Ecclesiastes 8:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 8:9
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
to see · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
applied
וְנָת֣וֹןve.na.Ton
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive absolute
heart
לִבִּ֔יli.Bi
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
work
מַעֲשֶׂ֔הma.'a.Seh
H4639
an action (good or bad) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
done
נַעֲשָׂ֖הna.'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sun
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁha.Sha.mesh
H8121
the sun · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
time
עֵ֗ת'Et
H6256
time · noun, common both genders singular absolute
man
הָאָדָ֛םha.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ruleth
שָׁלַ֧טsha.Lat
H7980
to dominate · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hurt
לְרַ֥עle.Ra'
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · preposition + adjective, 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 5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he tha…
Ecclesiastes 5:13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Exodus 14:5-9 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they…
Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there re…
Deuteronomy 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he migh…
2 Kings 14:10-12 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy h…
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 8:9-13
Solomon, in the beginning of the chapter, had warned us against having any thing to do with seditious subjects; here, in these verses, he encourages us, in reference to the mischief of tyrannical and oppressive rulers, such as he had complained of before, Ecc 3:16; Ecc 4:1.
1. He had observed many such rulers, Ecc 8:9. In the serious views and reviews he had taken of the children of men and their state he had observed that many a time one man rules over another to his hurt; that is, (1.) To the hurt of the ruled (many understand it so); whereas they ought to be God's ministers unto their subjects for their good (Rom 13:14), to administer justice, and to preserve the public peace and order, t…
his own hurt--The tyrannical ruler "hurts" not merely his subjects, but himself; so Rehoboam (1Ki. 12:1-33); but the "time" of "hurt" chiefly refers to eternal ruin, incurred by "wickedness," at "the day of death" (Ecc 8:8), and the "time" of "judgment" (Ecc 8:6; Pro 8:36).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 8:9
All this have I seen,.... Observed, taken notice of, and thoroughly considered; all that is said above, concerning the scarcity of good men and women, the fall of our first parents, the excellency of wisdom, the necessity and advantage of keeping the king's commandment, the time and manner of doing it, the evil consequences that follow an inattention to these things, ignorance of what is to come, and the unavoidableness of death;
and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun; not so much to mechanic works and manual operations performed by men, as to moral or immoral works, and chiefly the work of Providence with respect to good and bad men, the consequence of which were t…
"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
"All this have I seen; and I applied my mind to see every deed that is done under the sun: there is a time when one man rules over another to his detriment. And then I saw the wicked buried and newly come while those who had done right were gone from the Holy place and were forgotten in the city. This too is vanity! Because the sentence for wrong-doing is not executed quickly- that is why men are encouraged to do evil. "I have dedicated my heart, he says, that I should see all that is done under the sun, and this too, that man takes up arms against man, so that he afflicts and condemns those whom he wants. And so when I began to look upon those things I saw that the impious were dead by such belief and buried, and were deemed holy in the earth, but those who were living were thought to be worthy of the Church, and the temple of God, the bombastic walking above were praised for their wickedness. "For the sinner is praised for the laxity of his soul, and he who is wicked is blessed" [Ps. 9,24.]. But this happens moreover because no one dares to confront sinners and God does not immediately give punishment for crimes, but rather postpones, so that we must await our repentance. But since those who sin are not immediately arrested and accused, they think with little regard that their judgement will be in the future, and continue in their crime. We can see how this evidence pertains to certain bishops, who come to power in the Church, and speak ill of those, which had taught and had urged them to follow better pursuits. These men are very often praised after death in the Church, and blessed for those things, which they in all likelihood did not even do, or openly are warned by their successors or the congregation. And even this is vanity, since while they live they do not heed advice and are not immediately visited for their sins, (since none dares accuse his superior), besides they act as if holy and blessed, and as if they are walking in the precepts of the Lord, and they increase their sins one on top of another. Such an accusation of a bishop is difficult. For you see, if he has sinned, it is not believed, and if he is accused, he is not punished.
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
Church · HOUSE OF THE LOR — HOUSE OF THE LOR
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).
In this world, injustice often prevails. The apparent success of the wicked can be frustrating.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 8:9
All this I have seen. What is mentioned above.
And I applied my heart to [understand] all the work. And also to all mankind’s work I applied my mind, and I saw the time that a man ruled over another and overpowered him, and ultimately it turned to his own detriment.17Because, “God seeks the pursued,” see above 3:15. [E.g.,] Amoleik overpowered Yisroel, and ultimately [it states about Amoleik], “and his end will be that he will be lost forever.”18Bamidbar 24:20. And the same happened to Pharaoh, and the same with Nevuchadnetzar, and the same with Sancheiriv.