Ecclesiastes 8:17

When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) WHEN I APPLIED MINE HEART TO KNOW WISDOM ... - When I applied myself to observe man's toils after happiness (some of them so incessant as not to allow sufficient time for "sleep;" cf. ; ; ), then (, the apodosis) I saw that "man" cannot find out (the reason of) God's inscrutable dealings with the "just" and with the "wicked" here (;...

14-17 Faith alone can establish the heart in this mixed scene, where the righteous often suffer, and the wicked prosper. Solomon commended joy, and holy security of mind, arising from confidence in God, because a man has no better thing under the sun, though a good man has much better things above the sun, than soberly and thankfully to use the things of this life according to his rank. He would not have us try to give a reason for what God does. But, leaving the Lord to clear up all difficulties in his own time, we may cheerfully enjoy the comforts, and bear up under the trials of life; while peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost will abide in us through all outward changes, and when flesh and heart shall fail....

Verse Ecclesiastes 8:17. _THEN I BEHELD ALL THE WORK OF GOD, THAT A MAN CANNOT_ _FIND OUT THE WORK THAT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN_] I saw it to be of such a nature - 1, That _a man cannot find it out_. 2. That if he _labour to find it out_, he shall not succeed. 3. That though he be _wise _- the _most instructed_ among men, and _think_ to find it out, he shall find _he is not able_. It is beyond the wisdom and power of man. How vain then are all your _cavils_ about Providence. You do not understand it; you cannot comprehend it. Fear God!...

These verses supplement Ecclesiastes 8:15 with the reflection that the man who goes beyond that limited sphere within which he can labor and be contented, and investigates the whole work of God, will find that his finite intelligence cannot grasp it. Ecclesiastes 8:16 BUSINESS - Or, “travail” Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 3:10. The sleeplessness noted probably refers to the writer himself....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 8:1 Section 5. There is no use in repining or rebelling; _true wisdom counsels obedience to the powers that be_,_ and submission to the dispensations of Providence_._ _However oppressive a tyrant may prove sure retribution awaits him. ECCLESIASTES 8:1 WHO IS AS THE WISE MAN?_ i_._e_._ _Who is like, equal to, the wise man? The somewhat sudden question occurs naturally after the results of the search for wisdom mentioned at the end of the last chapter. The thought is not, as in Hosea 14:9 and...

THEN I BEHELD ALL THE WORK OF GOD,.... Not of creation, but of Providence; took notice of it, contemplated on it, considered it, and weighed it well; viewed the various steps and methods of it, to find out, if possible, at least, some general rule by which it proceeded: but all so various and uncertain, THAT A MAN CANNOT FIND OUT THE WORK THAT IS DONE UNDER THE SUN: he can find out that it is done, but not the reason why it is done: the ways of God are in the deep, and not to be traced; they are unsearchable and past finding out; there is a βαθος, a depth of wisdom and knowledge, in them, inscrutable by the wisest of men, Psalms 72:19; BECAUSE, THOUGH A MAN LABOUR TO SEEK [IT] OUT, YET HE SHALL NOT FIND [IT]; Noldius and others render it "although"; not only a man that, in a slight and negligent manner, seeks after the knowledge of the works of divine

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. Prudence before kings (Ecclesiastes 8:1)_ 2. Of the righteous and the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:11) 3. The conclusion (Ecclesiastes 8:14) Ecclesiastes 8:1. What else had he seen? What were his further discoveries? He is still ardent in praising wisdom, though he had confessed “that it was far from him.” Wisdom makes the face to shine and the boldness of the face becomes changed. He cautions as to the governmental powers in the world, urges prudence and submission. He is a keen observer. But nothing can deliver from the power of the grave. The tyrannic rul

ECCLESIASTES 8:16 TO ECCLESIASTES 9:16. LIFE'S RIDDLE BAFFLES THE WISEST QUEST. The parenthesis in Ecclesiastes 8:16_ b_ describes the ceaseless effort of the keen student of life, or perhaps the fate of the toiler who is too tired to sleep; with Ecclesiastes 8:17; cf. Ecclesiastes 7:24; Job 11:6, and from the Christian standpoint Romans 11:33

_then I beheld all the work of God_ The confession is like that which we have had before in chap. Ecclesiastes 7:23-24: perhaps, also, we may add, like that of a very different writer dealing with a very different question, "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33). The English reader may be reminded of Bishop Butler's Sermon (xv.) on the "Ignorance of Man," of which these verses supply the text. What is noticeable here is that the ignorance (we may use a modern term and say the Agnosticism) is not atheistic. That which the seeker contemplates he recognises as the work of God. Before that work, the wise man bows in reverence with the confession that it lies beyond him. The Finite cannot grasp the Infinite. We may compare Hooker's noble words "Dangerou

TO SEE THE BUSINESS THAT IS DONE UPON THE EARTH— _To observe the occupations of man upon the earth; and that even day and night he doth not see sleep with his eyes,_ Ecclesiastes 8:17. _Then I understood that this is all God's own work; that man is not able to find out the end of this work which is done under the sun: Therefore, though a man should labour,_ &c. See Desvoeux, and chap. Ecclesiastes 3:11. REFLECTIONS.—1st, Wisdom is indeed of infinite importance. We have here, 1. Its great commendation. _Who is as the wise man?_ comparable to him for excellence; _or who knoweth the interpretation of a thing, or a word?_ none but those who are taught of God can understand his heavenly wisdom, or interpret his word to the edification of men, or impr