Ecclesiastes 8

Ecclesiastes 8:1 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing?

2 I say, "Keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God. 3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him." 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say to him, "What are you doing?" 5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment, 6 because for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly. 7 For he does not know what will happen; so who can tell him when it will occur? 8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

“‘Who is like a wise man?' “Wisdom is the one precious pearl with which no possession on earth can be compared (Job 28:18; Matthew 13:45-46).” (Hengstenberg)— "'And who knows the ‘interpretation’ of a thing?’ — פשר pesher, a pure Chaldee word, found nowhere else in the Bible but in the Chaldee parts of Daniel.” (Clarke) “Joseph and Daniel could interpret matters, like the dreams of Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, the rulers to whom they were submitted. They were wise because of their fellowship with God.” (G. de Koning)

’”A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed.’— ישנה yeshunneh, ‘shall be changed’, or ‘doubled.’ Hence the verse might be read, ‘The wisdom of a man shall illuminate his face; and the strength of his countenance shall be doubled.’ He shall speak with full confidence and conviction on a subject which he perfectly understands, and all will feel the weight of his observations.” (Clarke) Such “carry on their countenances a light of their having been ‘within the veil,’ very near in communion with their Lord.” (The Pulpit Comm)

“I say, ‘Keep the king's commandment’ (2b)— Yahweh, peculiarly the King of Israel in the theocracy [or one of His intermediate agents]— "'for the sake of your oath to God.’ (2b) i:e., on account of the obligation imposed upon thee by the covenant which God made with Abraham and renewed with David; Solomon remembered Psalms 89:35, ‘I have sworn,’ etc. (Eccl. 8:36 ), and the penalties if David's children should forsake it (Eccl. 8:30-32 ), inflicted on Solomon himself; yet God not ‘utterly’ forsaking him, (Eccl. 8:33-34; Deuteronomy 29:12-5.29.15, etc.).” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown) “It appears that the Jewish princes and chiefs took an oath of fidelity to their kings. This appears to have been done to David, 2 Samuel 5:1-10.5.3; to Joash, 2 Kings 11:17; and to Solomon, 1 Chronicles 29:24.” (Adam Clarke)

Daniel foresaw all of the kingdoms that would exercise dominion over Israel until the time of Michael (Dan 12:1) It was due to their forsaking the covenant. “Such conduct is… a religious- duty, even as the prophets counsel submission to Assyrian and Chaldean rulers (Jer 27:12; 29:7; Eze 17:15). The liege lord, being God's vicegerent, must be reverenced and obeyed. St. Paul, though he does not quote Ecclesiastes, may have had this passage in mind when he wrote (Rom 13:1), ‘Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God,’ etc.; and (v 5), ‘Ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake.’” (The Pulpit Commentaries)

“At first sight the author seems here to be admonishing his fellow-countrymen to obey the secular authorities, that is the heathen. Even Jerome remarks, ‘videtur praecipere juxta apostolum regibus et potestatibus obsequium;’ but rightly adds, ‘this explanation is however to be rejected.’ Against this explanation there is at the very outset one objection, namely, that scarcely a passage is to be found in the Old Testament where obedience to the heathen tyrants is represented as a religious duty.” (Hengstenberg) In some things liberty, but not regarding the commandments of God. “The three Hebrew children refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, and Daniel continued to pray to Almighty God, in spite of the specific orders of the mightiest king of antiquity that forbade their actions.” (Burton Coffman)

“’Do not be hasty to go from his presence.’ compare Genesis 4:16, ‘and Cain went out from the presence of the LORD;’ Jonah 1:3, ‘and Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD;’ and Hosea 11:2, where הלך מפני is used of apostacy from the living God ( John 6:66). When severe suffering befalls a man he is tempted to turn away from God: compare Job 2:9, ‘then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Bless God and die.’ Job answers thereto—‘As one of the foolish women speakest thou. Do we take good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive the evil?’”(Hengstenberg)-- "'Do not cast off,' that is, ‘go away,’ in the sense of quitting of service or desertion of a duty, in Genesis 4:16; Hosea 11:2. “ (The Pulpit Commentaries) "'your allegiance to your king,' as Job tried. — “’Do not take your stand for an evil thing,’- persist not in it. Hengstenberg explains as in Psalms 1:1, ‘nor standeth in the way of sinners:’ — ‘for he does whatever pleases him.’ (3) This ultimately true of only God.

