Ecclesiastes 8:13

Ecclesiastes 8:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
• New International Version (NIV)Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Context of Ecclesiastes 8:13

11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. 12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. 14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile. 15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:13 word by word

וְטוֹב֙ לֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה לָֽרָשָׁ֔ע וְלֹֽא־יַאֲרִ֥יךְ יָמִ֖ים כַּצֵּ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֛ר אֵינֶ֥נּוּ יָרֵ֖א מִלִּפְנֵ֥י אֱלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear

• Yet becauseאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• do notאַ֫יִן'ayin · nothingH369
• fearיָרֵאyârê' · afraidH3373
• fearפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• it will notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• goהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• wellטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• withרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
• and their daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• lengthenאָרַךְ'ârak · to prolongH748
• like a shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 8:13

• Job 18:5Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
• Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
• Job 21:30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
• Psalms 11:5The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.
• Isaiah 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
• Malachi 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
• Matthew 13:49So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
• John 5:29and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
• Psalms 55:23But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
• Isaiah 30:13this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant!
• 2 Peter 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
• Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
• Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
• Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
• Psalms 39:5You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
• Psalms 144:4Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 8:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13But it shall not be well with the wicked - Let not the long-spared sinner presume that, because sentence is not speedily executed on his evil works, and he is suffered to go on to his hundredth transgression, God has forgotten to punish. No, he feareth not before Good; and therefore he shall not ultimately escape.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 Solomon observed, that many a time one man rules over another to his hurt, and that prosperity hardens them in their wickedness. Sinners herein deceive themselves. Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely. A good man's days have some substance; he lives to a good purpose: a wicked man's days are all as a shadow, empty and worthless. Let us pray that we may view eternal things as near, real, and all-important.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-13Injustice is temporary and does not disrupt God's plans for justice (Ecclesiastes 3:16–17; 12:14). In the end, wickedness does not succeed.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. neither shall he prolong--not a contradiction to Ec 8:12. The "prolonging" of his days there is only seeming, not real. Taking into account his eternal existence, his present days, however seemingly long, are really short. God's delay (Ec 8:11) exists only in man's short-sighted view. It gives scope to the sinner to repent, or else to fill up his full measure of guilt; and so, in either case, tends to the final vindication of God's ways. It gives…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 8:13

• Impenitence
• Punishment
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Discern
• Discharge
• Feel
• Hasty
• Heart
• Set
• Death
• Prolong

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings