because he came down to save the world alone and without any companion. And although there are many sons of God, they are called his brothers by adoption, though not one remains worthy, who should be joined to him in this work. There is no end to this work, for those carrying our faults and sins and suffering for us; and his eye will not be filled by riches, but always with those desiring our safety, and the more you see his sins, the more he encourages him to repent.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Avarice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holy Spirit · 31:3;35:31; — 31:3;35:31;
Miser · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Olive · SYMBOLI — SYMBOLI
Zerubbabel · Prophecies relating to — Prophecies relating to
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 4:7-8
This solitary man is a case study of the principle expressed in 4:6.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 4:7
Under the sun. Is the same as, “under the heavens.”