Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 8:8
[There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit ] The word for “spirit,” may mean either “the wind” or the “spirit,” the “breath of life” in man, and each sense has been adopted by many commentators. Taking the former, which seems preferable, the latter involving a repetition of the same thought in the two clauses of the verse, we have a parallel in Pro 30:4, perhaps also in Joh 3:8. Man is powerless to control the course of the wind, so also is he powerless (the words, though general in form, point especially to the tyrannous oppressor,) to control the drift of things, that is bearing him on to his inevitable doom. The worst despotism is, as Talleyrand said of Russia, “tempered by assassination.”
neither hath he power in the day of death ] Better, over the day of death. The analogy of the previous clause, as to man’s impotence to control or direct the wind, suggests that which is its counterpart. When “the day of death” comes, whether by the hand of the assassin, or by disease and decay, man (in this case again the generalized thought applies especially to the oppressor) has no power, by any exercise of will, to avert the end. The word for “power” in the second clause is, as in Dan 3:3, the concrete of the abstract form in the first, There is no ruler in the day of death.
there is no discharge in that war ] The word for “discharge” occurs elsewhere only in Psa 78:49, where it is rendered “sending,” and as the marginal reading (“no casting of weapons”) shews has been variously interpreted. That reading suggests the meaning that “in that war (against death), there is no weapon that will avail.” The victorious leader of armies must at last succumb to a conqueror mightier than himself. The text of the English version is probably, however, correct as a whole, and the interpolated “ that,” though not wanted, is perhaps excusable. The reference is to the law (Deu 20:5-8) which allowed a furlough, or release from military duty, in certain cases, and which the writer contrasts with the inexorable sternness which summons men to their battle with the king of terrors, and that a battle with a foregone and inevitable conclusion. Here the strict rigour of Persian rule under Darius and Xerxes, which permitted no exemption from service in time of war, was the true parallel (Herod. iv. 84, vii. 38).
neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it ] Better, neither shall wickedness deliver its lord. The last word is the same as Baal, in the sense of a “lord” or “possessor,” and is joined with words expressing qualities to denote that they are possessed in the highest degree. Thus “a lord of tongue” is a “babbler” (ch. Ecc 10:11), “lord of hair” is “a hairy man” (2Ki 1:8), and so on. Here, therefore, it means those who are specially conspicuous for their wickedness. The thought is as before, that a time comes at last, when all the schemes and plans of the oppressor fail to avert his punishment, as surely as all efforts to prolong life fail at last to avert death.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neither hath he power – Rather: and there is no power. Compare Ecc 3:19.
No discharge … – i. e., No exemption from the final hour of struggle between life and death.
Wickedness – Though the life of the wicked may be prolonged Ecc 7:15, yet wickedness itself has no inherent power to prolong that life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 8:8
There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit.
Death an unpreventable exit of the spirit
1. It is implied that man has a spirit.
2. Mans power over his spirit is not absolute.
He has some power over it; power to excite it to action, direct its thoughts, control its impulses, train its faculties, and develop its wonderful resources. Self-government is the duty of every man. But whatever the amount of power he may have over his spirit, he is utterly unable to retain it here, to keep it in permanent connection with the body. From this fact I deduce three practical lessons.
I. We should take proper care of this spirit while we have it with us.
II. We should keep this spirit ever in readiness for its exit. It requires to have its errors corrected, its guilt removed, its pollutions cleansed away.
III. Efforts for the permanent entertainment of this spirit here are to the last degree unwise. What are men doing here? On all hands they are endeavouring to provide for their spirits a permanent entertainment. Soul, thou hast much goods, etc. Wherefore do ye spend your labour for that which satisfieth not? (Homilist.)
The uncertainty of life
Autumn, with its tinted leaves, its slanting shadows, and brief sunshine, points out the same truth as the text. Man is powerless–much as he might wish it–to check the fast falling shower of faded foliage, or to throw back the shadows of the sundial. The fortune of the world could not procure a moments respite from that silent and regular work of decay which is going on in the surrounding world. So, likewise, No man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit. Each one of us must gradually pass away from the visible universe. When that solemn moment arrives, there will be those who would long to retain us by their side–those who have yet to learn that the communion of saints is not broken by the accident of death. And yet it cannot be; we must let go our hold of the departing soul. Others will long and vainly struggle to remain behind themselves. As we contemplate the prospect of death, a new stimulus should be given to duty and action. For it has been well said, Duty is done with all energy then only when we feel the night cometh when no man can work in all its force. Let me lead your thoughts then for a brief space in this direction. Redeem the time. This is the precept, the echo of a past inspiration, which the Holy Spirit of God would still sound in our ears as we look forward to the termination of present life. Spend the life in earnest, and as if the whole future depended upon it. Spend to-day as if there were no certain to-morrow. Be watchful about little things, and especially the brief moments of time. The few pence and the fragments of food have their value. (A. WilIiamson, M. A.)
