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?
• 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?
• New Living Translation (NLT)Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen?

Context of Ecclesiastes 8:7

5Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery. Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? 8As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 9All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.

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 a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
• Ecclesiastes 9:12Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
• Ecclesiastes 10:14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
• Proverbs 24:22for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?
• Proverbs 29:1Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
• Matthew 24:44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
• Matthew 25:6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write 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