Chapter Eight

1–7. The conduct of the wise. 9–14. The fate of the righteous and the wicked. 15–17. The best things in life.

Ecclesiastes 8:1. Who is like the wise, and who understands the meaning of things? The wisdom of a person brightens his face, and the hardness of his face is changed. No one can understand the essence of things as the wise man does. This deep understanding of life creates in the wise a joyful, peaceful, all-reconciling disposition, which is reflected also in his appearance. The Hebrew dabar means both thing and word. For this reason the LXX, the Slavonic, the Syrian translation, and Jerome translated: “the meaning of the word”—precisely, the saying set forth in the following verse.

Ecclesiastes 8:2. I say: keep the word of the king, and this for the sake of the oath before God. Before the words “keep the word of the king,” in the Hebrew text stands the pronoun of the first person—“I,” with which is understood the verb: I say! Regarding the oath of allegiance, one speaks in 2 Sam 11:17 and elsewhere.

Ecclesiastes 8:3. Do not hurry to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad matter; for whatever he wills, he is able to do. Ecclesiastes 8:4. Where the word of the king, there is authority; and who can say to him, “What are you doing? The Preacher urges obedience and tact in relation to the king, motivating this by the latter’s power and irresponsibility. “Do not hurry to leave his presence.” According to some commentators, the Preacher warns here against willful defection from the king, against abandoning faithfulness and obedience to him. Others see here a counsel of the Preacher not to become irritated and not to leave the king in anger, should he show disfavor in something. In the latter case the word dabar is understood in the sense of “word” rather than “deed,” and the further expression is translated thus: “do not persist in a bad word.” The second interpretation is confirmed by Eccl 10:4. And who can say to him: What are you doing? This expression is commonly used for describing God’s omnipotence (Job 9:1-2; Isa 45:9; Dan 4:32; Wis 12:12). Here it is applied to the unlimited power of a despotic king.

Ecclesiastes 8:5. He who keeps the commandment will experience no evil; the heart of the wise knows both the time and the decree; Ecclesiastes 8:6. for every matter has its time and decree; and great is the evil of a man on account of— Ecclesiastes 8:7. that he does not know what will be; and who can tell him how it will come to pass? As in this, so in all other circumstances, wisdom will be able to avert evil. The wise man knows that all things have their time and decree, and for this reason he endeavors to understand everything, to adjust himself to everything, not attempting to engage in futile struggle with the inevitable and unknown course of things, which rule over life itself. Being unable to foresee the outcome of their enterprises, not thinking that every deed has its own time, its own judgment, people often fall into great misfortunes for their attempts to change the existing order of things, the existing forms of social life. By “commandment” in verse 5, it is best to understand the decrees and laws of the king, though as the Preacher’s thought progresses it is evident that he expands the idea and allows this word to take on a moral sense.

Ecclesiastes 8:8. Man has no power over the spirit to retain the spirit, nor power over the day of death, nor release from this struggle, nor will wickedness save the wicked. Man is not capable of struggling with the established order of things, for the latter rules over his very life. In this struggle he will never meet mercy, and no lawlessness, no departing from the law (from the rules of the struggle) will save him from the inevitable end.

Ecclesiastes 8:9. All this I have seen, and I applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time when man rules over man to his hurt. Ecclesiastes 8:10. Then I saw the wicked being buried, and those who had dealt righteously coming and departing from the holy place; and they were forgotten in the city where they had so acted. And this is vanity! The Preacher notes the fact of apparent injustice, when the wicked were accorded honorable burial, while the righteous were denied it. Verse 10 can be translated thus: “I saw then that the wicked were being buried and they came (namely to the grave, cf. Isa 62:2), but far departed from the holy place (Jerusalem, the temple, or the tomb) and were forgotten in the city those who acted righteously.” The LXX and Vulgate, incorrectly reading the original, translated “praised” (cf. Slav.) instead of “forgotten.” The Hebrew ken in this place means: “rightly,” “as it should be” (cf. 2 Sam 7:9; Num 36:5).

Ecclesiastes 8:11. (Eccl.8:11.) Judgment over evil deeds does not happen quickly; for this reason the heart of the sons of men is not afraid to do evil. Ecclesiastes 8:12. (Eccl.8:12.) Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and clings to it, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, who have reverence before His face; Ecclesiastes 8:13. (Eccl.8:13.) but it will not be well for the wicked, and, like a shadow, he will not last long who does not have reverence before God. Although the lawlessness of men remains unpunished for a long time, the Preacher still believes that in due course God will repay each according to his works. The faith in righteous retribution is expressed by him decisively, but is expressed dogmatically (“I know”) not as an indisputable fact of observed reality, but as an unconditional requirement of religious consciousness. The Preacher has no clear understanding of when, how, and under what circumstances divine retribution will be revealed; he does not say whether this will be in earthly or afterlife; he is convinced only of one thing—that God must repay each according to his works. The expression “he will not last long who does not have reverence before God” rather suggests that the Preacher believes in retribution on earth.

Ecclesiastes 8:14. And there is such vanity on the earth: the righteous experience what the works of the wicked deserve, and the wicked experience what the works of the righteous deserve. And I said: this too is vanity! Since the idea of righteous retribution in the Preacher flowed not from the data of experience, but from religious faith, he was unable to reconcile it with the facts of the sufferings of the righteous and the prosperity of sinners. These facts have not at all lost their obviousness in the eyes of the Preacher even after he expressed his unshakable faith in righteous retribution. He again stops upon them with bitterness, showing thereby that in his faith he had not yet found full peace.

Ecclesiastes 8:15. And I praised joy; for there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and to be joyful: this accompanies him in his labors during the days of his life, which God has given him under the sun. Ecclesiastes 8:16. When I applied my heart to understand wisdom and to observe the works that are done on earth, and among which a man neither by day nor by night knows sleep,— Ecclesiastes 8:17. then I saw all the works of God and found that man cannot comprehend the works that are done under the sun. However much man labors in investigation, he still cannot comprehend it; and if any wise man says that he knows, he cannot comprehend it. The bitter consciousness of the impossibility of reconciling faith with the sad facts of life leads the Preacher to his favorite thought, that one should labor and enjoy life, not seeking to understand what cannot be understood.