Kohelet 8:7

7 For he has no da’as of that which shall be; for who can tell him how it will be?

Kohelet 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.

Kohelet 8:7 In-Context

5 Whoso is shomer mitzvah shall meet no harm; and a lev of a chacham discerneth both et (time) and mishpat (judgment).

6 Because every matter has its et (time) and mishpat (judgment), though the ra’at haAdam be great upon him.

7 For he has no da’as of that which shall be; for who can tell him how it will be?

8 There is no adam that hath power over the ruach to restrain ruach; neither hath he shilton (power) over the yom hamavet; and there is no discharge in war; neither shall resha deliver its possessor.

9 All this have I seen, and applied my lev unto every ma’aseh (labor, work) that has been done under the shemesh wherein one adam ruleth over another adam to the other’s hurt.