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

Context of Ecclesiastes 8:7

5He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, 6Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly. For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur? 8No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it. 9All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another 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 man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
• Ecclesiastes 9:12For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.
• Ecclesiastes 10:14A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?
• Proverbs 24:22For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?
• Proverbs 29:1He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
• Matthew 24:44Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
• Matthew 25:6“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should 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