There is no discharge in that war.—
The battle of life
The leaves are always falling from the forest trees in autumn-time. Unheard, unnoticed, they flutter every morning to the ground, but anon there is a crash in the forest as a giant tree, decayed, comes headlong to the earth, and the winds that helped to bring it down seem to moan among the trees that still stand firm. Howl, fir-tree, for the cedar has fallen. Sometimes even the falling of a leaf is noticed, if it happens to tumble down exactly at ones feet, or even the falling of a little branch or twig will startle one, should it chance to light upon ones head or hand. It is even so with mortals in the matter of death.
I. There is no casting off of weapons in the war. In every other war there is, for one or other of the contending parties obtains a return in triumph, a blowing of the trumpet and a beating of the drums, an unharnessing of armour and a laying by of sword and spear and shield, a tide of congratulations flowing in from king or queen, and from a grateful country that has been delivered from impending danger. But, says the Preacher, there is no casting off of weapons in that war. It must be fought out to the bitter end, it must be waged till the vanquished combatant at last surrenders at discretion to the Black Prince of death. The struggle begins at birth. What tussles the infants have for life! Have we not seen them from their earliest breath fighting with the dragon that, as it were, waited for their birth? Fight, little stranger, fight! Fight thou must if thou wouldest live at all, for there are, even in thy weakest days, a thousand enemies who fain would drain thy life away! Moreover, the fight is specially fierce at times. When sickness threatens, and disease invades, and when we are called to pass through places specially unwholesome, or to engage in occupations peculiarly perilous, oh, how hot the battle then becomes.
II. Another rendering of this remarkable expression will give us this idea, there is no casting off weapons in that war. By this, I understand that there is not in any mortal hand a weapon, of whatsoever a description, that is likely to avail against this king of fears. You know how it is in the present day with the art of war, as some are pleased to call it. If one man invents a gun of special calibre, or a bullet of peculiarly penetrating powers, another forthwith invents an armour that resists them both; this has no parallel in the matter of life and death. There can be found for deaths shot and shell no armour that can resist it. Goliaths spear, though it be like a weavers beam, will not defend him from the stroke of death; Sauls javelin, though he aim it better than when he cast it at active David, is not likely to pin death to the wall; and the gilded sword of bribery, with its jewelled hilt, is vain against this adversary. Elizabeth exclaimed, All my possessions for a moment of time! but there was no casting of the weapons in that war, even for the virgin queen. We are virtually defence-less. It is appointed unto man to die.
III. Yet, again, there is this rendering of the passage. there is no sending of a substitute in that war, I believe that the conscription, where it obtains, allows for substitution; that one may, at least on certain conditions, send another in his place to serve his country; but there is no such provision here. There is, indeed, the possibility of one taking anothers place temporarily. A brave miner, for instance, has said to another in equal peril with himself, Only one of us can get out of this: you may go, and I will die. Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. If this be true, is it not very marvellous how unconcerned most are! It was enjoined upon the ancient Thebans that before they erected a house they should build a sepulchre in its neighbourhood, and the Egyptians were wise enough to bring round at their feasts an image of death, that the guests might be reminded of their mortality. Ponder, O man, eternity, for there is no sending of a substitute in that war.
IV. There is no exemption from fighting in this battle–no excuse from joining in this campaign. We all are hastening to the bourne from which no traveller returns. You know that in the days of Moses there were certain exemptions and excuses in connection with the military service. Such was the mercy of God that He arranged that, if a man had built a new house, he was not called to take up arms, he must go and dedicate it. After the house-warming he might go to the battle, but not before. Or if one had planted a vineyard, he should wait till he had eaten of it: lest another should reap the result of his labours. Twas the same with the newly-married man; and for the faint-hearted there was this kind provision made, that they should go back to their homes; not, indeed, so much for their own sakes, aa lest their brethren should become faint-hearted too. There are no such considerations in this case: there cannot be. I heard only last week of one who was married for two short days, and was taken under heartrending circumstances from his bride. We sometimes talk about sudden death, and it is awfully sudden for those who are looking on and living still, but I believe there should be no such thing as sudden death to any who know the power of death and the certainty of it. (T. Spurgeon.)
