Ecclesiastes 8:7

Ecclesiastes 8:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
• New International Version (NIV)Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
• English Standard Version (ESV)For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?
• New King James Version (NKJV)For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?

Context of Ecclesiastes 8:7

5The one who keeps a command will not experience anything harmful, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6For every activity there is a right time and procedure, even though a person’s troubles are heavy on him. Yet no one knows what will happen because who can tell him what will happen? 8No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, and there is no authority over the day of death; no one is discharged during battle, and wickedness will not allow those who practice it to escape. 9All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

Ecclesiastes 8:7 word by word

כִּֽי־אֵינֶ֥נּוּ יֹדֵ֖עַ מַה־שֶּׁיִּֽהְיֶ֑ה כִּ֚י כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר יִֽהְיֶ֔ה מִ֖י יַגִּ֥יד לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For he knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not that which shall be: for who can tellנָגַדnâgad · to tellH5046

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 8:7

• Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for anyone in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell anyone what will happen after him under the sun?
• Ecclesiastes 9:12For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.
• Ecclesiastes 10:14yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?
• Proverbs 24:22for destruction will come suddenly from them; who knows what distress these two can bring?
• Proverbs 29:1One who becomes stiff-necked, after many reprimands will be shattered instantly — beyond recovery.
• Matthew 24:44This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
• Matthew 25:6“In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 8:7

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7When - Or, as in the margin. For the meaning of this verse, compare marginal references.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-8Verses 6-8 God has, in wisdom, kept away from us the knowledge of future events, that we may be always ready for changes. We must all die, no flight or hiding-place can save us, nor are there any weapons of effectual resistance. Ninety thousand die every day, upwards of sixty every minute, and one every moment. How solemn the thought! Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things, that they would consider their latter end! The believer alone is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8Our strength, goodness, and wisdom cannot prevent disasters, so choosing wickedness would be pointless.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. he--the sinner, by neglecting times (for example, "the accepted time, and the day of salvation, 2Co 6:2), is taken by surprise by the judgment (Ec 3:22; 6:12; 9:12). The godly wise observe the due times of things (Ec 3:1), and so, looking for the judgment, are not taken by surprise, though not knowing the precise "when" (1Th 5:2-4); they "know the time" to all saving purposes (Ro 13:11).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 8:7

• Ignorance

In the dictionaries

• Discern
• Discharge
• Feel
• Hasty
• Heart
• Set
• Synagogue, the Great

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