then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
Parallel Translations
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then I saw all the work of God, that man can’t find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won’t find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won’t be able to find it.
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Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
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then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 8:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
- Psalms 73:16 When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me,
- Romans 11:33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- Job 5:9 who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
- Ecclesiastes 7:23-24 All this I have proved in wisdom. I said, “I will be wise;” but it was far from me. That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?
- Isaiah 40:28 Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
- Job 11:7-9 “Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol. What can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
- Psalms 40:5 Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.
- Proverbs 30:3-4 I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
- Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
- Psalms 104:24 Yahweh, how many are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of…
Ecc 8:17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; yea further; though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it].
Ver. 17. That a man cannot find out the work.] No, not the wisest that is; the very best empiric in this kind cannot. Let him labour never so much to find it, he shall but be tossed in a labyrinth, or as a wayfaring man in a desert. If a man cannot define anything because the forms of things are unknown, if he know not the creatures themselves, ab imo ad summum, from the lowest to the highest, neither shall he know the reasons and manner of them. {a} As a man may look on a trade, and never see the mystery of it; he may look on artificial things, pictures, watches, &c., and yet not see the art whereby they are made; as a man may look on the letter, and never understand the sense; so it is here, and we must content ourselves with a learned ignorance. Si nos non intelligimus quid quare fiat, debeamus hoc providentiae quod non fiat sine causa: {b} If we understand not why anything is done, let us owe this duty to Providence, to be assured that it is not done without cause.
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{a} Granger.
{b} Aug. in Psalm cxlviii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Then, Heb. and, or moreover, I beheld all the…
Then, Heb. and, or moreover, I beheld all the work of God; I considered the counsels and ways of God, and the various methods of his providence towards good and bad men, and the reasons of them.
A man cannot find out; no man, though never so wise, and inquisitive, and studious, as it follows, is able fully and perfectly to understand these things; and therefore it is best for man not to perplex himself with endless and fruitless inquiries about these matters, but quietly to submit to God’s will and providence, and to live in the fear of God, and the comfortable enjoyment of his blessings.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then I beheld all the work of God,.... Not…
Then I beheld all the work of God,.... Not of creation, but of Providence; took notice of it, contemplated on it, considered it, and weighed it well; viewed the various steps and methods of it, to find out, if possible, at least, some general rule by which it proceeded: but all so various and uncertain,
that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: he can find out that it is done, but not the reason why it is done: the ways of God are in the deep, and not to be traced; they are unsearchable and past finding out; there is a a depth of wisdom and knowledge, in them, inscrutable by the wisest of men, Psa 72:19;
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because, though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; Noldius and others render it "although"; not only a man that, in a slight and negligent manner, seeks after the knowledge of the works of divine Providence, and the reasons of them; but even one that is diligent and laborious at it is not able to find them out; they being purposely concealed by the Lord, to answer some ends of his;
yea, further, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it; a man of a great natural capacity, such an one as Solomon himself, though he proposes to himself, and determines within himself to find it out, and sets himself to the work, and uses all the means and methods he can devise, and imagines with himself he shall be able to find out the reasons of the divine procedure, in his dispensations towards the righteous and the wicked; and yet, after all, he is not able to do it. The Targum is,
"what shall be done in the end of days;''
wherefore it is best for a man to be easy and quiet, and enjoy what he has in the best manner he can, and submit to the will of God.
Next: Ecclesiastes Chapter 9
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I beheld - I considered the counsels and ways…
I beheld - I considered the counsels and ways of God, and the various methods of his providence, and the reasons of them. Find out - No man, though ever so wise, is able fully and perfectly to understand these things. And therefore it is best for man not to perplex himself with endless enquiries, but quietly to submit to God's will and providence, and to live in the fear of God, and the comfortable enjoyment of his blessing.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Then I beheld all the work of…
Verse 17. Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun] I saw it to be of such a nature -
1, That a man cannot find it out.
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2. That if he labour to find it out, he shall not succeed.