Christian life-service
I would use our text as an illustration of the Christian life and the Christians life allegiance: There is no discharge in that war.
I. So runs the summons. Now, this Book of God is full of sentences which bind the conscience of every believer, and compel an irrevocable self-consecration. But, aside from all the direct expressions of Scripture, is the spirit of the Christ life to which we are conformed, commanding in the consecration which it exhibits and influences. Oh, how soon the soldier comes to mirror his captain! There was somewhat of Napoleon in every member of the Old Guard–somewhat of his fortitude, his steadfastness, his untiring perseverance, whatsoever might be the harassing or hindering circumstances of the march. Even so does he who has given his pledge to Christ, and who persistently avows his relationship to Him, come to receive somewhat of the spirit of Christ and His constancy of devotion. There are no vacations, there are no furloughs, there are no personal interests. If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross and follow Me–day by day, year by year, even unto the end–saith the Lord who hath redeemed us.
II. But beyond the summons, There is no discharge in that war, so gladly responds the soldier. There is no joy like that of those who go forth to those daily battles against sin in the name of the God of Israel. Their battle songs would befit a banquet, and their triumph of spirit is a presage and earnest of their triumph of possession.
1. Gratitude inspires consecration. There is no discharge in that war, responds the soldier gladly. What shall I render unto the Lord? is the constant self-inquiry. Such a grateful soul is covetous most of all of opportunities. He does not check the calls upon him for exertion. He seeks everywhere for occasions to manifest the love which swells and rules within him.
2. But hope expects coronation! It is the mainspring of the wheel. It is the life-preserver on the tide. It is the double wing of the soul in its effort to rise above the things restraining and hindering it. And every believer responds, There is no discharge in that war: I want none; for hope expects coronation. It is not presumptuous hope, because it is founded upon the purposes of the Word of God.
III. So requires the service. Thus does our Divine Saviour sum up the work He does for us, in us, and by us. That which He makes the great impulse of our hearts is also a necessity of our work.
1. We have the conflict with evil about us. John Wesleys old motto is the grand talisman of success: We are all at it; we are always at it. Such steadfastness in Christian example and influence is that for which the times most imperatively cry.
2. But beyond that there is the conquest of sin in thine own soul to which thou art called; for better is he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh a city. Time after time Gods people are tempted to return to the city from which they have set out, and there is that within them which is constantly hinting, suggesting, constraining them to return. Now, if thou art to meet this, thou must battle by little and by little. Character is not built up in a day; it is a very slow process, even as God changes the contour of the earth. No volcanic action in the sudden manifestation of power is to be expected. No man grows instantly very good or very bad. By steps we descend, and by steps we ascend in our tendency towards God. But there is never a time when we outgrow this necessity of conflict in this world. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit] The Chaldee has, “There is no man who can rule over the spirit of the breath, so as to prevent the animal life from leaving the body of man.” Others translate to this sense: “No man hath power over the wind to restrain the wind; and none has power over death to restrain him; and when a man engages as a soldier, he cannot be discharged from the war till it is ended; and by wickedness no man shall be delivered from any evil.” Taking it in this way, these are maxims which contain self-evident truths. Others suppose the verse to refer to the king who tyrannizes over and oppresses his people. He shall also account to God for his actions; he shall die, and he cannot prevent it; and when he is judged, his wickedness cannot deliver him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The spirit, i.e. the soul of man, which is oft called a spirit, as Job 7:7; 10:12; Psa 78:39; 104:29, &c.
To retain the spirit; to keep it in the body beyond the time which God hath allotted to it. This is added as another evidence of mans misery.
In the day; or, against the day, i.e. to avoid or delay that day.
There is no discharge, as there is in other wars, when soldiers either are dismissed from the service, or escape by flight or otherwise. In that war; in that fatal conflict between life and death, between nature and the disease, when a man is struggling with death, though to no purpose, for death shall always be conqueror.
Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it; and although wicked men, who most fear death, use all possible means, whether good or bad, to free themselves from this deadly blow, yet they shall not escape it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. spirit“breath oflife” (Ec 3:19), as thewords following require. Not “wind,” as WEISSthinks (Pr 30:4). This versenaturally follows the subject of “times” and “judgment”(Ecc 8:6; Ecc 8:7).
dischargealluding tothe liability to military service of all above twenty years old (Nu1:3), yet many were exempted (De20:5-8). But in that war (death) there is no exemption.
those . . . giventoliterally, the master of it. Wickedness can get moneyfor the sinner, but cannot deliver him from the death, temporal andeternal, which is its penalty (Isa 28:15;Isa 28:18).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit,…. Which is not to be understood of the wind, which the word used sometimes signifies, and of men’s having no power to restrain that, or hinder it from blowing; for to what purpose should Solomon mention this? rather it may be considered as a check upon despotic and arbitrary princes not to stretch their power too far; since they had none over the spirits or minds of men, and could not hinder them from thinking ill of them, and wishing ill to them, nor restrain their hatred of them; whatever power they had or exercised over their bodies and estates, they had none over their spirits, or their consciences; no lawful power to restrain them from their to God, nor to oblige them to do that which he has forbidden; nor to compel them to anything against conscience; nor to bind their consciences in matters indifferent: or as an argument with subjects to obey the commands of their sovereign; since it is not in their power to restrain the spirit and wrath of princes, which is as the roaring of a lion, and as: he messengers of death, Pr 16:14; particularly to be careful that they do not commit any capital offence, for which sentence may be passed to take away life; when it will not be in their power to retain it; nor rescue themselves out of the hands of justice and the civil magistrate, but must submit. Or else it is to be understood of every man’s spirit at the hour of death, and of the unavoidableness of it, as the next clause explains it; and by “spirit” is meant, either the sensitive soul, the same with the spirit of a beast, without which the body is dead, and is like the wind that passeth away, and ceaseth when the breath is stopped; or the rational soul, the spirit that is committed to God, and returns to him at death, Lu 23:43. This a man has not power over to dismiss or retain at pleasure; he cannot keep it one moment longer when it is called for and required by the Father of spirits, the Creator of it; he has not power “to restrain” d it, as in a prison, as the word signifies, as Alshech observes; whence Aben Ezra says, that the spirit or soul in the body is like a prisoner in a prison; but nothing, that attends a man in this life, or he is in possession of, can keep the soul in this prison, when the time of its departure is come; not riches, nor honours, nor wisdom and leaning, nor strength and youth, nor all the force of medicine; the time is fixed, it is the appointment of God, the bounds set by him cannot be passed, Ec 3:2
Job 14:5. The Targum is,
“no man has power over the spirit of the soul to restrain the soul of life, that it might not cease from the body of man;”
and to the same sense Jarchi,
“to restrain the spirit in his body, that the angel of death should not take him;”
neither [hath he] power in the day of death; or “dominion” e; death strips a man of all power and authority, the power that the husband has over the wife, or parents over their children, or the master over his servant, or the king over his subjects; death puts down all power and authority: it is an observation of Jarchi’s, that David after he came to the throne is everywhere called King David, but, when he came to die, only David, 1Ki 2:1; no king nor ruler can stand against death any more than a beggar; up man is lord of death any more than of life, but death is lord of all; all must and do submit to it, high and low, rich and poor; there is a day fixed for it, and that day can never be adjourned, or put off to another; and as man has not power to deliver himself in the day of death, so neither his friend, as the Targum, nor any relation whatever;
and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; death is a warfare as well as life, with which nature struggles, but in vain; it is an enemy, and the last that shall be destroyed; it is a king, and a very powerful one; there is no withstanding him, he is always victorious; and there is no escaping the battle with him, or fleeing from him; a discharge of soldiers in other wars is sometimes obtained by interest, by the entreaty of friends, or by money; but here all cries and entreaties signify nothing; nor does he value riches, gold, or all the forces of strength; see 2Sa 12:18; under the old law, if a person had built a new house, or married a wife, or was faint hearted, he was excused and dismissed; but none of these things are of any avail in this war, De 20:5; captives taken in war are sometimes dismissed by their conquerors, or they find ways and means to make their escape; but nothing of this kind can be done when death has seized on the persons of men. Some render it, there is “no sending to” or “in [that] war” f; there is no sending forces against death to withstand him, it is to no purpose; there is no sending a message to him to sue for a peace, truce, or reprieve; he will hearken to nothing; there is no sending one in the room of another, as Jarchi observes,
“a man cannot say, I will send my son, or my servant;”
no surrogation is allowed of in this case, as David wished for,
2Sa 18:33. Aben Ezra interprets it, no armour, and so many interpreters; and so the Targum;
“nor do instruments of armour help in war;”
in this war: in other wars a man may put on a helmet of brass and a coat of mail, to protect and defend him, or throw darts and arrows; but these signify nothing when death makes his approach and attack;
neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it; or “the masters of it” g; that is, from death; neither Satan the wicked one, as Jerom, who is wickedness itself, and with whom wicked men are confederate, can deliver them from death; nor sinners the most abandoned deliver themselves, who have made a covenant with it, and an agreement with hell, Isa 28:15; such who are masters of the greatest wicked craft and cunning, and who devise many ways to escape other things, can contrive none to escape death; nor will riches gotten by wickedness deliver the owners of them from death; see Pr 10:2; This sense is mentioned by Aben Ezra, and not to be despised.
