Ecclesiastes 5:8 - Exposition

If thou seest the oppression of the poor . From errors in the service of God, it is natural to turn to faults in the administration of the king ( Proverbs 24:21 ). Koheleth has already alluded to these anomalies in Ecclesiastes 3:16 and Ecclesiastes 4:1 . Violent perverting ; literally, robbery ; so that judgment is never rightly given, and justice is withheld from applicants. In a province ( me dinah , Ecclesiastes 2:8 ); the district in which the person addressed dwells. It may, perhaps, to implied that {his is remote from the central authority, and therefore more liable to be injuriously dealt with by unscrupulous rulers. Marvel not at the matter ( chephets , Ecclesiastes 3:1 ). Be not surprised or dismayed ( Job 26:11 ) at such evil doings,, as though they were unheard of, or inexperienced, or disregarded. There is here nothing of the Greek maxim, reproduced by Horace in his "Nil admirari" ('Epist.,' 1.6. 1). It is like St. John's "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" ( 1 John 3:13 ); or St. Peter's "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among' you" ( 1 Peter 4:12 ). The stupid and unintelligent observation of such disorders might lead to arraignment of Providence and distrust in the moral government of God. Against such mistakes the writer guards. For he that is higher than the highest regardeth. Both the words are in the singular number. Septuagint, ὑψηλὸς ἐπάνω ὑψηλοῦ φυλάξαι . One thinks of the Persian satraps, who acted much as the Turkish pashas in later times, the petty rulers oppressing the people, and being themselves treated in the same fashion by their superiors. The whole is a system of wrong-doing, where the weaker always suffers, and the only comfort is that the oppressor himself is subject to higher supervision. The verb ( shamar ) translated "regardeth" means to observe in a hostile sense, to watch for occasions of reprisal, as 1 Samuel 19:11 ; and the idea intended is that in the province there were endless plottings and counterplottings, mutual denunciations and recriminations; that such things were only to be expected, and were no sufficient cause for infidelity or despair. "The higher one" is the monarch, the despotic king who holds the supreme power over all these maladministrators and perverters of justice. And there be higher than they . "Higher" is here plural ( gebohim ), the plural of majesty, as it is called (comp. Ecclesiastes 12:1 ), like Elohim , the word for "God," the assonance being probably here suggestive. Over the highest of earthly rulers there are other powers, angels, principalities, up to God himself, who governs the course of this world, and to whom we may leave the final adjustment. Who are meant seems purposely to be left undetermined; but the thought of the righteous Judge of all is intimated in accordance with the view of Ecclesiastes 3:17 . This is a far more satisfactory explanation of the passage than that which regards as the highest of all "the court favorites, king's friends, eunuchs, chamberlains," etc. In this view Koheleth is merely asserting the general system of injustice and oppression, and neither accounting for it nor offering any comfort under the circumstances. But his object throughout is to show man's inability to secure his own happiness, and the need of submission to Divine providence. To demonstrate the anomalies in the events of the world, the circumstances of men's lives would be only one part of his task, which would not be completed without turning attention to the remedy against hasty and unfair conclusions. This remedy is the thought of the supreme Disposer of events, who holds all the strings in his hand, and will in the end bring good out of evil.