Ecclesiastes 5 (JND) - Bible Truth Library

Library Home>Ecclesiastes 5 (JND)

Verse 7

Go

Verse 9

Articles on

Ecclesiastes 5

Eccl. 5:8 KJV (With Strong’s)

+

8

Ifk thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the δmatter: for hel that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there bem higher than they.

k

Eccl. 3:16• ¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there. (Eccl. 3:16)

δ

will, or, purpose.

l

Psa. 12:5• ⁵Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in safety, at whom they puff. (Psa. 12:5)

;

Psa. 58:11• ¹¹And men shall say, Verily there is fruit for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. (Psa. 58:11)

m

Psa. 95:3• ³For Jehovah is a great *God, and a great king above all gods. (Psa. 95:3)

More on:

+

Poor

Cross References

+

Ministry on This Verse

+

thou seest.

Eccl. 3:16• ¹⁶And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there. (Eccl. 3:16)

;

Eccl. 4:1• ¹And I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and they had no comforter. (Eccl. 4:1)

;

Psa. 12:5• ⁵Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in safety, at whom they puff. (Psa. 12:5)

;

Psa. 55:9• ⁹Swallow them up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. (Psa. 55:9)

;

Psa. 58:11• ¹¹And men shall say, Verily there is fruit for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. (Psa. 58:11)

;

Prov. 8:17• ¹⁷I love those that love me; and they that seek me early shall find me. (Prov. 8:17)

;

Hab. 1:2‑3,13• ²Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save.
³Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
¹³Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a man more righteous than he? (Hab. 1:2‑3,13)

marvel.

Zech. 8:6• ⁶Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be wonderful in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts. (Zech. 8:6)

;

1 John 3:13• ¹³Do not wonder, brethren, if the world hate you. (1 John 3:13)

;

Rev. 17:6‑7• ⁶And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And I wondered, seeing her, with great wonder.
⁷And the angel said to me, Why hast thou wondered? *I* will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast which carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. (Rev. 17:6‑7)

matter.

Heb. will, or purpose.

Isa. 10:5‑7,12• ⁵Ah! the Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
⁶I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge; to take the spoil, and to seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷But he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; for it is in his heart to extirpate and cut off nations not a few.
¹²And it shall come to pass, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stoutness of heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. (Isa. 10:5‑7,12)

;

Isa. 46:10‑11• ¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
¹¹calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. (Isa. 46:10‑11)

;

Hab. 1:12• ¹²--Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction. (Hab. 1:12)

;

Acts 4:27‑28• ²⁷For in truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hadst anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and peoples of Israel, have been gathered together in this city
²⁸to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass. (Acts 4:27‑28)

;

Rom. 11:33• ³³O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways! (Rom. 11:33)

for.

Isa. 57:15• ¹⁵For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isa. 57:15)

;

Luke 1:32,35,76• ³²*He* shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father;
³⁵And the angel answering said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of the Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be born shall be called Son of God.
⁷⁶And *thou*, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; (Luke 1:32,35,76)

regardeth.

1 Kings 21:19‑20• ¹⁹And thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him saying, Thus saith Jehovah: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
²⁰And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, mine enemy? And he said, I have found thee; because thou hast sold thyself to do evil in the sight of Jehovah. (1 Kings 21:19‑20)

;

Job 20:19‑29• ¹⁹For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build.
²⁰Because he knew no rest in his craving, he shall save nought of what he most desired.
²¹Nothing escaped his greediness; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.
²³It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will cast his fierce anger upon him, and will rain it upon him into his flesh.
²⁴If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.
²⁵He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
²⁶All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent.
²⁷The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
²⁸The increase of his house shall depart, flowing away in the day of his anger.
²⁹This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by *God. (Job 20:19‑29)

;

