Ecclesiastes 8:7

7 They do not know what the future holds, and no one can tell them what will happen.

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 obeys the king's command will be safe. A wise person does the right thing at the right time.

6 There is a right time and a right way for everything, yet people often have many troubles.

7 They do not know what the future holds, and no one can tell them what will happen.

8 No one can control the wind or stop his own death. No soldier is released in times of war, and evil does not set free those who do evil. Justice, Rewards, and Punishment

9 I saw all of this as I considered all that is done here on earth. Sometimes men harm those they control.