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Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ecclesiastes 8:5-7

The wise person also knows when and how to speak and act (Ecclesiastes 8:5). Often people suffer harm as a result of not knowing what will happen and when (Ecclesiastes 8:6-7). Consequently, they misdirect their words and deeds. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

Kings’Courts Need Wary Walking1-17. Be discreet in relation with a ruler. God’s purpose must be carried out. His rule must be righteous, though this is often not seen in actual life. God’s ways are just, and past finding out.The writer now enters on a subject which it would not have been wise to treat too plainly, viz. the need of showing tact in dealing with the arbitrary power of an absolute monarch. No part of the book is more decidedly at variance with the Solomonic authorship than this... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

Ecclesiastes 8:8 Compare Ruskin's Time and Tide (Letter xxiv.) for an application of the words, There is no discharge in that war; also Kipling's The Five Nations, pp. 185 f. References. VIII. 8. S. H. Tying, American Pulpit of Today, vol. i. p. 623. VIII. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 200. Ecclesiastes 8:11 . Cf. Ecclesiastes 7:7 , etc. Swift once asked Delany whether the 'corruptions and villanies of men in power did not eat his flesh and exhaust his spirits?' 'No,' said Delany.... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 8:1-15

THIRD SECTIONThe Quest Of The Chief Good In Wealth, And In The Golden Mean Ecclesiastes 6:1-12; Ecclesiastes 7:1-29, and Ecclesiastes 8:1-15IN the foregoing Section Coheleth has shown that the Chief Good is not to be found in that Devotion to the affairs of Business which was, and still is, characteristic of the Hebrew race. This devotion is commonly inspired either by the desire to amass great wealth, for the sake of the status, influence, and means of lavish enjoyment it is assumed to confer;... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

; Ecclesiastes 8:1-17The Quest in the Golden Mean.Ecclesiastes 7:1-29; Ecclesiastes 8:1-15There be many that say, "Who will show us any gold?" mistaking gold for their god or good. For though there can be few in any age to whom great wealth is possible, there are many who crave it and believe that to have it is to possess the supreme felicity. It is not only the rich who "trust in riches." As a rule, perhaps, they trust in them less than the poor, since they have tried them, and know pretty... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

CHAPTER 8 1. Prudence before kings (Ecclesiastes 8:1-10 ) 2. Of the righteous and the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 ) 3. The conclusion (Ecclesiastes 8:14-17 ) Ecclesiastes 8:1-10 . What else had he seen? What were his further discoveries? He is still ardent in praising wisdom, though he had confessed “that it was far from him.” Wisdom makes the face to shine and the boldness of the face becomes changed. He cautions as to the governmental powers in the world, urges prudence and... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

The interval between this chapter and the preceding represents a pause in the writer’s thought, and now he seems to set out on a new quest for the chief good in life. He will seek it in wise conduct. He will renounce feasting and trying the opposite (Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 ); he will avoid extremes (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 ); no one is perfectly righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 ); the worst thing he has found is woman (Ecclesiastes 7:23-26 ); and the conclusion is that man is indeed a fallen creature... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

Some Striking Views of Human Nature Ecclesiastes 7-8 We are still in Coheleth's memorandum-book. There is little or no connection between these scattered sentences. To read them is like stepping upon stones that have been laid in a brook, rather than crossing a well-built bridge. There is a mournful tone in this seventh chapter. It is full of dyspeptic and disagreeable remarks. Cypress shadows lie over it, with hardly a breeze to disturb them and to let the light twinkle and sparkle between... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Ecclesiastes 8:2-7

I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. (3) Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. (4) Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? (5) Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. (6) Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 8:7

Past. Protestants and Septuagint, "that shall be." (Haydock) read more

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