3. That though he be wise - the most instructed among men, and think to find it out, he shall find he is not able. It is beyond the wisdom and power of man. How vain then are all your cavils about Providence. You do not understand it; you cannot comprehend it. Fear God!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 8:17. Then — Hebrew, and, or, moreover, I…
Ecc 8:17. Then — Hebrew, and, or, moreover, I beheld all the work of God — I considered the counsels and ways of God, and the various methods of his providence toward good and bad men, and the reasons of them. That a man cannot find out the work, &c. — No man, though ever so wise, is able fully and perfectly to understand these things. And therefore, it is best for man not to perplex himself with endless and fruitless inquiries about those matters, but quietly to submit to God’s will and providence, and to live in the fear of God, and the comfortable enjoyment of his blessings.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Reason. We know in general that God does all…
Reason. We know in general that God does all for his own glory, and for the welfare of his elect. But we cannot account for his treatment of mankind in particular cases, Romans xi. 33. (St. Jerome) (Calmet) --- Say. Septuagint, "speak what thing soever, that he may know he," &c. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. A man cannot find — The sad, weighty…
17. A man cannot find — The sad, weighty conclusion is, that the way and work of God among men is absolutely beyond comprehension. Every effort to compute it is entirely unavailing. Many, many questions may be asked to which God is pleased not to answer, and which man, at his wisest wisdom, cannot. The problem, ever unsolved, stares at him like the sphinx in the desert, “with calm, eternal eyes.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. then I beheld all the work of God]…
17. then I beheld all the work of God] The confession is like that which we have had before in chap. Ecc_7:23-24 : perhaps, also, we may add, like that of a very different writer dealing with a very different question, “How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out” (Rom_11:33). The English reader may be reminded of Bishop Butler’s Sermon (xv.) on the “Ignorance of Man,” of which these verses supply the text. What is noticeable here is that the ignorance (we may use a modern term and say the Agnosticism) is not atheistic. That which the seeker contemplates he recognises as the work of God. Before that work, the wise man bows in reverence with the confession that it lies beyond him. The Finite cannot grasp the Infinite. We may compare Hooker’s noble words “Dangerous it were for the feeble brain of man to wade far into the doings of the Most High; whom although to know be life, and joy to make mention of His name; yet our soundest knowledge is to know that we know Him not as indeed He is, neither can know Him, and our safest eloquence concerning Him is our silence, when we confess without confession that His glory is inexplicable, His greatness above our capacity and reach. He is above, and we upon earth; therefore it behoveth our words to be wary and few” (Eccl. Pol. i. 2, § 3).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then I beheld all the work of God. This…
Then I beheld all the work of God. This is the apodosis to the first clause of ver. 16. "God"s work" is the same as the work that is done under the sun, and means men"s actions and the providential ordering thereof. This a man, with his finite understanding, cannot find out, cannot thoroughly comprehend or explain. (comp. Ecc_3:11 Ecc_7:23, Ecc_7:24) Because though a man labor to seek it out. The Septuagint has, Osa a mocqhsh, "Whatsoever things a man shall labor to seek;" Vulgate, Quanto plus laboraverit ad quaerendum, tanto minus inveniat. The interpreters waver between "how much so ever," and "wherefore a man labors." The latter seems to be best. Though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. It is the part of wisdom to determine to know all that can be known; but the resolution is baffled here (comp. Ecc_7:23) The two verses, with their repetitions and tautologous expressions, seem to denote perturbation of mind in the author and his sense of the gravity of his assertions. He is overwhelmed with the thought of the inscrutability of God"s judgments, while he is forced to face the facts. An exquisite commentary on this passage is found in Hooker, "Eccl. Pol.," 1:2. quoted by Plumptre; and in Bishop Butler"s sermon "On the Ignorance of Man," where we read, "From it the knowledge of our ignorance we may learn with what temper of mind a man ought to inquire into the subject of religion, namely, with what expectation of finding difficulties, and with a disposition to take up and rest satisfied with any evidence whatever which is real. A man should beforehand expect things mysterious, and such as he will not be able thoroughly to comprehend or go to the bottom of.... Our ignorance is the proper answer to many things which are called objections against religion, particularly to those which arise from the appearance of evil and irregularity in the constitution of nature and the government of the world Since the constitution of nature and the methods and designs of Providence in the government of the world are above our comprehension, we should acquiesce in and rest satisfied with our ignorance, turn our thoughts from that which is above and beyond us, and apply ourselves to that which is level to our capacities, and which is our real business and concern .... Lastly, let us adore that infinite wisdom and power and goodness which is above our comprehension (Ecc_1:6).
The conclusion is that in all lowliness of mind we set lightly by ourselves; that we form our temper to an implicit submission to the Divine Majesty, beget within ourselves an absolute resignation to all the methods of his providence in his dealings with the children of men; that in the deepest humility of our souls we prostrate ourselves before him, and join in that celestial song, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name?" (Rev_15:3, 4 comp. Rom_11:33)
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The impenetrable, inscrutable mystery.
Plain people often think that a wise man is a man who knows, if not all things, yet all things to which he has directed his attention. It does not enter into their mind that wisdom lies largely in the consciousness of the limitation of the human powers. A great thinker has justly and beautifully said that the larger the circle of knowledge, the larger the external circumference which reveals itself to the apprehension. The writer of Ecclesiastes was a wise man, but he confesses himself to have been baffled in his endeavor to find out and master all the work of man, and much more the work of God. In this confession he was not singular. The man who knows a little may be vain of his knowledge; but the man who knows much knows full well how much there is which to him is unknown, and how much more is by him unknowable.
I THE FACT THAT THE THOUGHTFUL MAN IS BAFFLED IN HIS ENDEAVOR TO COMPREHEND GOD"S WAYS, AND TO COMPREHEND HUMAN LIFE AND DESTINY.
II THIS IS JUST WHAT IS TO BE EXPECTED FROM A CONSIDERATION OF
(1) man"s finite nature, and
(2) God"s infinite wisdom.
III THE PROFITABLENESS OF THIS ARRANGEMENT.
1. It tends to raise our thought of God to a juster elevation.
1. It calls forth
1. humility,
2. submission, and
3. faith.
2. It makes the future infinitely interesting and attractive. What we know not here we shall know hereafter. Sow we know as in a mirror, dimly; then, face to lace.
Here it is given only to survey Dawnings of bliss and glimmerings of day; Heaven"s fuller affluence mocks our dazzled sight Too swift its radiance and too clear its light.
T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.