Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

² I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.

³ Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”

⁴ Where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say to him, “What are you doing?”

⁵ He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; and a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,

⁶ Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly.

⁷ For he does not know what will happen; so who can tell him when it will occur?

⁸ No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, and no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

⁹ 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.

The insight that wisdom brings to a man allows him to know the true interpretation to be placed upon events and brings a joy that is indicated in the shining of the face (Psalm 19:8).

sternness (v.1) = hardness

Some translations and commentaries say that “oath to God” in v.2 should be “oath of God,” referring to the promise God made to David. Williams has that take.

This oath is that of Psalm 89:35; and although it may have an application to Solomon personally, yet verses 3-5 prove that the Messiah is intended. Verses 3 and 4 may be thus rendered: “Be not hasty to go out of His presence, persist not in an evil purpose, because He doeth whatever pleaseth Him, and because His Word, as King, hath power, and because who may say unto Him, what doest Thou?” To dwell in His presence is life and power; to hasten away is darkness and death.. Verses 5-7 may read thus; “Whoso keepeth the commandment (i.e., the King’s) shall experience no calamity (Romans 10:11); and a wise man’s heart discerneth a time-limit and a judgment; for every action there shall be a time-limit and a judgment (Hebrews 9:27); therefore the misery of (the unconverted) man is heavy upon him, because he knoweth not that which shall be (i.e., his fate in that judgment) for who can tell him how it shall be? The [believer], though he knows there will be a day of judgment, feels no terror; but to the worlding the thought of that judgment embitters his life and spoils his pleasure. This bitterness is made the more bitter by the knowledge (v.8) that he cannot avoid death, and by the fear, here declared to be well grounded, that his plans of escape from its power are useless. — Williams, page 445.

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The oath of God is an oath of allegiance to a government made in the name of God. — KJV Commentary, page 748.

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The first half of verse 5 is a quotation of Proverbs 19:16 … The Preacher believes that the wise man alone knows of time and judgment. That is, he knows that God keeps His own counsels (Ecclesiastes 3:1-12) and that He does not share the knowledge of His purpose with mortals. — KJV Commentary, page 748.

time and judgment (v.5) — what to do (judgment) and when to do it (time)

The first half of verse 6 is best understood as referring back to verse 5: A wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, because there is a time and judgment for every purpose of the king. — Grace, page 1177.

the misery of man increases greatly (v.6) — This thought leads into the statement of v.7. “Misery … is great upon him for he does not know what will happen …”

Man cannot stop his own death (v.8). He has no power to keep his spirit or stop the day of his death; there is no release from the battle with death; and he cannot scheme his way out of it. — Grace, page 1177.

rules (v.9) = domineers, lords it over another

It is unclear from the Hebrew whether the tyrannical rule (v.9) is a harm to the king himself or to his subjects. But based on the preceding verses, it seems best to understand that the tyrant’s rule harms his subjects. — Grace, page 1177.