Ecclesiastes 8:7

7 For he ¹does not know what is to be, for ²who can tell him how it will be?

Ecclesiastes 8:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 8:7

For he knoweth not that which shall be
Or that "it shall be" ^F2; that he ever shall have the opportunity again he has lost, nor what is to come hereafter; what shall be on the morrow, or what shall befall him in the remaining part of his days; what troubles and sorrows he shall meet with, or what will be the case and circumstances of his family after his death; for who can tell him when it shall be?
or "how it shall be" ^F3? how it will be with him or his; no one that pretends to judicial astrology, or to the art of divination, or any such devices, can tell him what is to come; future things are only certainly known by God; none but he can tell what will certainly come to pass; see ( Ecclesiastes 3:22 ) ( 6:12 ) ; Jarchi interprets it of a man's not considering for what God will bring him to judgment, and that no man can tell him the vengeance and punishment that will be inflicted.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (hyhyv hm) "quod futurum est", Pagninus, Montanus.
F3 (hyhy rvak) "quo modo", Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Rambachius, so Broughton.

Ecclesiastes 8:7 In-Context

5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.

6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him.

7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?

8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.

9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Cross References

• 1. 8:7 [Prov. 24:22]
• 2. 8:7 ch. 3:22; 6:12; 9:12; 10:14