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1–7. Behavior of the wise. 9–14. The fate of the righteous and the wicked. 15–17. The best in life. Eccl.8:1. Who is the wise one, and who understands the meaning of things? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the severity of his face changes. No one can understand the essence of things like a wise man. This deep understanding of life creates in the wise a joyful, calm, all-reconciling mood, which is reflected in his appearance. Heb. dabar means both a thing and a word. Hence the LXX, Slavic, Syriac translation and Jerome translated: “the meaning of the word” - namely, the saying expressed in the next verse. Eccl.8:2. I say: keep the royal word, and this is for the sake of an oath before God: Before the words: “keep the royal word,” in the Hebrew text there is a first-person pronoun – “I”, which implies the verb: I say! The oath of allegiance is spoken of in 2 Kings 11.17 and others. Eccl.8:3. Do not rush to leave his presence, and do not persist in evil deeds; because he can do whatever he wants. Eccl.8:4. Where the word of the king is, there is power; and who will say to him: “What are you doing?” Ecclesiastes instills obedience and tact in relation to the king, citing the latter's power and irresponsibility. “Do not rush to leave his presence.” According to some commentators, Ecclesiastes here warns against unauthorized falling away from the king, from abandoning loyalty and obedience to him. Others see here Ecclesiastes’ advice not to become irritated and not to leave the king indignantly if he turns out to be unfavorable in any way. In the latter case, the word dabar is understood in the sense of “word” and not “deed,” and the further expression is translated as follows: “do not persist in a bad word.” The second interpretation is confirmed by Ecclesiastes 10.4. And who will say to him: what are you doing? This phrase usually serves to describe the omnipotence of God (Job 9.1–2; Isa 45.9; Dan 4.32; Wisdom 12:12). Here it is applied to the unlimited king of a despotic state. Eccl.8:5. He who keeps the commandment will not experience any evil: the heart of the wise knows both the time and the rule; Eccl.8:6. because for every thing there is a time and a rule; and this is a great evil for man, Eccl.8:7. that he does not know what will happen; and how it will be - who will tell him? In this as in all other circumstances, wisdom will be able to prevent evil. The wise man knows that there is a time and a rule for everything and, therefore, he tries to understand everything, to apply himself to everything, without trying to enter into a fruitless struggle with the inevitable and unknown course of things that rule over life itself. Not being able to foresee the outcome of their undertakings, not thinking that for every business there is its time, its own judgment, people often fall into great misfortunes for their attempts to change the existing order of things, the existing forms of social life. By “commandment” in the 5th article it is closest to understand the commandments and laws of the king, although in the further course the thought of Ecclesiastes obviously expands and makes it possible to give this word a moral meaning. Eccl.8:8. Man has no power over the spirit to hold the spirit, and he has no power over the day of death, and there is no deliverance in this struggle, and the wickedness of the wicked will not save. A person is not able to fight the established order of things, since the latter dominates his very life. In this struggle he will never meet mercy; no lawlessness, no deviation from the law (from the rules of struggle) will save him from the inexorable end. Eccl.8:9. I saw all this, and turned my heart to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person rules over a person to his detriment. Eccl.8:10. I saw then that the wicked were buried, and they came and left the holy place, and they were forgotten in the city where they did this. And this is vanity! Ecclesiastes notes the fact of visible injustice, when the wicked were awarded an honorable burial, on the contrary, the righteous were deprived of it. Art. 10 can be translated as follows: “I saw then that the wicked were buried and came (of course to the grave, cf. Isa. 62.2), but they moved far from the holy place (Jerusalem, the church or the tomb) and those who did right were forgotten in the city.” The LXX and the Vulgate, having incorrectly read the original, translated “praised” (cf. Slav.) instead of “forgotten.” The Hebrew ken, in this place, means: “fair”, “as it should be” (cf. 2 Kings 7.9; Numbers 36.5). ( Eccl. 8:11 .) Judgment for evil deeds does not come quickly; This is why the hearts of the sons of men are not afraid to do evil. ( Eccl. 8:12 .) Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and remains stuck in it, I know that it will be good for those who fear God, who revere before Him; ( Eccl. 8:13 .) But no good will come to the wicked, and like a shadow, he who does not revere God will not last long. Although the iniquities of people go unpunished for a long time, Ecclesiastes still believes that, in due time, God will reward everyone according to their deserts. Faith in righteous retribution is expressed by him decisively, but is expressed dogmatically (“I know”) not as an undoubted fact of observable reality, but as an unconditional requirement of religious consciousness. Ecclesiastes does not have a clear idea of ​​when, how and under what circumstances Divine reward will be revealed; he does not say whether this will be in earthly or afterlife; he is convinced of only one thing: that God must give everyone what they deserve. The expression: “he who does not revere God will not last long,” rather suggests that Ecclesiastes believes in reward on earth. Eccl.8:14. There is also such a vanity on earth: the righteous suffer what the deeds of the wicked would deserve, and the wicked suffer what the deeds of the righteous would deserve. And I said: and this is vanity! Since Ecclesiastes’ idea of ​​righteous retribution stemmed not from the data of experience, but from religious faith, he was unable to reconcile it with the facts of the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity of sinners. These facts did not lose any of their obviousness in the eyes of Ecclesiastes even after he expressed his unshakable faith in righteous retribution. He dwells on them again with bitterness, showing that he has not yet found complete peace in his faith. Eccl.8:15. And I praised the fun; because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat, drink and be merry: this accompanies him in his labors during the days of his life, which God gave him under the sun. Eccl.8:16. When I turned my heart to comprehend wisdom and to survey the deeds that are done on earth, and among which a person does not sleep either day or night, - Eccl.8:17. Then I saw all the works of God and found that man cannot comprehend the works that are done under the sun. No matter how much a person labors in research, he still will not comprehend this; and even if any wise man said that he knows, he cannot comprehend it. The bitter awareness of the impossibility of reconciling faith with the sad facts of life leads Ecclesiastes to his favorite thought that one should work and enjoy life, without trying to comprehend what is impossible to comprehend. 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