Ecclesiastes 8:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 8:14
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
vanity
הֶבֶל֮he.Vel
H1892
emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
done
נַעֲשָׂ֣הna.'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
earth
הָאָרֶץ֒ha.'a.Retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
just
צַדִּיקִ֗יםtza.di.Kim
H6662
just · adjective, masculine plural absolute
happeneth
מַגִּ֤יעַma.Gi.a'
H5060
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that pro…
Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
Malachi 3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-3 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: n…
Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Psalms 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalms 73:12-14 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
Job 9:22-24 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:14–end
Wise and good men have, of old, been perplexed with this difficulty, how the prosperity of the wicked and the troubles of the righteous can be reconciled with the holiness and goodness of the God that governs the world. Concerning this Solomon here gives us his advice.
I. He would not have us to be surprised at it, as though some strange thing happened, for he himself saw it in his days, Ecc 8:14. 1. He saw just men to whom it happened according to the work of the wicked, who, notwithstanding their righteousness, suffered very hard things, and continued long to do so, as if they were to be punished for some great wickedness. 2. He saw wicked men to whom it happened according to the work of t…
An objection is here started (entertained by Solomon in his apostasy), as in Ecc 3:16; Ecc 7:15, to the truth of retributive justice, from the fact of the just and the wicked not now receiving always according to their respective deserts; a cavil, which would seem the more weighty to men living under the Mosaic covenant of temporal sanctions. The objector adds, as Solomon had said, that the worldling's pursuits are "vanity" (Ecc 8:10), "I say (not 'said') this also is vanity. Then I commend mirth," &c. [HOLDEN]. Ecc 8:14-15 may, however, be explained as teaching a cheerful, thankful use of God's gifts "under the sun," that is, not making them the chief good, as sensualists do, which Ecc 2:2;…
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth,.... Transacted in this lower world under the sun, through the permission and direction of divine Providence; not that it is a vanity on the part of God, who has wise ends to answer by it, for the good of his people, the trial of their graces, &c. or to bring sinners to repentance, or harden them in sin; but this shows the vanity and uncertainty of all worldly things, and that there is no happiness to be had in them;
that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: to whom evil comes, as the Targum and Jarchi; who are treated as if they were wicked men, and dealt with in providence as sinners would be, if they…
The Church Fathers
In fact, Solomon gives over the entire book of Ecclesiastes to suggesting, with such fullness as he judged adequate, the emptiness of this life, with the ultimate objective, to be sure, of making us yearn for another kind of life which is no unsubstantial shadow under the sun but substantial reality under the sun's Creator. For a person becomes as insubstantial as the insubstantiality that surrounds him, and it is by God's righteous decree that he, too, must pass away like a shadow.
So Solomon bears witness, saying, "There are just men to whom many things happen, as though they had done the deeds of the wicked; and there are wicked, who are as secure as though they had the deeds of the just." God no doubt so ordains it of his inestimable mercy, that scourges should torture the just, lest their doings should elate them, and that the unjust should pass this life at least without punishment, because, by their evil doings, they are hastening onward to those torments that are without end. For that the just are sometimes scourged in no way according to their deserving is shown by this very history that we are considering.
"There is a futility that takes place on earth: sometimes there are righteous men who are treated as if they had done according to the deeds of the wicked; and there are wicked men who are treated as if they had done the deeds of the righteous. I declared, this, too, is vanity. "Amongst other vanities, which are borne in the world by good and bad events, even this I have found to be vain, since those things often happen to the righteous which ought to happen to the wicked, and the wicked live happily in the world that you would think that they were the more righteous! He gives the example in the Gospel of the rich courtier and poor Lazarus. [Cfr. Luc. 16, 19-31.] The seventy-second Psalm also talks about the matter of why bad things happen to good men and vice-versa. But where we read, 'there is a futility that takes place on earth', Symmachus translates this fully, saying, "it is difficult to understand what is done on earth". The Hebrews interpret the righteous who suffer wickedness as the sons of Aaron, and Manasseh, because the former died while sacrificing, and the latter was restored to power after much wickedness and captivity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
work
כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֣הke.ma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
"Who is like the wise? and who understandeth the interpretation of things? The wisdom of a man maketh his face bright, and the rudeness of his face is changed." Unlike this saying: "Who is like the wise?" are the formulas חכם מי, Hos 14:9, Jer 11:11, Psa 107:43, which are compared by Hitzig and others. "Who is like the wise?" means: Who is equal to him? and this question, after the scheme מי־כמכה, Exo 15:11, presents him as one who has not his like among men. Instead of כּה the word כּחכם might be used, after לחכם, Ecc 2:16, etc. The syncope is, as at Eze 40:25, omitted, which frequently occurs, particularly in the more modern books, Eze 47:22; Ch2 10:7; Ch2 25:10; Ch2 29:27; Neh 9:19; Neh 1…
Injustice is momentary and does not upset God’s plans for justice (3:16-17; 12:14). In reality, wickedness does not pay.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 8:14
There is a vanity. Something that confounds mankind.
There are righteous men. To whom evil happens [as though] they acted wickedly, and there are wicked to whom good happens [as though] they acted righteously.28Alternatively, there are righteous men who acquire a bad reputation as though they acted wickedly, is referring to a foolish righteous person who takes the practices of his piety to ridiculous levels (Sforno). Mesilas Yeshorim states that one must not decide upon the saintliness of a deed on the basis of its surface appearance alone, rather he should view the deed, including its consequence(s), from every angle of human intelligence, and then determine whether or not to perform the d…
