Bible Commentaries
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
Ecclesiastes 8
as = like.
who . . . ? Supply the Ellipsis (App-6), from the preceding line: "Who [is like him that] knoweth? "
interpretation = understanding.
wisdom. Hebrew. chakmah. See note on Proverbs 8:1, Proverbs 8:2.
boldness = sternness.
stand not = do not take thy stand. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Syriac, and Vulg, read, "and stand not".
feel = know.
evil = calamity. Hebrew. ra"a".
time and judgment = a time, yea, a judgment time. Figure of speech Hendiadys. App-6.
purpose. See note on Ecclesiastes 3:1.
there is = there exists. Hebrew. yesh.
therefore the misery = when the evil.
great = heavy.
the spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Some render "wind" and refer to Ecclesiastes 11:5. Proverbs 8:30, Proverbs 8:4.
discharge in that war = no furlough in the battle [of life].
wickedness. Hebrew. ra"a". App-44. Perhaps here = cunning: no cunning will save the wicked.
those that are given to it = its possessors.
I saw = I have seen.
the wicked = lawless men (plural) Hebrew. rasha". App-44.
come and gone. Supply the complex Figure of speech Ellipsis (App-6), "I have seen wicked men come [to the grave; and righteous men] depart [in death, Genesis 15:2] from the place of the holy, and be forgotten", &c.
days. Supply the Ellipsis by "evil-doing".
God. Hebrew. Elohim.(with Art.) = the [true] God: the Deity.
business = travail.
for also there is, &c. = how that one doth not see sleep with his eyes by day or by night. Figure of speech Catachresis (App-6).
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