Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
- BSB Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- NKJV He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
- NASB One who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.
- NLT Those who obey him will not be punished. Those who are wise will find a time and a way to do what is right,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The one who keeps God's commandment is kept from harm, and a wise heart discerns the right time and way to act. Obedience and discernment go hand in hand in the life of wisdom.
Overview
Qoheleth links faithful obedience with the practical wisdom to know 'time and procedure' for action. The wise person reads circumstances rightly and acts accordingly. This echoes the broader scriptural promise that walking in God's ways brings a measure of protection and good judgment (Psalm 119:98-100), fully embodied in Christ who always discerned his Father's timing (John 7:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Heb 5:14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
- 1 Pet 3:13–14And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
- Phil 1:9–10And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
- Acts 4:19But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
- Rom 13:5–7Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
- 1 Chr 12:32And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
- Luke 20:25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.
- Hos 5:11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.
- Eccl 8:2I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
- 1 Cor 2:14–15But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Eccl 2:14The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
- Exod 1:17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
- Eccl 10:2A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.
- Acts 5:29Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
- Luke 12:56–57Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
- Prov 17:24Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
- Exod 1:20–21Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
- Col 1:9For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
- Ps 119:6Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 8:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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