Ecclesiastes 8:6 BSB

Ecclesiastes 8:6

For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

for to every purpose there is a time and judgment; because the misery of man is great upon him:

KJV

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes (420)

"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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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 Ecc 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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

To every purpose there is time - חפץ chaphets, every volition, every thing that depends on the will of man. He has generally the opportunity to do whatever he purposes; and as his purposes are frequently evil, his acts are so too: and in consequence his misery is great.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
כִּ֣י	ki	for	H3588 →
לְכָל־	le.khol	for every	H3605 →
חֵ֔פֶץ	Che.fetz	matter	H2656 →
יֵ֖שׁ	yesh	there	H3426 →
עֵ֣ת	'et	[is] an appropriate time	H6256 →
וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט	u.mish.Pat	and a custom	H4941 →
כִּֽי־	ki-	for	H3588 →
רָעַ֥ת	ra.'At	[the] trouble of	H7451 →
הָאָדָ֖ם	ha.'a.Dam	<the> humankind	H120 →
רַבָּ֥ה	ra.Bah	[is] great	H7227 →
עָלָֽיו׃	'a.Lav	on him	H5921 →

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 walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

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
Ecclesiastes 3:1
To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
  I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Matthew 16:3
  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5–6
  Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- Ecclesiastes 7:14
  In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will…
Through
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
leads to
- Romans 11:33
  O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Romans 1:19–20
  For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
- Job 11:7
  Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Ecclesiastes 8:17
  I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning;…

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 8 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 8 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Ecclesiastes