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Ecclesiastes 8

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Wisdom and Submission to Authority 1–8

1
Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. ​
2
I counsel thee, Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God. ​
3
Be not hasty to go out of his presence; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4
For the king’s word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou? ​
5
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall know no evil thing; and a wise man’s heart discerneth time and judgment: ​
6
for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him: ​
7
for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?
8
There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power over the day of death; and there is no discharge in war: neither shall wickedness deliver him that is given to it. ​

The Injustice of Power 9–10

9
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt. ​
10
So I saw the wicked buried, and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity. ​

Delayed Justice and the Rise of Evil 11–13

11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. ​
12
Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him: ​
13
but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God. ​

The Paradox of Life and the Commendation of Mirth 14–15

14
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. ​
15
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun. ​

The Limits of Human Understanding 16–17

16
When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), ​
17
then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ecclesiastes 8

Verse 1

maketh his face to shine — 'Shine' is or, to give light, the verb of the blessing 'The LORD make his face shine upon thee' (Num 6:25). 'Interpretation' is pesher, found in Hebrew only here. 'Boldness' (oz) is strength or hardness of face, from the root Prov 21:29 uses of the wicked: 'A wicked man hardeneth his face'. Wisdom 'changes' it.

Verse 2

the king's commandment — Literally 'the mouth of the king', his spoken word. 'The oath of God' is an oath sworn before God: Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, 'who had made him swear by God' (2 Chr 36:13), and Solomon charged Shimei with having broken 'the oath of the LORD' (1 Kgs 2:43). Paul states the duty: 'Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers' (Rom 13:1).

Verse 4

What doest thou? — 'Power' is shiltown, dominion, from shalat (5:19; 7:19), and it stands again in v.8. The question 'What doest thou?' is asked of God in Job 9:12 and Dan 4:35: 'none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?' The king's word carries authority of that kind, which Paul says rulers hold from God: 'there is no power but of God' (Rom 13:1).

Verse 5

time and judgment — 'Commandment' is mitsvah, the word of 12:13, 'keep his commandments'. 'Feel' and 'discerneth' are one verb, yada, to know: he who keeps it 'knows' no evil thing, and the wise heart 'knows' time and judgment. The pair is that of 3:17: 'God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work'.

Verse 6

to every purpose — 'Purpose' is chephets, the word of 3:1, 'a time to every purpose under the heaven'. 'Misery' is ra, evil, and 'great' is rab, the word that stood for 'common' in 6:1, 'an evil… common among men'. The next verse gives the reason it weighs on him: 'he knoweth not that which shall be' (v.7).

Verse 8

power over the spirit — 'Spirit' is ruach, wind or breath, over which no man is 'ruler' (shallit, as in 7:19). 'Discharge' (mishlachat) is a sending away, a release, and 'that war' is death: 'What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?' (Ps 89:48). The spirit goes 'unto God who gave it' (12:7).

Verse 9

one man ruleth over another — 'Ruleth' is shalat, the verb of 'power to eat' in 5:19 and 6:2, and 'hurt' is ra, evil, the word of 5:13, 'riches kept… to their hurt'. 'To his own hurt' is commonly read of the ruler: Pharaoh, who held Israel in bondage, lost his chariots and horsemen in the sea (Ex 14:28). 'Applied my heart' is natan lev, the idiom of 7:21.

Verse 10

the place of the holy — The wicked had 'come and gone' (halak) from the holy place, and in the city where they had so done they are 'forgotten' (shakach), the word of 9:5, 'the memory of them is forgotten'. Prov 10:7 sets the righteous beside them: 'The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.'

Verse 11

not executed speedily — 'Sentence' is pitgam, a decree, as the king's 'decree' of Est 1:20; 'speedily' is meherah, the 'quickly' of 4:12. 'Fully set' is male, 'filled'. Ps 50:21 gives the LORD's own word on delay: 'I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself'. Rom 2:4 names its purpose: 'the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance'.

Verse 12

it shall be well with them that fear God — 'Prolonged' is arak, the verb of 7:15, 'a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness', and the observation is not withdrawn. Against it stands 'yet surely I know', as 7:18 says 'he that feareth God shall come forth of them all', and Isa 3:10: 'Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him'.

Verse 13

his days, which are as a shadow — Tsel, as in 6:12 and 7:12. Here it is the wicked man's days that do not lengthen, 'because he feareth not before God'. 'Neither shall he prolong' (arak) answers the sinner whose 'days be prolonged' in v.12. Isa 57:21 says the same of the wicked: 'There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.'

Verse 14

just men, unto whom it happeneth — 'Happeneth' is naga, to touch or reach: to the just comes what the work of the wicked would bring, and the reverse. Mal 3:15 has the complaint: 'we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up'. Ecclesiastes sets 8:12 beside it, and ends: 'God shall bring every work into judgment' (12:14).

Verse 15

I commended mirth — 'Commended' is shabach, to praise, the verb of 4:2, 'I praised the dead'. 'Abide with him' is lavah, to join or accompany: his enjoyment goes with him in his labour 'the days of his life, which God giveth him'. The counsel recurs at 2:24; 3:12–13; 5:18 and 9:7, and Paul says God 'giveth us richly all things to enjoy' (1 Tim 6:17).

Verse 16

neither day nor night seeth sleep — 'Business' is inyan, the 'sore travail' of 1:13, a word found only in Ecclesiastes. 'Applied mine heart' is natan lev, 'gave my heart' of 1:13. 'Sleep' is shenah, which 5:12 called 'sweet' for the labourer and Ps 127:2 names a gift: 'so he giveth his beloved sleep'. The parenthesis speaks of one whose business allows him none.

Verse 17

a man cannot find out — Matsa, to find, runs from 7:24 and is used in 3:11 of the same limit: 'no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end'. Ps 73:16–17 shows where such a search ended for another: 'When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me', until 'I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end'.