pleasure · noun, common masculine singular absolute
is
יֵ֖שׁyesh
H3426
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
time
עֵ֣ת'et
H6256
time · noun, common both genders singular absolute
judgment
וּמִשְׁפָּ֑טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
misery
רָעַ֥תra.'At
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · noun, common feminine singular construct
man
הָאָדָ֖םha.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
great
רַבָּ֥הra.Bah
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, feminine 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 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God mak…
Luke 19:42-44 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine ey…
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
Luke 17:26-30 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the s…
Isaiah 3:11-14 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:6-8
Solomon had said (Ecc 8:5) that a wise man's heart discerns time and judgment, that is, a man's wisdom will go a great way, by the blessing of God, in moral prognostications; but here he shows that few have that wisdom, and that even the wisest may yet be surprised by a calamity which they had not any foresight of, and therefore it is our wisdom to expect and prepare for sudden changes. Observe, 1. All the events concerning us, with the exact time of them, are determined and appointed in the counsel and foreknowledge of God, and all in wisdom: To every purpose there is a time prefixed, and it is the best time, for it is time and judgment, time appointed both in wisdom and righteousness; the…
therefore the misery, &c.--because the foolish sinner does not think of the right "times" and the "judgment."
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 8:6
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment,.... There is a fit season, and a right and proper manner of doing everything that is to be done; see Ecclesiastes 3:1; which a wise man discerns; and which when a man hits upon, it prevents a great deal of mischief, which for want of it comes upon men, as the following clause shows; some refer this to the punishment of the wicked, and to a future judgment. So the Targum,
"to every business there is a time good and evil, and according to the judgment of truth the whole world is judged;''
and to the same purpose Jarchi,
"there is a time fixed for the visitation of the wicked, and there is judgment before the Lord; this is vengeance or pun…
"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…
The Church Fathers
"For everything has its time and justice, for man's evil overwhelms him. Indeed he does not know what will happen, for when it happens , who will tell him? "Many good and bad things can befall a man, but even a righteous man is not able to know what will befall him, or know the causes and reasons for each thing, (for no one can know what will happen), but he does know that all things are done by God to the advantage of man, and nothing is done without His will. For this is a great sufferance for mankind, since as the poet says: "the mind of man knows not his lot and coming fate" [Virg. Aen. 10, 501.]. If he hopes for one thing, then another happens; he expects the enemy to come from one direction and is wounded by a spear from the opposite direction. But here Theodotion and the Septuagint have said, "since the knowledge of man overwhelms him", the Hebrew has 'wickedness' not 'knowledge'. But because the Hebrew letters 'Resh' and 'Daleth' are similar without the serif, instead of "raath "they have read "daat, "that is instead of 'wickedness', 'knowledge'. This is easier to understand if you have knowledge of the language. Note too, that which is written at the end of the verse: 'since he doesn't know what has been, and what will be after him, who will tell him?' I have translated word for word here from the Hebrew text, so that we can see that there is a different meaning, since we are clearly not able to know those things which have already passed away, or those that will be, as they have yet to be done.
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
Ignorance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
Ecclesiastes 8:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
there is a time . . . for everything: Those who are wise will be ready when an opportune time appears (see 3:1-8; Eph 5:16).
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 8:6
For every matter. When a person satisfies his desire and transgresses the law, a time to exact retribution [is cast], and justice and punishment are ready.
When the evil of man overwhelms him. When man’s evil becomes exceedingly overwhelming and his measure overflows, then his punishment arrives; ‘וְכִי’ is used as an expression of “when,” as in, “When כִּי they have a concern, it comes to me.”9Shemos 18:16.
