Ecclesiastes 8:7 BSB

Ecclesiastes 8:7

Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

for he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can tell him how it shall be?

KJV

For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

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Commentary

2 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

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Most of the miseries men labour under would have been prevented if they could have been foreseen and the happy time discovered to avoid them. Men are miserable because they are not sufficiently sagacious and attentive. Whatever other evils may be avoided, we are all under a fatal necessity of dying,

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
כִּֽי־	ki-	for	H3588 →
אֵינֶ֥נּוּ	'ei.Ne.nu	not he	H369 →
יֹדֵ֖עַ	yo.De.a'	[is] knowing	H3045 →
מַה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
שֶּׁיִּֽהְיֶ֑ה	shei.yih.Yeh	that will it be	H1961 →
כִּ֚י	ki	that	H3588 →
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר	ka.'a.Sher	just as	H834 →
יִֽהְיֶ֔ה	yih.Yeh	it will be	H1961 →
מִ֖י	mi	who?	H4310 →
יַגִּ֥יד	ya.Gid	will he tell	H5046 →
לֽוֹ׃	lo	to <the> him

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

H5046yagidwill he tell370×

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 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him…
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:22
  I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- James 4:14
  You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Job 14:2
  Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Psalms 144:4
  Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- Lamentations 3:24–27
  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:12
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
  While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Luke 21:34–36
  But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
Through
Ecclesiastes 10:14
Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?
leads to
- Proverbs 15:2
  The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

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