Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 - Exposition

No mortal wisdom, combined with the closest observation and thought, can fathom the mysteries of God's moral government.

Esther 8:16

When I applied mine heart ( Ecclesiastes 1:13 ). The answering member of the sentence is in Esther 8:17 , the last clause of the present verse being parenthetical. To know wisdom . This was his first study (see on Ecclesiastes 1:16 ). He endeavored to acquire wisdom which might enable him to investigate God's doings. His second study was to see the business that is done upon the earth ; i.e. not only to learn what men do in their several stations and callings, but likewise to understand what all this means, what it tends to, its object and result. (For "business," inyan, see on Ecclesiastes 1:13 .) The Vulgate here renders it distentionem, "distraction," which is like the Septuagint περισπασμόν . For also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes . This is a parenthetical clause expressing either the restless, unrelieved labor that goes on in the world, or the sleepless meditation of one who tries to solve the problem of the order and disorder in men's lives. In the latter case, Koheleth may be giving his own experience. To "see sleep" is to enjoy sleep. The phrase is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament, but commentators quote parallels from classical sources. Thus Terence, 'Heautontim.,' 3.1.82—

"Somnum hercle ego hac nocte cculis non vidi reels."

"No sleep mine eyes have seen this livelong night."

Cicero, 'Ad Famil.,' 8.30, "Fuit mittflea vigilantia, qui tote sue consulatuson, hum non vidit." Of course, the expression is hyperbolical. The same idea is found without metaphor in such passages as Psalms 132:4 ; Proverbs 6:4 .