King James Version

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Study

Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

טוֹבִ֥יםtovimgoodטוֹבadjective, adjective, masculine, plural, absolute — “good”, the ordinary formH2896good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, [idiom] fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, [idiom] most, pleasant,…הַשְּׁנַ֖יִםhashnayimthe twoשְׁנַיִםdefinite article, adjective, cardinal, masculine, dual, absolute — “the two”, the ordinary formH8147two; also (as ordinal) twofoldboth, couple, double, second, twain, [phrase] twelfth, [phrase] twelve, [phrase] twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.מִןminfromמִןpreposition — “from”H4480properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many sensesabove, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, [idiom] neither, [idiom] nor, (out) of, over, since, [idiom] then, through, [idiom] whether, with.הָאֶחָ֑דhaechadthe firstאֶחָדdefinite article, adjective, cardinal, masculine, singular, absolute — “the first”, the ordinary formH259properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) firsta, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-) ly, each (one), [phrase] eleven, every, few, first, [phrase] highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,אֲשֶׁ֧רasherbecauseאֲשֶׁרparticle, relative — “because”H834who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.[idiom] after, [idiom] alike, as (soon as), because, [idiom] every, for, [phrase] forasmuch, [phrase] from whence, [phrase] how(-soever), [idiom] if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), [idiom] though, [phrase] until, [phrase] whatsoever,…יֵשׁyeshareיֵשׁparticle, demonstrative — “are”H3426there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be, as may suit the connection)(there) are, (he, it, shall, there, there may, there shall, there should) be, thou do, had, hast, (which) hath, (I, shalt, that) have, (he, it, there) is, substance, it (there) was, (there) were, ye will, thou wilt, wouldest.לָהֶ֛םlahemtoלָהֶ֛םpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “to”toשָׂכָ֥רsakharhireשָׂכָרnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “hire”, the ordinary formH7939payment of contract; concretely, salary, fare, maintenance; by implication, compensation, benefithire, price, reward(-ed), wages, worth.ט֖וֹבtovgoodטוֹבadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “good”, the ordinary formH2896good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, [idiom] fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, [idiom] most, pleasant,…בַּעֲמָלָֽםbaamalamin toilעָמָלpreposition, noun, common, both genders, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “in toil”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5999toil, i.e. wearing effort; hence, worry, wheth. of body or mindgrievance(-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable(-sery), pain(-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

Young’s Literal Translation

The two [are] better than the one, in that they have a good reward by their labour.

World English Bible

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

Darby Translation

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Douay-Rheims

It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for they have the advantage of their society:

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Two are better than one, seeing they have a good reward for their labour.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ἀγαθοὶ οἱ δύο ὑπὲρ τὸν ἕνα, οἷς ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς μισθὸς ἀγαθὸς ἐν μόχθῳ αὐτῶν·

American Standard Version (1901)

Young’s Literal Translation

World English Bible

Darby Translation

Douay-Rheims

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

See Also

Analytics Cookies