14 There is a vanity which is done on the earth, that there are righteous 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.
All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evil-doing.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness--and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
"Why do the wicked live, Become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
For I was envious of the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before them. All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who sacrifices, and to him who doesn't sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner; he who takes an oath, as he who fears an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
"It is all the same. Therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked. If the scourge kills suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of the judges of it. If not he, then who is it?
"How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes on them? That God distributes sorrows in his anger? That they are as stubble before the wind, As chaff that the storm carries away? You say, 'God lays up his iniquity for his children.' Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it. Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care for his house after him, When the number of his months is cut off? "Shall any teach God knowledge, Seeing he judges those who are high? One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet. His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened. Another dies in bitterness of soul, And never tastes of good. They lie down alike in the dust, The worm covers them. "Behold, I know your thoughts, The devices with which you would wrong me. For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?' Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Don't you know their evidences, That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath? Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done? Yet shall he be borne to the grave, Men shall keep watch over the tomb. The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, As there were innumerable before him. So how can you comfort me with nonsense, Seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?"
He devours the barren who don't bear. He shows no kindness to the widow. Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life. God gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways. They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain. If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?"
Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man's neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment? This also is vanity, yes, it is a miserable business.
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, the sort of error which proceeds from the ruler.
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.