Ecclesiastes 8

Who is like the wise man? Who knows how to explain what a thing means? Wisdom makes a person's face light up, and it softens the hard look on his face.

1Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

2This is my advice: obey what the king commands, because you swore an oath before God.

2I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

NoteThe oath was a loyalty oath sworn to the king with God named as witness, a standard part of ancient Near Eastern royal service. Breaking it was not only disloyalty to the king but the breaking of a religious vow. The Hebrew phrase is compressed and could also be read as "an oath of God," meaning simply a sworn, sacred obligation.

3Do not rush out of the king's presence, and do not keep standing up for a bad cause. He does whatever he pleases.

3Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

NoteThe whole verse is set in the royal court. "Rush out of his presence" pictures storming out of an audience with the king, which could be read as insult or desertion. The next phrase is ambiguous in Hebrew: it can mean "do not persist in a bad cause" (do not keep pressing a losing or wrongful case) or "do not take part in a plot," since the same word is used for joining a conspiracy.

4The king's word is final. Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"

4Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm. A wise mind knows the right time and the right way to act.

5Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.

Note"The right time and the right way" translates two Hebrew words often rendered "time and judgment." The second word covers correct procedure, knowing not just when to act but how a matter is properly handled.

6There is a right time and a right way for everything a person sets out to do, even though trouble weighs a person down.

6Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

7No one knows what is coming. Who can tell him when it will happen?

7For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

8No one has the power to hold back the wind, and no one has power over the day of his death. No one gets leave from that war, and evil will not set free those who practice it.

8There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

NoteThe Hebrew word here, *ruach*, means both "wind" and "breath" or "life-spirit," and the saying works either way: no one can bottle the wind, and no one can hold on to his own breath when it goes. "No leave from that war" refers to military discharge or exemption, ancient armies released some men from service, but death's war grants no such release.

9I saw all this while I gave my full attention to everything done under the sun. There is a time when one person has power over another, and it brings him harm.

9All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

Note"Under the sun" is this book's repeated phrase for life as it is lived in this world, in the sight of anyone who looks. The last clause is ambiguous in Hebrew: the harm may fall on the man who wields the power, or on the man he wields it over.

10I also saw wicked men buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place, and in the very city where they had done these things they were forgotten. This too is empty.

10And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

Note"Empty" translates the Hebrew *hevel*, literally a vapor or puff of breath, something fleeting, weightless, and impossible to get hold of. It is the book's key word. This verse also has a well-known textual problem: two Hebrew readings differ by a single letter, giving either "they were forgotten" or "they were praised." Translations divide between the two. "The holy place" is the temple.

11When the punishment for a crime is not carried out quickly, people's hearts become set on doing wrong.

11Because 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.

12A sinner may do evil a hundred times and still live a long life. Even so, I know it will go well with those who fear God, who show him respect in his presence.

12Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

Note"Fear God" in Hebrew usage means reverence and awe before God, taking him seriously, rather than being frightened of him. The second phrase, "in his presence," carries the image of standing before a king.

13But it will not go well with the wicked man, and he will not make his days long. His days are like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

13But 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.

NoteThe shadow image runs two ways in Hebrew and the verse trades on both: a shadow is thin and fleeting, and a shadow also lengthens as evening comes. So the line can mean his days will not stretch out the way an evening shadow does, or simply that his days are as insubstantial as a shadow.

14Here is something empty that happens on the earth. Good men get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and wicked men get what the actions of the good deserve. I said that this too is empty.

14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

15So I praised the enjoyment of life. There is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. That will stay with him through his work, during the days of life God gives him under the sun.

15Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

Note"Eat and drink and be glad" was an ordinary Hebrew expression for enjoying daily life (food, drink, contentment in one's work), not for feasting or reckless indulgence.

16I gave my full attention to knowing wisdom and to watching the work that is done on the earth. Some people never close their eyes in sleep, day or night.

16When I applied mine 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:)

17Then I saw all that God does, and that no one can figure out the work that is done under the sun. However hard a person works at searching it out, he will not find it. Even if a wise man claims to know it, he cannot find it.

17Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.