d “ut coerceat”, Piscator; “ad coercendum”, Cocceius. e “dominatio”, Junius Tremellius, Vatablus “dominium”, Rambachius. f “non est missio ad illud praelium”, Varenius apud Gejerum. g “dominos suos”, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) Spirit.As has been remarked in similar cases, the translation wind is possible; but the rendering of the whole verse as given in our version seems to me as good as any that it has been proposed to substitute.
Discharge.Elsewhere only (Psa. 78:49) where it is translated sending.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. No man hath power to retain The tyrant is still spoken of as liable to all human liabilities. The French peasant takes off his hat in silent reverence when a funeral-train passes, as doing homage to a ruler mightier than king or emperor, to whom, at last, all rulers bow. “Death comes, then farewell king!” Wickedness often means, and it might be plainer here to say, wicked acts, frauds, cunning deceits.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 8:8. There is no man that hath power over the spirit No man is absolute commander over the wind to retain the wind; and there is no commander against the day of death; and there is no embassy to be admitted during the battle. Desvoeux; who remarks, that if ancient interpreters had plainly and literally translated the first clause, No man hath power over the wind to confine the wind, no one would now imagine that any thing else beside the wind and storms were here mentioned by Solomon; as was very well understood by the Latin interpreters of the Syriac and Arabic versions: but, the Greek interpreters having made use of the ambiguous word , their successors determined that word to mean either the soul at large, or some particular affection of the soul. Among things which it is not in any one’s power to matter, or, if we keep closer to the original, among things which have no commander among men who can dispose of them at his will, none had a better right to be mentioned than wind and death. The two sentences which follow look very like similes contracted into proverbs; and each of them has, besides the literal signification, a farther meaning; which may be easily discovered from their connexion with the subject in hand; namely, the difficulty of extricating ourselves out of the many dangers to which we are daily exposed. Why should not this be likewise a simile to the same purpose? The image of irresistible storms is so much the more proper in this place, as it may, besides the principal subject, imply a beautiful allusion to the violence of parties and factions, which so often rage at court. However, the application of these three proverbial similes to the argument may be thus supplied; It is as impossible to extricate yourself out of the difficulties into which your opposing wrong measures, without discerning both time and reason, will involve you; as to command the wind or death, or to have ambassadors admitted during the heat of the battle. I shall not dwell any longer upon this passage; but I hope it may be looked upon as an advantage, in the interpretation which I propose, that, instead of one single thought (viz. the unavoidability of death), in three different dresses, which most modern interpreters find here, it discovers three distinct ideas, and every one of them well connected with the subject treated by Solomon. The interpreter who makes a judicious writer a tautologist is not the most likely to have hit his true meaning. As far as to the end of the seventh chapter has been declared what discoveries Solomon had made in the latter part of his inquiry concerning the wickedness of ignorance, and the foolishness of that which is in the greatest esteem. It remains that we should have an account of his success in the former part of the same, concerning wisdom. To this effect, he enlarges upon the excellency of wisdom, which principally appears from its being the only sure guide by whose assistance a man can extricate himself out of the difficulties and dangers of this world. “No man,” says he, “is to be compared with the wise: No man, besides him, knoweth how to behave in the most difficult occurrences of life: Ecc 8:1. I tell you, I, who have applied to wisdom more than any man,Observe both the countenance and discourses of the king; and that for your own sake, for those who approach his person are sworn to support him. Be not so rash as to contradict him. Do not stay to hear what you cannot approve, for it would be in vain for you to oppose it. Some make it a duty blindly to comply with every whim of their superiors, without ever allowing themselves the liberty to examine whether they are right or wrong; but the wise man always makes use of his discernment, and knoweth when and how he should either obey or forbear obeying: Ecc 8:2-5. For, though other men may act at random; yet to him every determination of the will has its