3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight; persist not in an evil thing: for he doeth whatever pleaseth him,
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for quietness pacifieth great offences.
And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose and went and caught hold of the horns of the altar. And it was told Solomon saying, Behold, Adonijah fears king Solomon; for behold, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear to me this day that he will not put his servant to death with the sword. And Solomon said, If he be a worthy man, there shall not one of his hairs fall to the earth; but if wickedness be found in him, he shall die.
And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother as wife. And king Solomon answered and said to his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. And king Solomon swore by Jehovah saying, God do so to me, and more also, -- Adonijah has spoken this word against his own life! And now [as] Jehovah liveth, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
He that is slow to anger is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
The fury of a king is [as] messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king's countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass,
[As for] the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee, but we will certainly do every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and we had plenty of bread, and were well, and saw no evil.
and for the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he exalted, and whom he would he humbled.
And Peter answered her, Tell me if ye gave the estate for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much. And Peter said to her, Why [is it] that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of [the] Lord? Lo, the feet of those that have buried thy husband [are] at the door, and they shall carry thee out.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
Solomon, in this chapter, comes to recommend wisdom to us as the most powerful antidote against both the temptations and vexations that arise from the vanity of the world. Here is,
Ecc 8:1-5
Here is,
Ecc 8:6-8
Solomon had said (v. 5) that a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment, that is, a man's wisdom will go a great way, by the blessing of God, in moral prognostications; but here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that even the wisest may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not any foresight of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare for sudden changes. Observe,
Ecc 8:9-13
Solomon, in the beginning of the chapter, had warned us against having any thing to do with seditious subjects; here, in these verses, he encourages us, in reference to the mischief of tyrannical and oppressive rulers, such as he had complained of before, ch. 3:16; 4:1.
Ecc 8:14-17
Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty, how the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous can be reconciled with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs the world. Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice.