Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 8:7
7Since no one knows what will be, who can tell when it will happen?
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
5Whoever obeys his command will not experience harm, and a wise person’s heart discerns the proper time and procedure. 6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him. Since no one knows what will be, who can tell when it will happen? 8No one has authority over the wind to restrain it, nor authority over the day of death. As no one is discharged during a battle, so wickedness cannot rescue its master. 9I have seen all this while applying my mind to everything done under the sun: sometimes one person dominates another person to his own harm.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 8Ecclesiastes 8:7 word by word
כִּֽי־אֵינֶ֥נּוּ יֹדֵ֖עַ מַה־שֶּׁיִּֽהְיֶ֑ה כִּ֚י כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר יִֽהְיֶ֔ה מִ֖י יַגִּ֥יד לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 8:7
- Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for one during his life—during the few days of his fleeting life—that pass like a shadow? For who can tell a person what happens after him under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 9:12Moreover, no man knows his time: like fish caught in a fatal net or birds caught in a snare, so people are trapped in a time of calamity, that falls upon them suddenly.
- Ecclesiastes 10:14and the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will happen after him?
- Proverbs 24:22For their destruction will arise suddenly, and who knows the ruin both Adonai and the king can bring?
- Proverbs 29:1One who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed— without remedy.
- Matthew 24:44So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
- Matthew 25:6But in the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1Now concerning the times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for 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
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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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