Pengkhotbah 8:17

Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari

17 Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun—because however much a man may toil in seeking, yet he will not find it out; yes, more than that, though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, yet will he not be able to find it out. Deut. 29:29; Rom. 11:33.">[fn]

Parallel Translations

Alkitab Terjemahan Baru
17 Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun—because however much a man may toil in seeking, yet he will not find it out; yes, more than that, though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, yet will he not be able to find it out. Deut. 29:29; Rom. 11:33.">[fn]

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ Yet is there a vanitie vpon earth: There be iust men vnto whom it happeneth as though they had the workes of the vngodly: Againe, there be vngodly, with whom it goeth as though they had the workes of the righteous: This haue I called also a vayne thing. ¹⁵ Therfore I commende gladnesse, because a man hath no better thing vnder the sunne, then to eate and drinke, and to be merie: for that shall he haue of his labour, al the dayes of his life which God geueth hym vnder the sunne. ¹⁶ And so I applied my minde to learne wysdome, and to knowe the trauayle that is in the worlde, and that of suche a fashion, that I suffred not mine eyes to sleepe neither day nor night. ¹⁷ I vnderstoode of all the workes of God, but it is not possible for a man to attayne vnto the workes that are done vnder the sunne: and though he bestowe his labour to seeke them out, yet can he not reach vnto them: yea though a wyse man would vndertake to know them, yet shall he not finde them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that a man: Ecclesiastes 3:11, Ecclesiastes 7:23, Ecclesiastes 7:24, Ecclesiastes 11:5, Job 5:9, Job 11:7-9, Psalms 40:5, Psalms 73:16, Psalms 104:24, Proverbs 30:3, Proverbs 30:4, Isaiah 40:28, Romans 11:33

Reciprocal: Job 28:13 - knoweth Job 37:7 - that Ecclesiastes 1:13 - I gave Mark 4:27 - and grow

Cross-References

Genesis 1:22
And God blessed them, saying: Be fruiteful, and multiplie, and fyll the waters of the sea, and let foule multiplie in the earth.

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God sayde vnto them: be fruitefull, & multiplie, and replenishe the earth, & subdue it, and haue dominion of the fisshe of the sea, and foule of the ayre, & of euery lyuing thing that moueth vpon the earth.

Genesis 8:13
And it came to passe, in the sixe hundreth and one yere, in ye first moneth, the first [day] of the moneth, the waters were dryed vp from the earth, and Noah remoued the coueryng of the arke, and looked, and beholde, the vpper face of the grounde was dryed vp.

Genesis 8:14
And in the seconde moneth, in the seuen and twentie day of the moneth was the earth dryed.

Genesis 8:15
And God spake vnto Noah, saying:

Genesis 9:1
And god blessed Noah, and his sonnes, & saide vnto them, be fruitfull and multiplie, and replenishe the earth.

Genesis 9:7
But be fruitefull, and multiplie you, breede in the earth, and increase therein.

Psalms 107:38
He blesseth them, so that they multiplie exceedingly: and he suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then I beheld all the work of God,.... Not of creation, but of Providence; took notice of it, contemplated on it, considered it, and weighed it well; viewed the various steps and methods of it, to find out, if possible, at least, some general rule by which it proceeded: but all so various and uncertain,

that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: he can find out that it is done, but not the reason why it is done: the ways of God are in the deep, and not to be traced; they are unsearchable and past finding out; there is a βαθος, a depth of wisdom and knowledge, in them, inscrutable by the wisest of men, Psalms 72:19;

because, though a man labour to seek [it] out, yet he shall not find [it]; Noldius and others render it "although"; not only a man that, in a slight and negligent manner, seeks after the knowledge of the works of divine Providence, and the reasons of them; but even one that is diligent and laborious at it is not able to find them out; they being purposely concealed by the Lord, to answer some ends of his;

yea, further, though a wise [man] think to know [it], yet shall he not be able to find [it]; a man of a great natural capacity, such an one as Solomon himself, though he proposes to himself, and determines within himself to find it out, and sets himself to the work, and uses all the means and methods he can devise, and imagines with himself he shall be able to find out the reasons of the divine procedure, in his dispensations towards the righteous and the wicked; and yet, after all, he is not able to do it. The Targum is,

"what shall be done in the end of days;''

wherefore it is best for a man to be easy and quiet, and enjoy what he has in the best manner he can, and submit to the will of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These verses supplement Ecclesiastes 8:15 with the reflection that the man who goes beyond that limited sphere within which he can labor and be contented, and investigates the whole work of God, will find that his finite intelligence cannot grasp it.

Ecclesiastes 8:16

Business - Or, “travail” Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 3:10. The sleeplessness noted probably refers to the writer himself.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 8:17. Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun — I saw it to be of such a nature -

1, That a man cannot find it out.

2. That if he labour to find it out, he shall not succeed.

3. That though he be wise - the most instructed among men, and think to find it out, he shall find he is not able. It is beyond the wisdom and power of man. How vain then are all your cavils about Providence. You do not understand it; you cannot comprehend it. Fear God!