וְטוֹב֙ מִשְּׁנֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־עֲדֶ֖ן לֹ֣א הָיָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־רָאָה֙ אֶת־הַמַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה הָרָ֔ע אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃
mais plus heureux que les uns et les autres, celui qui n’a pas encore vécu, qui n’a pas vu l’œuvre mauvaise qui s’accomplit sous le soleil!
Rabbeinu Bahya
Consider a statement by Solomon in Kohelet 4,2-3 ושבח אני את המתים שכבר מתו מן החיים אשר המה חיים עדנה. וטוב משניהם את אשר עדן לא היה. “So I consider more fortunate the dead who have already died, than the living who are still alive; but better than either of them is he who has not yet been.” Philosophers described the statements made by Solomon in these two verses as referring to the three different stages we may encounter the צורה, the divine image, as undergoing at different times. The first stage, and in Solomon’s view preferable the preferable one, is when it had not yet been introduced into the body of mortal man; and he praised that condition of man (at the end of the second verse). The second and relatively tolerable condition of the צורה occurs after it has been removed from man when his body has died. This is a stage which Solomon describes as משבח אני את המתים “I praise the dead.” The third and least tolerable situation he considers the state of the צורה while it is imprisoned within man’s body. The philosophers describe this in terms of three parables. 1) A king who sits in his palace. 2) A king who has recently been released from prison. 3) A king who is still serving a sentence in prison. There can hardly be a question that the king in the first parable enjoys greater stature than any of the other two.
In view of all these clever comments why then did the Torah describe the completion by G-d of His handiwork at the end of the sixth day in such glowing terms, i.e. וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד, “and G-d saw all that He had made and here it was very good?” Did not that praise also include the fact that G-d had fused body, i.e. “golem” to soul, צורה, when He made Man? Not only that, but how could Solomon come hundreds of years after Moses and praise the Lord for not having fused body and soul when Moses gave G-d “excellent marks” when He praised Him for having fused the two.
The answer is that although the original condition of the צורה prior to its having become fused to a body is superior to the other two conditions listed, seeing it had not yet been fused to a body and had not suffered pain or damage, once it had been fused to a body and had accomplished its mission and left that body in a state of purity, it would be far superior to what it had been prior to being fused to a body. At that point such a צורה will have made a name for itself that sparkles like pure gold. This is the reason that the souls of the righteous are forever anxious to return to their holy origins. Seeing that Moses had presupposed that the צורה would accomplish its mission within the body he saw fit to praise the Creator for having placed such a soul within man and he described G-d’s reaction to His handiwork as “very good.
The proper interpretation of our verse then is exactly what the text says: האדם בארץ, “man,” while he is still attached to earth in an integral manner.” G-d reconsidered the status of such a human being seeing that this arrangement had resulted in sinfulness as the צורה had allowed itself to be dominated by the body. We find an analogous use of the expression בארץ in Isaiah 62,7 עד יכונן ועד ישים את ירושלים תהלה בארץ, “until He establishes Jerusalem and make her renowned on earth.” What the prophet meant was: “until He will make the glory of Jerusalem which is on earth manifest.” [as opposed to the Jerusalem in the celestial regions.] Another verse which spells out the meaning of the word בארץ even more clearly is found in Psalms 122,3 כעיר שחוברה לה יחדו. The psalmist speaks about the Jerusalem on earth and the Jerusalem in the celestial regions which have been fused together.
In view of all these clever comments why then did the Torah describe the completion by G-d of His handiwork at the end of the sixth day in such glowing terms, i.e. וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד, “and G-d saw all that He had made and here it was very good?” Did not that praise also include the fact that G-d had fused body, i.e. “golem” to soul, צורה, when He made Man? Not only that, but how could Solomon come hundreds of years after Moses and praise the Lord for not having fused body and soul when Moses gave G-d “excellent marks” when He praised Him for having fused the two.
The answer is that although the original condition of the צורה prior to its having become fused to a body is superior to the other two conditions listed, seeing it had not yet been fused to a body and had not suffered pain or damage, once it had been fused to a body and had accomplished its mission and left that body in a state of purity, it would be far superior to what it had been prior to being fused to a body. At that point such a צורה will have made a name for itself that sparkles like pure gold. This is the reason that the souls of the righteous are forever anxious to return to their holy origins. Seeing that Moses had presupposed that the צורה would accomplish its mission within the body he saw fit to praise the Creator for having placed such a soul within man and he described G-d’s reaction to His handiwork as “very good.
The proper interpretation of our verse then is exactly what the text says: האדם בארץ, “man,” while he is still attached to earth in an integral manner.” G-d reconsidered the status of such a human being seeing that this arrangement had resulted in sinfulness as the צורה had allowed itself to be dominated by the body. We find an analogous use of the expression בארץ in Isaiah 62,7 עד יכונן ועד ישים את ירושלים תהלה בארץ, “until He establishes Jerusalem and make her renowned on earth.” What the prophet meant was: “until He will make the glory of Jerusalem which is on earth manifest.” [as opposed to the Jerusalem in the celestial regions.] Another verse which spells out the meaning of the word בארץ even more clearly is found in Psalms 122,3 כעיר שחוברה לה יחדו. The psalmist speaks about the Jerusalem on earth and the Jerusalem in the celestial regions which have been fused together.
Ibn Ezra
In the city is left desolation. This phrase is used by the prophet improperly; comp. Better is he than both they, who hath not yet been (Eccles. 4:3).17Strictly speaking, he who has not yet been born cannot be better; in the same way שַׁמָּה desolation cannot be said to be left; because desolation is the negation of existence. Comp. I. E. on 2:11.
Haggahot Ya'avetz
It appears to me [this idea] is written in the verse “and better than both of them” (Ecclesiastes 4:3), but it requires analysis to reconcile [how the Talmudic Rabbis could debate an idea which a Biblical verse takes a stance on].