Ecclesiastes 8:13 - Exposition

But it shall not be well with the wicked . If experience seemed often to militate against this assertion, Koheleth's faith prevailed against apparent contradictions. Neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow. Above we read of a wicked man enjoying a long, untroubled life; here the contrary is stated. Such contradictions are seen every day. There are inscrutable reasons for the delay of judgment; but on the whole moral government is vindicated, and even the long life of a sinner is no blessing. The author of the Book of Wisdom writes (Wis. 4:8), "Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years;" and Isaiah ( Isaiah 65:20 ), "The sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." Man's life is compared to a shadow because it passes away with the setting sun (see on Ecclesiastes 6:12 ). The Vulgate, in order to obviate the apparent discrepancy between this and the preceding verses, renders the verb in a precatory form: Non sit bonum impio, etc; "Let it not be well with the wicked, and let his days not be prolonged; but let them pass away as a shadow who fear not the Lord." This is quite unnecessary; and the words, "as a shadow," according to the accents, belong to what precedes, as in the Authorized Version. Hitzig and others have adopted the Vulgate division, and render, "Like a shadow is he who fears not God." But there is no sufficient reason for disregarding the existing accentuation. Septuagint, "He shall not prolong his days in a shadow ( ἐν σκιᾷ )." Because he feareth not before God . This is the reason, looking to temporal retribution, why the wicked shall not live out half their days ( Ecclesiastes 7:17 ; Proverbs 10:27 ; Psalms 55:23 ). Koheleth cleaves to the doctrine received from old time, although facts seem often to contradict it.