“‘Where the word of a king is, there is power.’ More accurately, "Inasmuch as the word of a king is powerful." Especially the blessed and only [Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.” (1 Tim1:15-16)—

"and who may say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ (4b) For kings of Israel, "He does not affirm that it is unlawful to say so; for Samuel spoke in that manner to Saul, and Nathan to David, and several other prophets to the kings of Judah and Israel,.” (Joseph Benson)

“‘He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;’.. the endtime wrath of God.— "‘and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment, because for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly.’ (5-6) The wise discern the coming time of God's judgment and take courage; 'because to every desire' of the saint for the establishment of the kingdom of God and the downfall of the present state of sin and sorrow, there is the coming time of the just retribution; 'inasmuch as'-`because man's misery is great upon him;' and without the hope of such a time of retribution to come, the godly would have nothing to sustain them in present sufferings,” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)

“For he does not know what will happen; so who can tell him when it will occur?’ (7) The man without God does not know anything about the future time of Judgment. “No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has power in the day of death.’ (8a) "There is no man who can rule over the spirit of the breath, so as to prevent the animal life from leaving the body of man." (Chaldee) — "'and there is no discharge in that war,’ that is, the war of sin ending in death, until the final Judgment. The godless cannot hope to escape from the penalty of eternal death. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt [in the eyes of the living].” (Dan 12:2)

Therefore: “Put not your trust, in princes, in the son of man, in whom is no help. When his breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth: in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Ps 146:3)

Eccl 8:9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

Eccl 8:10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 11 Because the 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 does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

“Not to be buried, is frequently represented as a punishment of the godless.” (Hengstenberg) In this world, their carcasses are left for the devouring scavengers who ensure their return to dust. The godless rich man of the Gospels, as described in Luke 16:22, is described as dead and buried. He is in antitype of the Jews by name only- who had the feast of God’s Word, but shared it not with—the Gentiles, that poor Lazarus— the beggar of the parable. These are they “’who had come and gone from the place of holiness,’ the temple or the holy city, or the Holy Land, “where Israel dwelt; which may be added to aggravate the wickedness of such persons, from the obligations, and counsels, and examples which they had to do better things.” (Matthew Poole) But the beggar is carried to Abraham’s bosom.

“‘Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness.’ “It is not said, ‘from the holy place,’ but, ‘from the place of the holy,’ that is, the place to which the holy belong: ‘the holy’ must here be regarded as ideal persons. They must leave the place in which their existence and presence is something abnormal.“ (Hengstenberg)— “‘and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done.’ “All their evil deeds were forgotten, their acts of oppression and injustice…” (John Gill) "'This also is vanity.' 'This' - their death and oblivion - shews their lot also to be vanity (vapor).” (Albert Barnes)

“‘Because sentence’ — פתגם pithgam— a Persian word only found in Esther 1:20, and in Chaldee parts of Ezra and Daniel,” (C. J. Ellicott) — “’against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.’ Sentence against an evil work; or, the decree, etc. God’s determinate counsel or sentence for the punishment of tyrants and all evil-doers… is fully set, Heb. is filled, is carried on with full sail, as the LXX. understand it, like a ship with a strong and violent wind; or, is bold or presumptuous, as the same phrase is understood, Esther 7:5; Acts 5:3.” (Matthew Poole)

”’Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged,’ so that, to all intents, he is safe in his sinning, ‘yet surely I know,’ in spite of the apparent evidence to the contrary, ‘that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him,’ the godly finally receiving the recognition which God intends for them.” (Paul E Kretzmann) “We may have to wait for God’s righteous decision, but in its own time it will certainly come. אשר , ‘(be it) that,’ which is as much as to say, ‘May it, let it, even’ (be).” (Hengstenberg) Indeed, he will come and render to each according to their deeds. (Rom 2:6; Ps 62:12 Hab 2:3) Habakkuk also sought Yahweh’s face on the issue of justice for the righteous. He cried out to God over all of the injustices in the land. It is “the burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.” We clearly discover that it is a Person that we are waiting on. And God Himself answers: “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” (Rom 1:17; Hab 2:4)

