Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone?
Parallel translations
- KJV Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
- BSB Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?
- NKJV Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
- NASB Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?
- NLT Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?
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
Two who lie together keep warm, but one alone cannot. It matters as a homely image of how companionship sustains us against life's hardships.
Overview
Using the simple example of warmth on a cold night, the Preacher continues praising shared life. The point is the practical comfort and provision that come through relationship. While the imagery is general, it affirms the goodness of human bonds woven into creation, bonds meant to reflect the warmth of fellowship God designed and restores in His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- 1 Kgs 1:1–4Now king David was old and advanced in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he couldn’t keep warm.
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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 4:11 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
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