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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
- Eccl 4:7–8Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
- Eccl 5:13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
- Exod 14:28And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
- Eccl 3:10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
- 2 Kgs 14:10–12Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
- Deut 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
- Exod 14:5–9And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Eccl 7:25I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
- 2 Kgs 25:7And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried 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.