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Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024
the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Ecclesiastes 8:9

I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   The Topic Concordance - Vanity;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 27;  

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time wherein man has power over man to his hurt.
New Century Version
I saw all of this as I considered all that is done here on earth. Sometimes people harm those they control.
New English Translation
While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.
Webster's Bible Translation
All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: [there is] a time in which one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
World English Bible
All this have I seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
Amplified Bible
All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.
English Standard Version
All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I bihelde alle thes thingis, and Y yaf myn herte in alle werkis, that ben don vndur the sunne. Sum tyme a man is lord of a man, to his yuel.
English Revised Version
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.
Berean Standard Bible
All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
Contemporary English Version
I noticed all this and thought seriously about what goes on in the world. Why does one person have the power to hurt another?
American Standard Version
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man hath power over another to his hurt.
Bible in Basic English
All this have I seen, and have given my heart to all the work which is done under the sun: there is a time when man has power over man for his destruction.
Complete Jewish Bible
All this I have seen, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun when one person tyrannizes another.
Darby Translation
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time when man ruleth man to his hurt.
Easy-to-Read Version
I saw all this. I thought very hard about the things that happen in this world. I saw that people always struggle for the power to rule others, and this is bad for them.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
All this have I seen, even applied my heart thereto, whatever the work that is done under the sun; what time one man had power over another to his hurt.
King James Version (1611)
All this haue I seene, and applied my heart vnto euery worke that is done vnder the Sunne: there is a time wherein one man ruleth ouer another to his owne hurt.
New Life Bible
All this I have seen while thinking about every work that has been done under the sun. There is a time when one man has power over another man and makes him suffer.
New Revised Standard
All this I observed, applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while one person exercises authority over another to the other's hurt.
Geneva Bible (1587)
All this haue I seene, and haue giuen mine heart to euery worke, which is wrought vnder the sunne, and I sawe a time that man ruleth ouer man to his owne hurt.
George Lamsa Translation
All this have I seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun; there is a time wherein one man rules over another to hurt him.
Good News Translation
I saw all this when I thought about the things that are done in this world, a world where some people have power and others have to suffer under them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
All this, had I seen, and tried to apply my heart to every work which was done under the sun, - at such time as one man had power over another man, to his hurt.
Douay-Rheims Bible
All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Revised Standard Version
All this I observed while applying my mind to all that is done under the sun, while man lords it over man to his hurt.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
All these thinges haue I considered, and applied my mynde vnto euery worke that is vnder the sunne, howe one man hath lordship vpon another to his owne harme.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
So I saw all this, and I applied my heart to every work that has been done under the sun; all the things wherein man has power over man to afflict him.
Christian Standard Bible®
All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.
Hebrew Names Version
All this have I seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.
King James Version
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Lexham English Bible
I saw all this as I applied my heart to all the deeds done under the sun: sometimes those in authority harm others.
Literal Translation
All this I have seen. I gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which a man rules over a man for his evil.
Young's Literal Translation
All this I have seen so as to give my heart to every work that hath been done under the sun; a time that man hath ruled over man to his own evil.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All these thinges haue I considered, and applied my mynde vnto euery worke that is vnder the Sonne: how one man hath lordshipe vpon another to his owne harme.
THE MESSAGE
All this I observed as I tried my best to understand all that's going on in this world. As long as men and women have the power to hurt each other, this is the way it is.
New American Standard Bible
All this I have seen, and have applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun at a time when one person has exercised authority over another person to his detriment.
New King James Version
All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.
Legacy Standard Bible
All this I have seen and given my heart to every work that has been done under the sun wherein a man has power over another man to his calamity.

Contextual Overview

9 I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. 10 I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. 11 When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. 12 But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. 13 The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

this: Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 3:10, Ecclesiastes 4:7, Ecclesiastes 4:8, Ecclesiastes 7:25

there is: Ecclesiastes 5:8, Ecclesiastes 5:13, Exodus 14:5-9, Exodus 14:28, Deuteronomy 2:30, 2 Kings 14:10-12, 2 Kings 25:7

Reciprocal: Proverbs 2:2 - apply Proverbs 22:17 - apply Proverbs 24:30 - went Ecclesiastes 1:13 - I gave Ecclesiastes 8:16 - When I

Cross-References

Deuteronomy 28:65
There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair.
Psalms 116:7
Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.
Isaiah 60:8
"And what do I see flying like clouds to Israel, like doves to their nests?
Ezekiel 7:16
The survivors who escape to the mountains will moan like doves, weeping for their sins.
Matthew 11:28
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
John 16:33
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All this have I seen,.... Observed, taken notice of, and thoroughly considered; all that is said above, concerning the scarcity of good men and women, the fall of our first parents, the excellency of wisdom, the necessity and advantage of keeping the king's commandment, the time and manner of doing it, the evil consequences that follow an inattention to these things, ignorance of what is to come, and the unavoidableness of death;

and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun; not so much to mechanic works and manual operations performed by men, as to moral or immoral works, and chiefly the work of Providence with respect to good and bad men, the consequence of which were the following observations;

[there is] a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt; or "the man ruleth over men" h; for this is not to be understood of private rule in families, of the parent over his children, or master over his servant, but of a king over his subjects; who is the man, the principal man in the kingdom; and such a man ruling in an arbitrary and tyrannical way is to his own detriment in the issue. So Rehoboam; by his oppressive government, lost ten tribes out of twelve. Some have lost their whole kingdoms, and come to an untimely end; as well as ruined their immortal souls. Some render it "to his hurt" i; to the hurt of those that are ruled, when it should be for their good, the protection of their persons and properties; but instead of that they lay heavy burdens upon them, take away their property, and injure and insult their persons. So the Targum,

"to do ill to him.''

But Jarchi interprets it of the king himself. Some take it in both senses; and so it is usually in fact, that wicked princes rule to their own hurt, and the hurt of their subjects.

h האדם "homo", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius Tremellius, &c. i לרע לו "in ipsus perniciem", Tigurine version "in noxam ipsi", Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To his own hurt - Or, “to the hurt of the subject.” The case is still that of an unwise king whose command is obeyed Ecclesiastes 8:2 even to the hurt of the wise man who obeys him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 8:9. One man ruleth over another to his own hurt. — This may be spoken of rulers generally, who, instead of feeding, fleece the flock; tyrants and oppressors, who come to an untimely end by their mismanagement of the offices of the state. All these things relate to Asiatic despots, and have ever been more applicable to them than to any other sovereigns in the world. They were despotic; they still are so.


 
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