“’But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow,’ The Persian empire and each succeeding one lasted long periods of time, and yet it was really a short time. “All depends on the standard applied. As the shadow: fleeting, transitory as the shadow which vanishes with the setting sun, and leaves not a trace behind (cp. Psalms 144:4; Book of Wisdom 2:5 ).”(Hengstenberg) The problem is that the ungodly man “fears not before God.” "And therefore he shall not ultimately escape [the second death].” (Adam Clarke) He shall surely die! And he shall be buried by God. (Verse 10)

In the post resurrection scene in Isaiah 66, we have a similar scene: "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the Lord, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD. "And they [the righteous] shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." (Isaiah 66:22-24) Compare with Mark 9:43-48. Many make “their worm does not die” to reference an immortal soul. But in reality it is the entole worm that replace the bird as the consumer of the dead bodies. The worm works with the fire— day and night, until the destruction is complete. “And thus an end is put to all their prosperity, their wealth and their efforts to injure the righteous.” (Hengstenberg)

Eccl 8: 14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

“‘There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.’ For there is no sure way of knowing when- let alone why life will rain down on us the next blow or the next windfall.” (Kidner) “He certainly looked forward to final judgment in a future state of existence (cp. Ecclesiastes 3:17; 12:14).” (Albert Barnes) “‘I said that this also is vanity.’ (14) “Thus, without God, without heavenly realities, moral effort is futile. Here is God's answer to the person who doesn't believe in God or who doesn't serve Him, but who thinks that being moral is advantageous in this life anyway. Here is the folly of a morality divorced from spirituality.” (Dunagan's Commentary)

“‘So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.’ (15) “Viewed by itself, and apart from its context and from the rest of the argument of the wise king, this sentiment might seem to partake very much of the spirit of the Epicureans, so strongly condemned by St. Paul—‘Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die’: but when we come to look closely into it, we find that it would be a manifest perversion of the whole passage to apply it in any such Epicurean sense. The man to whom he refers, as the one who is encouraged ‘to eat and to drink and to be merry,’ is not the idle drone whose whole life is spent in self-indulgence, or in the pursuit of pleasure; not the Dives who fares sumptuously every day while so many around have scarcely wherewithal to purchase the scanty meal— but he, whose whole attention has been hitherto absorbed in some toilsome and laborious pursuit… [of the wisdom of God and His righteousness.]

And who does not perceive the consonance of this advice with the more plain and direct teaching of our Lord and His inspired apostles? Who does not recognize in this Old Testament warning the foreshadowing of those deep and wholesome truths which Christ announced in tits famous sermon from the Mount? ‘Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?’ But rather 'seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.'— Who does not trace in the language of Solomon the workings of that same Spirit which inspired St. Paul to say: Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God--'Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, rejoice'? Not, then, in antagonism to the spirit of the New Testament, but in perfect accordance with it, does Solomon, in the words of my text, recommend the rational enjoyment of the good things of this life.” (F F. Statham, B. A.)

“‘When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.’ (15-16a) When Solomon was looking at the activity on earth, he discovered the works of God— wrought in the lives of man by His Spirit which begins with a calling. “If the works of Solomon so struck with admiration the queen of Sheba that 'there was no more spirit in her,' much more the works of God, which exceed all our, intelligence, ought to fill us with admiration.” (Cartwright)

While the godless go on seeking after their own pleasure, after the flesh, the godly seek after wisdom and righteousness after the Spirit. And thereby they “live in quiet confidence and trust in God. That is why the godly ‘eat, drink and are joyful,’ because while they do not understand [all of] God’s ways their lives are lives of trust and obedience to His will. They do what please Him.” (Peter Pett) "It is not about His creation work, but about His hand in history." (G. de Koning) Let us make our calling an election sure. "READER!… let us be looking unto Jesus, until that our eyes are enlightened in beholding Him as wisdom itself, the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express image of His person. And so let our souls look and gaze upon that first fair, first beautiful, first and only Holy One, until that from beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)