Job 27:8‑23• ⁸For what is the hope of the ungodly, when God cutteth him off, when +God taketh away his soul?
⁹Will *God hear his cry when distress cometh upon him?
¹⁰Doth he delight himself in the Almighty? will he at all times call upon +God?
¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of *God; what is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
¹²Behold, ye yourselves have all seen it; and why are ye thus altogether vain?
¹³This is the portion of the wicked man with *God, and the heritage of the violent, which they receive from the Almighty:--
¹⁴If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread;
¹⁵Those that remain of him shall be buried by death, and his widows shall not weep.
¹⁶Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;
¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on; and the innocent shall divide the silver.
¹⁸He buildeth his house as the moth, and as a booth that a keeper maketh.
¹⁹He lieth down rich, but will do so no more; he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
²⁰Terrors overtake him like waters; a whirlwind stealeth him away in the night.
²¹The east wind carrieth him away and he is gone; and as a storm it hurleth him out of his place.
²²And God shall cast upon him and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
²³Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. (Job 27:8‑23)

;

Psa. 10:17‑18• ¹⁷Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek, thou hast established their heart: thou causest thine ear to hear,
¹⁸To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed one, that the man of the earth may terrify no more. (Psa. 10:17‑18)

;

Psa. 12:5• ⁵Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in safety, at whom they puff. (Psa. 12:5)

;

Psa. 58:10‑11• ¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the wicked:
¹¹And men shall say, Verily there is fruit for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. (Psa. 58:10‑11)

;

Psa. 82:1• ¹A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the assembly of *God, he judgeth among the gods. (Psa. 82:1)

;

Psa. 83:18• ¹⁸That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth. (Psa. 83:18)

;

Psa. 140:11‑12• ¹¹Let not the man of evil tongue be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the man of violence to his ruin.
¹²I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted one, the right of the needy. (Psa. 140:11‑12)

;

Isa. 3:15• ¹⁵What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the afflicted? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts. (Isa. 3:15)

;

Isa. 5:7• ⁷For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of his delight: and he looked for justice, and behold, blood-shedding; for righteousness, and behold, a cry. (Isa. 5:7)

;

Isa. 59:13‑16• ¹³in transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
¹⁴And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment.
¹⁶And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him. (Isa. 59:13‑16)

;

Jer. 22:17‑19• ¹⁷But thine eyes and thy heart are only on thine extortion, and on the blood of the innocent, to shed it, and on oppression and on violence, to do it.
¹⁸Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: They shall not lament for him, Ah, my brother! or, Ah, sister! They shall not lament for him, Ah, lord! or Ah, his glory!
¹⁹He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged along and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. (Jer. 22:17‑19)

;

Ezek. 22:6‑14• ⁶Behold, the princes of Israel have been in thee to shed blood, each according to his power.
⁷In thee have they made light of father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger; in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
⁸Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
⁹In thee there have been slanderous men to shed blood; and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness;
¹⁰in thee have they discovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her separation.
¹¹And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
¹²In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast overreached thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
¹³And behold, I have smitten mine hand at thine overreaching which thou hast done, and at thy bloodshed which hath been in the midst of thee.
¹⁴Shall thy heart endure, shall thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I Jehovah have spoken, and will do it. (Ezek. 22:6‑14)

;

Amos 5:12• ¹²For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the right of the needy in the gate. (Amos 5:12)

;

Amos 6:2‑6,12• ²Pass unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go to Hamath the great; and go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?
³Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
⁴that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves from the midst of the stall;
⁵that chant to the sound of the lute, and invent them instruments of music, like David;
⁶that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but are not grieved for the breach of Joseph.
¹²Shall horses run upon the rock? will men plough thereon with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, (Amos 6:2‑6,12)

;

Amos 8:4‑7• ⁴Hear this, ye that pant after the needy, even to cause to fail the poor of the land,
⁵saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
⁶that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
⁷Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob, Certainly I will never forget any of their works. (Amos 8:4‑7)

;

Mic. 2:1‑3,9• ¹Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
²And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
³Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye walk haughtily: for it is an evil time.
⁹The women of my people do ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children do ye take away my magnificence for ever. (Mic. 2:1‑3,9)

