Ecclesiastes 8:2
Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
BSB
ASV
I counsel thee, Keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God.
KJV
I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
To keep the king’s commandment - This sentence would be better translated, I keep the mouth of the king; I take good heed not to meddle with state secrets; and if I know, to hide them. Or, I am obedient to the commands of the laws; I feel myself bound by whatever the king has decreed. In regard of the oath of God - You have sworn obedience to him; keep your oath, for the engagement was made in the presence of God. It appears that the Jewish princes and chiefs took an oath of fidelity to their kings.
David made a covenant, or contract, with the elders of Israel, though he was king by divine designation, 1 Chron. xi. 3 . " Keep the king's commandments, for he has sworn to rule thee in the fear of God, and thou hast sworn, in that fear, to be faithful to him." It is called the oath of God because he is a witness to it and will avenge the violation of it.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Titus 3:1Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
leads to
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
Through
Proverbs 24:21My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
leads to
Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your…
When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.