John Trapp on Ecclesiastes 4:2

Verſ. 2. Wherefore I praiſed the dead] Becauſe they are out of the reach of wrong-doers; and if dead in the Lord, they have entred into peace, they doe reſt in their beds, each one walking in his uprightneſſe, Iſa. 57.2. But if otherwiſe, men had better doe any thing, ſuffer any thing here, than dye: ſith by death (as by a trap-do[illegible: 1 letter]e) they enter into thoſe terrors and torments that ſhall never either mend or end. Men, (like ſilly fiſhes) ſee one another caught and jerkt out of the Pond of life; but they ſee not (alas) the fire and pan into the which they are caſt, that dye in their ſins. Oh! it had been better (ſurely) for ſuch; if they had never been born, as Chriſt ſaid of Judas; than thus to be brought forth to the murtherer, (to that old Man-ſlayer,) to be hurled into Hell,Hoſ. 4. there to ſuffer ſuch things, as they ſhall never be able to avoyd or abide.