Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, July 8th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Green's Literal Translation

Ecclesiastes 4:10

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.

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

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

Contextual Overview

7 Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun. 8 There is one alone , and there is not a second; yea, he has neither son nor brother; and there is no end to all his labor; even his eyes are not satisfied with riches; and he says , For whom do I labor, and take good frommy soul? This is also vanity. Yes, it is an evil task. 9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 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. 11 Also if two lie together , then they have warmth; but for one, how is he warm? 12 And if one overthrows him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly torn apart.

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
And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
Genesis 4:9
And Jehovah said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?
Genesis 4:10
And He said, What have you done? The voice of the blood of your brother cries to Me from the ground.
Genesis 9:5
And surely the blood of your lives I will demand. At the hand of every animal I will demand it, and at the hand of man. I will demand the life of man at the hand of every man's brother.
Genesis 18:20
And Jehovah said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is exceedingly heavy.
Exodus 3:7
And Jehovah said, Seeing I have seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from before their taskmasters; for I know his sorrows.
Numbers 35:33
And you shall not pollute the land in which you are , for blood pollutes the land. And no ransom is to be taken for the land for blood which is shed in it, except for the blood of him who sheds it;
Joshua 7:19
And Joshua said to Achan, My son, now give glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and give thanks to Him, and please tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me.
2 Kings 9:26
Surely yesterday I have seen the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says Jehovah. And I will repay you in this portion, says Jehovah. Now, then, take him up, throw him into the portion of Jehovah.
Job 16:18
O earth, do not cover my blood, and let not my cry have a place.

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.”


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile