Ecclesiastes8
New Living Translation
1How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things. Wisdom lights up a person’s face, softening its harshness.
2Obey the king since you vowed to God that you would.
3Don’t try to avoid doing your duty, and don’t stand with those who plot evil, for the king can do whatever he wants.
4His command is backed by great power. No one can resist or question it.
5Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,
6for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.
7Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?
8None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation, that dark battle. And in the face of death, wickedness will certainly not rescue the wicked.
9I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.
10I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.
11When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.
12But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.
13The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.
14And this is not all that is meaningless in our world. In this life, good people are often treated as though they were wicked, and wicked people are often treated as though they were good. This is so meaningless!
15So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.
16In my search for wisdom and in my observation of people’s burdens here on earth, I discovered that there is ceaseless activity, day and night.
17I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim.
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.
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