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.
Parallel translations
- WEB All this I have 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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.
- NLT I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other.
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
Observing all human labor, the Preacher notes that people often wield power over one another to their hurt. Sin twists authority into oppression in a fallen world.
Overview
Qoheleth reflects on how dominion is frequently abused, with one person harming another. This is part of the 'vanity' he repeatedly exposes. It exposes the brokenness of human rule and stirs longing for the righteous reign of Christ, who exercises power not to harm but to serve and save (Mark 10:42-45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Eccl 5:8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
- Eccl 4:7–8Again, I saw futility under the sun.
- Eccl 5:13There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
- Exod 14:28The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
- Eccl 3:10I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
- 2 Kgs 14:10–12You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
- Deut 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Exod 14:5–9When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
- Eccl 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
- 2 Kgs 25:7And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
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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 8:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.