;

Mic. 3:1‑4,9‑12• ¹And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?
²Ye who hate the good, and love evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from off their bones;
³and who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.
⁴Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; and he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
⁹Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity,
¹⁰that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with unrighteousness.
¹¹The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet do they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
¹²Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. (Mic. 3:1‑4,9‑12)

;

Mic. 6:10‑13• ¹⁰Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure which is abominable?
¹¹Shall I be pure with the unjust balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
¹²For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
¹³Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee; I will make thee desolate because of thy sins. (Mic. 6:10‑13)

;

Zech. 7:9‑13• ⁹Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew loving-kindness and mercies one to another,
¹⁰and oppress not the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the afflicted; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
¹¹But they refused to hearken, and turned a rebellious shoulder, and made their ears heavy, that they should not hear.
¹²And they made their heart as an adamant, that they should not hear the law, and the words that Jehovah of hosts sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore was there great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.
¹³And it came to pass, like as he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts; (Zech. 7:9‑13)

;

Mal. 3:5• ⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired servant in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. (Mal. 3:5)

;

James 2:13• ¹³for judgment will be without mercy to him that has shewn no mercy. Mercy glories over judgment. (James 2:13)

;

James 5:2‑7• ²Your wealth is become rotten, and your garments moth-eaten.
³Your gold and silver is eaten away, and their canker shall be for a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have heaped up treasure in the last days.
⁴Behold, the wages of your labourers, who have harvested your fields, wrongfully kept back by you, cry, and the cries of those that have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
⁵Ye have lived luxuriously on the earth and indulged yourselves; ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter;
⁶ye have condemned, ye have killed the just; he does not resist you.
⁷Have patience, therefore, brethren, till the coming of the Lord. Behold, the labourer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, having patience for it until it receive the early and the latter rain. (James 5:2‑7)

higher than they.

1 Chron. 21:15‑16• ¹⁵And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough; withdraw now thine hand. And the angel of Jehovah stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
¹⁶And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah stand between the earth and the heavens, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. And David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. (1 Chron. 21:15‑16)

;

Psa. 95:3• ³For Jehovah is a great *God, and a great king above all gods. (Psa. 95:3)

;

Isa. 37:36• ³⁶And an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. (Isa. 37:36)

;

Matt. 13:41‑42• ⁴¹The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and those that practise lawlessness;
⁴²and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 13:41‑42)

;

Acts 12:7‑10,23• ⁷And lo, an angel of the Lord came there, and a light shone in the prison: and having smitten the side of Peter, he roused him up, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands.
⁸And the angel said to him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he says to him, Cast thine upper garment about thee and follow me.
⁹And going forth he followed him and did not know that what was happening by means of the angel was real, but supposed he saw a vision.
¹⁰And having passed through a first and second guard, they came to the iron gate which leads into the city, which opened to them of itself; and going forth they went down one street, and immediately the angel left him.
²³And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he expired, eaten of worms. (Acts 12:7‑10,23)

• “Marvel not”; think it not strange, as though some strange thing were happening; thou art only looking on a weed-plant that everywhere flourishes ‘under the sun,’ and still thou mayest remember that these oppressors themselves, high though they be, have superiors above them: yea, in the ever-ascending scale of ranks and orders thou mayest have to go to the Highest―God Himself; but the same truth hold good, and He shall yet call powers and governors to answer for the exercise of their authorities. (“Ecclesiastes 5” by F.C. Jennings)

• Our own dear apostle seems to have dropped for a moment from his higher vantage-ground to the level of Solomon’s wisdom when smarting under “oppression and the violent perverting of judgment,” he cried to the high priest, “God [the higher than the highest] shall smite thee, thou whited wall.”....Not so in the silent suffering of “violent oppression” at Philippi. There he and his companion have surely comfort beyond any that Solomon can offer, and the overflowing joy of their hearts comes from no spring that rises in this sad desert scene. (“Ecclesiastes 5” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

+

8

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they.