Ecclesiastes 8:7

7 For he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him when it shall 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 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing, and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

6 Because for every purpose there is a time and a judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

7 For he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him when it shall be?

8 There is no man who hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death. And there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it.

9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein a man ruleth over another to his own hurt.