Ecclesiastes 2:17 says 'I hated life' because work is grievous—the same despair that leads this verse to declare the dead happier than the living.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 argues a live dog is better than a dead lion—directly opposing this verse's claim that the dead are happier.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 echoes the same sentiment: the day of death is better than birth, reinforcing the value of death over life.

Job 3:17 says the wicked cease from turmoil and the weary rest—echoing this verse's theme that death brings relief from suffering.

Revelation 14:13 calls the dead who die in the Lord blessed, paralleling the idea that the dead are more fortunate, but adds a Christian condition.

Jeremiah 22:10 contrasts by urging mourning for the exiled rather than the dead, implying the living suffer more than the dead.