What is the context?
The Teacher sees the tears of oppressed people and repeatedly says they have no comforter. Power belongs to their oppressors; the grief is not explained away by blaming the sufferers.
His preference for the already dead or never born expresses the depth of the evil he observes. It is a lament over oppression rather than an instruction to end a life.
The inquiry then turns to rivalry in work. Envy can drive achievement, while folding one’s hands in refusal consumes one’s own resources.
The image of one tranquil handful against two handfuls of anxious toil raises the possibility of enough. The contrast challenges both destructive competition and ruinous inactivity.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley reads the older verse 4 as a worthy worker being envied, whereas the BSB describes work springing from envy. He also takes verse 6 as the slacker’s excuse; the BSB does not explicitly label a new speaker there. The contrast can therefore be read differently without flattening the printed text.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.
Where can I study this further?
No deeper study linked yet.