He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns 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.
- KJV Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.
- BSB Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- 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 solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
- 1 Pet 3:13–14Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good?
- Phil 1:9–10This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
- Acts 4:19But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
- Rom 13:5–7Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
- 1 Chr 12:32Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their command.
- Luke 20:25He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
- Hos 5:11Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
- Eccl 8:2I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.
- 1 Cor 2:14–15Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Eccl 2:14The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness — and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
- Exod 1:17But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
- Eccl 10:2A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.
- Acts 5:29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
- Luke 12:56–57You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don’t interpret this time?
- Prov 17:24Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
- Exod 1:20–21God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
- Col 1:9For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
- Ps 119:6Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your 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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