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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- BSB For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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!
- NLT If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Companions can lift each other up when they stumble, but the solitary person who falls has no one to help. It matters because human frailty makes mutual support essential.
Overview
The Preacher gives the first concrete benefit of companionship: rescue in times of failure. 'Woe to him who is alone' underscores the peril of isolation in a fallen, fragile world. The verse foreshadows the New Testament's call to restore and support one another (Galatians 6:1-2), reflecting the care Christ models for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Th 5:11Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
- 1 Th 4:18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
- Isa 35:3–4Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
- Gal 6:1Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
- Job 4:3–4Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
- 1 Sam 23:16And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
- Luke 22:31–32And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
- 2 Sam 14:6And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
- Deut 9:19–20For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
- Exod 32:2–4And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
- 2 Sam 12:7–14And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
- Gen 4:8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
- Exod 32:21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
- Gal 2:11–14But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
- 2 Sam 11:27And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 4:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.