Ecclesiastes 4:11

Ecc 4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm [alone]?

Ver. 11. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat.] Heat of zeal and good affection. "Did not our hearts burn within us," said those two disciples, when Christ once made the third with them, and by holy conference kindled them. {Luk 24:32} So when Silas and Timotheus came from Macedonia, Paul was "pressed in spirit." {Act 18:5} Warm he was before, but now all of a light fire, as it were. Those dull daughters of Jerusalem, by hearing the spouse describe her beloved, as she doth from tip to toe, were fired up with desire to join with her in seeking after him whom her soul loved. The lying together of the dead body of one with the bones of Elisha, gave life to it. So doth good company give life to those that are dead in sin. Let two cold flints be smitten together, and fire will come forth. So let two dull Christians confer and communicate their soul secrets, and it shall not repent them; they shall find the benefit of it. "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades?" saith God to Job. {Job 38:31} These Pleiades be the seven stars, that have all one name, because they all help one another in their work, which is to bring the spring, and, like seven sisters, so are they joined together in one constellation, and in one company. We see that God will have the sweetest works in nature to be performed with mutual help. The best time of the year, the sweetest warmth cometh with these Pleiades, and the best time of our life cometh when we lie together in true love and fellowship, No sooner had the Philippians received the gospel, but they were in "fellowship" to a "day." {Php 1:5} They knew, that as sincerity is the life of religion, so is society the life of sincerity.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(See on Kg1 1:1). The image is taken from man and wife, but applies universally to the warm sympathy derived from social ties. So Christian ties (Luk 24:32; Act 28:15).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) They have heat.—The nights in Palestine were often very cold, and it would seem (Exo_22:26) that it was common to sleep without any cover but the ordinary day garment; though see Isa_28:20.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. if two lie together] Here again the experience of travel comes before us. Sleeping on a cold and stormy night, under the same coverlet, or in Eastern houses, with their unglazed windows and many draughts, two friends kept each other warm, while one resting by himself would have shivered in discomfort. Commonly as in Exo_22:6, the mantle of the day served also as the blanket of the night. So, of course, it would be with those who travelled according to the rule of Mat_10:10.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat,.... The Targum adds, in the winter; when it is a cold season, they warm one another by lying together. The Targum interprets it of a man and his wife; it is true of others; see Kg1 1:1;

but how can one be warm alone? not soon, nor easily, in time of cold weather. This is true in a spiritual sense of persons in a Christian communion and religious society; when they are grown cold in their love, lukewarm in their affections, and backward and indifferent to spiritual exercises, yet by Christian conversation may be stirred up to love and good works: so two cold flints struck against each other, fire comes out of them; and even two cold Christians, when they come to talk with each other about spiritual things, and feel one another's spirits, they presently glow in their affections to each other, and to divine things; and especially if Christ joins them with his presence, as he did the two disciples going to Emmaus, then their hearts burn within them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They have heat; they will be sooner warm in a cold bed and cold season.

How can one be warm alone? not so soon nor so thoroughly.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. How can one be warm — The ordinary people of Palestine to this time, as did all the ancients, lie down at night in the usual clothing of the day. The country has hot days and cold nights, and a traveller is annoyed at the complaints of his men arising from insufficient protection. The frost consumes them by night, and they crowd together for warmth. The houses formerly had open lattice instead of glass windows, so that the cold night air was felt within, and the sleepers on mats and carpets suffered from the chill. There is no allusion here to husband and wife. Night-dresses, distinct from the clothing worn by day, were first introduced by the French, and in quite modern times.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The first example of the advantage of companionship spoke of the aid and support that are thus given; the present verse tells of the comfort thus brought. If two lie together, then they have heat. The winter nights in Palestine are comparatively cold, and when, as in the case of the poorer inhabitants, the outer garment worn by day was used as the only blanket during sleep, (Exo_22:26, Exo_22:27) it was a comfort to have the additional warmth of a friend lying under the same coverlet. Solomon could have had no such experience.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"Moreover, if two lie together, then there is heat to them: but how can it be warm with one who is alone?" The marriage relation is not excluded, but it remains in the background; the author has two friends in his eye, who, lying in a cold night under one covering (Exo 22:26; Isa 28:20), cherish one another, and impart mutual warmth. Also in Aboth de-Rabbi Nathan, c. 8, the sleeping of two together is spoken of as an evidence of friendship. The vav in vehham is that of the consequent; it is wanting 10a, according to rule, in haehhad, because it commonly comes into use with the verb, seldom (e.g., Gen 22:1) with the preceding subj.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

they will have warmth according to its apparent meaning, and regarding male and female, they are aroused by one another and reproduce.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.