proper time and proper reasons to support it; because he knows that, as he is equally unable to dive into futurity, and to command events, the utmost caution is necessary, to avoid the many dangers to which a man is daily exposed, especially at court. It would be too late to think of mitigating the king’s wrath when once it is kindled against you. The safest way is to prevent it, by declining rather than opposing such orders as you cannot comply with. The blind compliance, which is that of the wicked, is not safe or honest; and, though it may for the present ingratiate the courtier with his master, yet the bad consequences of his obsequiousness must sooner or later appear; and then he shall answer for them.” Ecc 8:6-8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
It were devoutly to be prayed for, that the very solemn truth contained in this verse, was so solemnly considered by an unthinking world. As no man dies by proxy, but each for himself, as it is appointed unto men once to die; oh! that the sure judgment that follows, were duly thought of, and as earnestly provided for! Reader! have you solemnly; seriously, deliberately considered this? How are you provided? To die Christless; is to die hopeless. Have you pondered over the awful state of unpardoned sin? Have you considered the preciousness of Christ, and his blood? Think, my brother, solemnly think, of these things. Remember what the wise man here saith, That there is no discharge in that war. Oh! for grace to live Christ, that we may die in Christ. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Rev 14:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 8:8 [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
Ver. 8. There is no man that hath power, &c. ] Death man is sure to meet with, whatsoever he miss of, but when he knows not neither. Of doomsday there are signs affirmative and negative, not so of death. Every one hath his own balsam within him, say some chemists, his own bane it is sure he hath. Ipsa suis augmentis vita ad detrimenta impellitur, a Every day we yield somewhat to death. Stat sua cuique dies, b Our last day stands, the rest run. Death is this only king, against whom there is no rising up c Pro 30:31 The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre, and it mows down the lilies of the crown as well as the grass of the field, saith a reverend writer. d And again, death suddenly snatcheth away physicians, oft as it were in scorn and contempt of medicines when they are applying their preservatives or restoratives to others, as it is reported of Gaius Julius, a surgeon, who dressing a sore eye, as he drew the instrument over it, was struck with an instrument of death in the act and place where he did it. Besides diseases, many by mischances are taken, as a bird with a bolt while he gazeth at the bow.
There is no discharge in war.
Neither shall wickedness deliver.
a Greg., Moral.
b Virg. Aeneid.
c Nulli cedo.
d Mr Ley, his Monitor of Mortality.
the spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9. Some render “wind” and refer to Ecc 11:5. Pro 8:30, Pro 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.
is no: Ecc 3:21, 2Sa 14:14, Job 14:5, Job 34:14, Psa 49:6-9, Psa 89:48, Heb 9:27
power: 1Co 15:43, 2Co 13:4
discharge: or, casting off weapons, Deu 20:1-8, 2Ki 7:15
neither: Psa 9:17, Psa 52:5-7, Psa 73:18-28, Pro 14:32, Isa 28:15, Isa 28:18
Reciprocal: Job 3:14 – kings Job 3:19 – The small Job 7:1 – an appointed time Job 14:20 – prevailest Job 21:16 – Lo Job 21:33 – every man Job 30:23 – the house Psa 49:9 – That he Psa 52:7 – strengthened Psa 56:7 – escape Pro 12:2 – good Ecc 12:8 – General Isa 47:10 – thou hast said Eze 7:13 – the seller 1Co 15:55 – is thy victory
Ecc 8:8. No man hath power over the spirit That is, over the soul of man; to retain the spirit To keep it in the body beyond the time which God hath allotted to it. This is added as another evidence of mans misery. Neither hath he power in the day of death Or, against the day, that is, to avoid, or delay that day; and there is no discharge As there is in other wars; in that war In that fatal conflict between life and death, when a man is struggling with death, though to no purpose, for death will be always conqueror. Neither shall wickedness deliver, &c. And although wicked men, who most fear death, use all possible means to free themselves from it, yet they shall not escape it. The most subtle wickedness cannot out-wit death, nor the most daring wickedness out-brave it.
8:8 [There is] no man that hath power {g} over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
(g) Man has no power to save his own life and therefore must not rashly cast himself into danger.
Ecc 8:8 means that no one can escape the consequences of his or her own wickedness. The idea is that the king will punish him or her (Ecc 8:9). Thus it is important to have wisdom.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)