properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
king’s
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
commandment
פִּיpi-
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
regard
דִּבְרַ֖תdiv.Rat
H1700
a reason · noun, common feminine singular construct
oath
שְׁבוּעַ֥תshe.vu.'At
H7621
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִֽים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural 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
Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
1 Kings 2:43 Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?
Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
Exodus 22:11 Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner of it shall acc…
2 Samuel 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and J…
1 Chronicles 29:24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:1-5
Here is, I. An encomium of wisdom (Ecc 8:1), that is, of true piety, guided in all its exercises by prudence and discretion. The wise man is the good man, that knows God and glorifies him, knows himself and does well for himself; his wisdom is a great happiness to him, for, 1. It advances him above his neighbours, and makes him more excellent than they: Who is as the wise man? Note, Heavenly wisdom will make a man an incomparable man. No man without grace, though he be learned, or noble, or rich, is to be compared with a man that has true grace and is therefore accepted of God. 2. It makes him useful among his neighbours and very serviceable to them: Who but the wise man knows the interpreta…
the king's--Jehovah, peculiarly the king of Israel in the theocracy; Ecc 8:3-4, prove it is not the earthly king who is meant.
the oath of God--the covenant which God made with Abraham and renewed with David; Solomon remembered Psa 89:35, "I have sworn," &c. (Psa 89:36), and the penalties if David's children should forsake it (Psa 89:30-32); inflicted on Solomon himself; yet God not "utterly" forsaking him (Psa 89:33-34).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 8:2
I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment,.... Or, "to observe the mouth of the king" (w); what he says, and do according to it when it is agreeably to the law of God, and according to the laws of the kingdom, by which he is to govern; for kings are to be honoured, obeyed, and submitted to, in the lawful discharge of their office: and such counsel and advice as this is wholesome; and, being taken, contributes much, as to the honour of kings, so to the good of kingdoms and states, and to a man's own peace and comfort. Aben Ezra supplies it,
"I command thee, or I admonish thee;''
for it may be either a charge, or art advice, respecting this and what follows. Jarchi supplies and paraphras…
"I counsel you: Obey the king's command, and that in the manner of an oath of God. Do not hasten to leave his presence, do not persist in an evil thing; for he can do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is law, who dare say to him, 'what are you doing?' "Here he seems to teach the same as the apostle - that we should obey kings and rulers, which is set out in the Septuagint as a command: "guard the command of the king"; but personally I think he is now talking about that king about whom David says, "Lord, the king will be happy in your virtue" [Ps. 20, 1.]. And in another passage, where it means the one reign of the Father and of the Son, the text reads, "God, give your judgement to the king, and your righteousness to the son of the king". [Tob. 12,7.] For the Father does not judge each one, but gives each judgement to the Son. Moreover, that king who is the Son of God, is the son of the Father who is the King. Therefore His precepts should be kept, His will done. And this is exactly what is written in the book of Tobit: "it is good to hide the secret of the king" [Tob. 12,7]. He warns in particular why we should not ask why God has taught every single thing, but see that teaching as a commandment, and this is what an impious man hastens to fulfil. Then let his will be the same as that of God's law. But because the Septuagint translates this differently, saying, "do not hasten to run away from God's presence", nor his judgement or his word, you must know that God's judgement is written in the divine will. Therefore we ought not to recount to anyone or make public this judgement, which is taken to be sacred and secret from the word of God, nor should we form rash opinions from it. We should not, too, hasten like Moses, to see the face of God, but rather wait a while until He Himself passes by and then we will only see Him passing. Nor too should we do what follows: do not persist in an evil thing, and so on, especially as we understand, like one who has already come into the madness of heresy, or as he, who although having faith in the Church, is still overcome by sins, so that he is unfaithful. Do not persevere in what is wrong, or in swearing, indulgence, greed, or lust. For if you do the king of vices and devil of sins will fashion in you your end, and he will be able to do whatever he wants with you.
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
Citizens · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Jealousy · Attributed to Go — Attributed to Go
King · Obedience to, enjoine — Obedience to, enjoine
Oaths · Used for: Pledging allegiance to sovereigns — Used for: Pledging allegiance to sovereigns
Prudence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Types · .High priest, typi — .High priest, typi
Zion · Restoration of, promised — Restoration of, promised
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).
on Ecclesiastes 8:2
"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…
since you vowed to God that you would: Cp. 5:2-6; 1 Kgs 2:41-43.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 8:2
My [advice to you is] keep the King’s command. Therefore, I need to and I am prepared to observe the commandment of the King of the Universe, which is the best of them all.
And do so because of the oath to God. Which we swore to Him at Choreiv, to keep His commandments.
Another explanation: I am prepared to observe the command of the kings of the nations who rule over us with head taxes and property taxes. And do so because of the oath to God. Provided that they do not cause us to violate the oath [of allegiance] that we swore to the Omnipresent.
And do so because of [the oath]. And alongside the oath of God, I will keep the command of the kings.4I.e., I will obey the command of kings as…
