Ecclesiastes8
New International Version
1Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
2Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
3Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
4Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
7Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
8As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
10Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
12Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
15So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
17then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ecclesiastes 8.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Commendations of wisdom. (1-5). To prepare for sudden evils and death. (6-8). It shall be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked. (9-13). Mysteries of Providence. (14-17).
vv1-5
None of the rich, the powerful, the honourable, or the accomplished of the sons of men, are so excellent, useful, or happy, as the wise man. Who else can interpret the words of God, or teach aright from his truths and dispensations? What madness must it be for weak and dependent creatures to rebel against the Almighty! What numbers form wrong judgments, and bring misery on themselves, in this life and that to come!
vv6-8
God has, in wisdom, kept away from us the knowledge of future events, that we may be always ready for changes. We must all die, no flight or hiding-place can save us, nor are there any weapons of effectual resistance. Ninety thousand die every day, upwards of sixty every minute, and one every moment. How solemn the thought! Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things, that they would consider their latter end! The believer alone is prepared to meet the solemn summons. Wickedness, by which men often escape human justice, cannot secure from death.
vv9-13
Solomon observed, that many a time one man rules over another to his hurt, and that prosperity hardens them in their wickedness. Sinners herein deceive themselves. Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely. A good man's days have some substance; he lives to a good purpose: a wicked man's days are all as a shadow, empty and worthless. Let us pray that we may view eternal things as near, real, and all-important.
Key Words
מִי: who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix
חָכָם: wise, (i.e. intelligent, skilful or artful)
יָדַע: to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
פֵּשֶׁר: {an interpretation}
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
חׇכְמָה: wisdom (in a good sense)
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
אוֹר: to be (causative, make) luminous (literally and metaphorically)
עֹז: strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise)
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 8Communion with God and true wisdom cause a man's face to shine, typified by Moses descending Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
An oath of allegiance or covenant made before God to submit to the sovereign authority.
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The solemnity of the king's oath of covenant, sworn by God, which cannot be broken without penalty.
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Keeping the authority's command not only for wrath, but for conscience sake in regard of God.
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The supreme power of a ruler's word, where none can demand of him, 'What doest thou?'
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The wise man discerns that there is a proper time and judgment for every purpose.
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Wickedness and false covenants with death cannot deliver or protect those given to it.
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God's delayed execution of sentence is meant for repentance, but wicked men abuse it to harden hearts.
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Wicked rulers are soon forgotten in the city, contrasting with the blessed memory of the just.
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Joab coming to and going from the altar illustrates wicked men seeking shelter in the holy place.
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The pompous burial of the wicked rich man forms an awful contrast to his eternal state.
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Because they experience no changes or sudden judgments, the wicked do not fear God.
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Lawful military exemptions exist under Moses, but there is no discharge in the war of death.
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Recommending joyful, sober enjoyment of food and labor as gifts from God under the sun.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The unsearchable depth of God's judgments and ways, which man cannot fully find out.
Supported by Matthew Henry