13 And good is not to the wicked, and he doth not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.
For who knoweth what `is' good for a man in life, the number of the days of the life of his vanity, and he maketh them as a shadow? for who declareth to man what is after him under the sun?
As a flower he hath gone forth, and is cut off, And he fleeth as a shadow and standeth not.
and in covetousness, with moulded words, of you they shall make merchandise, whose judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction doth not slumber.
and they shall come forth; those who did the good things to a rising again of life, and those who practised the evil things to a rising again of judgment.
so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous, and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'
My days swifter than a weaving machine, And they are consumed without hope. Remember Thou that my life `is' a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good.
Therefore is this iniquity to you as a breach falling, Swelled out in a wall set on high, Whose destruction suddenly, at an instant cometh.
And Thou, O God, dost bring them down To a pit of destruction, Men of blood and deceit reach not to half their days, And I -- I do trust in Thee!
Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age `is' as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity `is' every man set up. Selah.
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.