Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Parallel translations
- WEB Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
- BSB Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
- NKJV Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.
- NASB Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor;
- NLT Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
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 people working together gain more than one alone, because they share the fruit of their labor. It matters as the Preacher's antidote to the isolated toil just described.
Overview
After the bleak picture of the lonely man, the Preacher commends companionship and partnership. The 'good reward' is not merely material but the shared blessing of mutual help. This wisdom undergirds the biblical pattern of community, fulfilled in the church as the body of Christ, where believers bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 27:17Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
- Gen 2:18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
- 1 Cor 12:18–21But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
- Mark 6:7And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
- Num 11:14I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
- John 4:36And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
- Ruth 2:12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
- Acts 13:2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
- Hag 1:14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
- Exod 4:14–16And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
- 2 Jn 1:8Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
- Acts 15:39–40And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;
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 4:9 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.