Ecclesiastes 8:4
in Ecclesiastes 8For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the king’s word hath power; and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
KJV
Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHe also acts easily; therefore he says: And His word is full of power, the Psalm: "The voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord breaking the cedars": and Jeremiah 32: "No word shall be difficult for You, who show mercy unto …
This site's exposition
Keep the king’s command
on Ecclesiastes 8:2-5
Keep the king’s command assumes a king whose word is power, since the king’s word is supreme. Leaving his presence in haste and persisting in a bad cause are matters of court prudence. The counsel closes on timing, for a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
This site's exposition
who can say to him
Gill renders the supreme word as dominion, with lesser officials ready to carry out the king's will. Spurgeon notes that such power was a great blessing when the king was wise and good, and a yoke of iron when he was hard. Bonaventure reads the supreme word as God's.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"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?'
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Where the word of a king is, there is power,.... Or "dominion" (z). Authority goes along with his word of command; and there is an inferior magistracy, a subordinate power under him, ready to execute his will upon the rebellious and disobedient.
Do that which is good, as becomes a dutiful and loyal subject, and thou shalt ordinarily have praise of the same. He that does no ill shall feel no ill and needs fear none. 6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
AT THE OPENING OF A NEW BAPTIST CHAPEL, TRINITY ROAD, UPPER TOOTING. "Where the word of a king is, there is power." Ecclesiastes 8:4. KINGS in Solomon's day had a vast amount of power, for their word was absolute. They did according to their own will and none could check them, for, as Solomon said, "the king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion: whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own soul."
AT THE OPENING OF A NEW BAPTIST CHAPEL, TRINITY ROAD, UPPER TOOTING. "Where the word of a king is, there is power." Ecclesiastes 8:4. KINGS in Solomon's day had a vast amount of power, for their word was absolute. They did according to their own will and none could check them, for, as Solomon said, "the king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion: whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own soul." When such a monarch happened to be wise and good, it was a great blessing to the people, for, "a king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes." But if he was of a hard, tyrannical nature, his subjects were mere slaves and groaned beneath a yoke of iron. We do not sufficiently give thanks for the blessings of a constitutional government, but if we were, for a season, put beneath the power of a grinding despotism, we should set more store by those liberties for which we have to thank our Puritan ancestors. Mercies are seldom appreciated till they are taken away. May we not prove ungrateful under free institutions, for if so, we shall be more brutish than any men. There is, however, blessed be the Lord, one King whose power we do not wish, in any degree, to limit or circumscribe. God does as He wills among the armies of Heaven and among the inhabitants of this lower world—none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What are you doing? In this we greatly rejoice! The personal rule of one individual would be the best form of government if that individual were perfectly good, infinitely wise and abundant in power. And the reason why an autocrat turns into a despot is that there is no man who is perfectly good, unselfish, or wise! God has no fault or failing and, therefore, it is a joy that He does according to His will.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | baasher | in that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דְּבַר־ | devar- | a word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| מֶ֖לֶךְ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| שִׁלְט֑וֹן | shilton | [is] mastery | H7983 → | |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יֹֽאמַר־ | yomar- | will he say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| מַֽה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃ | taaseh | are you doing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
בַּאֲשֶׁ֥רin that
baasherH834 →5497 times
דְּבַר־a word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
מֶ֖לֶךְa king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
שִׁלְט֑וֹן[is] mastery
shiltonH7983 →
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
יֹֽאמַר־will he say
yomar-H559 →5305 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
מַֽה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃are you doing
taasehH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain…
it leads to
- Job 42:2
“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
- Psalms 135:6
The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Psalms 115:3
Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Romans 11:33–36
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Isaiah 40:15–17
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Job 42:2
Through
Proverbs 19:12A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:14–15
The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 16:14–15
Through
Proverbs 20:2The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:12
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Proverbs 19:12
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1697: “The Word of a King” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.