God’s Word Translation
Ecclesiastes 8:6
6There is a right time and a right way ⌞to act⌟ in every situation. Yet, a terrible human tragedy hangs over people.
Ecclesiastes 8:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
- New International Version (NIV)For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
Context of Ecclesiastes 8:6
4Since a king’s word has such power, no one can ask him what he is doing. 5Whoever obeys his commands will avoid trouble. The mind of a wise person will know the right time and the right way ⌞to act⌟. There is a right time and a right way ⌞to act⌟ in every situation. Yet, a terrible human tragedy hangs over people. 7They don’t know what the future will bring. So who can tell them how things will turn out? 8No one has the power to prevent the spirit of life from leaving. No one has control over the day of his own death. There is no way to avoid the war ⌞against death⌟. Wickedness will not save wicked people ⌞from dying⌟.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 8Ecclesiastes 8:6 word by word
כִּ֣י לְכָל־חֵ֔פֶץ יֵ֖שׁ עֵ֣ת וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט כִּֽי־רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם רַבָּ֥ה עָלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 8:6
- Ecclesiastes 3:1Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven:
- Ecclesiastes 7:13Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?
- Ecclesiastes 11:9You young people should enjoy yourselves while you’re young. You should let your hearts make you happy when you’re young. Follow wherever your heart leads you and whatever your eyes see. But realize that God will make you give an account for all these things when he judges everyone.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1Remember your Creator when you are young, before the days of trouble come and the years catch up with you. They will make you say, “I have found no pleasure in them.”
- Isaiah 3:11How horrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster will strike them. What they have done will be done to them.
- Isaiah 22:12On that day the Almighty Lord of Armies will call for crying and for mourning, for shaving your heads and for wearing sackcloth.
- Luke 13:25After the homeowner gets up and closes the door, ⌞it’s too late⌟. You can stand outside, knock at the door, and say, ‘Sir, open the door for us!’ But he will answer you, ‘I don’t know who you are.’
- Luke 17:26“When the Son of Man comes again, the situation will be like the time of Noah.
- Luke 19:42He said, “If you had only known today what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden, so you cannot see it.
- Hebrews 3:7As the Holy Spirit says, “If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 8:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6To every purpose there is time - חפץ chaphets, every volition, every thing that depends on the will of man. He has generally the opportunity to do whatever he purposes; and as his purposes are frequently evil, his acts are so too: and in consequence his misery is great.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Because, therefore - , Or, as in Ecclesiastes 8:7, “for.” The possibility of God‘s time and judgment being in opposition to a king‘s purpose or commandment Ecclesiastes 8:5, suggests the thought that such discord is a misery (evil, Ecclesiastes 6:1) common to man (or, mankind).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. 6there is a right time...to every purpose: Wise people will be ready when the right moment comes (see Ecclesiastes 3:1–8; Ephesians 5:16).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. therefore the misery, &c.--because the foolish sinner does not think of the right "times" and the "judgment."Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 8:6
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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