Ecc 8:12 | KD | STEP | “Because a sinner doeth evil an hundred times, and he becometh old therein, although I know that it will go well with them that fear god, that fear before Him: but it will not go well with the wicked, and he shall not live long, like a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” Ewald (whom Heiligst., Elst., and Zöckl. follow), as among the ancients, e.g. , Mendelssohn, translates : “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and live long, yet I know,” etc. That an antecedent may begin with asher is admissible, ; ; but in the case lying before us, still less acceptable than at Ecc 8:11. For, in the first place, this asher of the antecedent cannot mean “although,” but only “considering that;” and in places such as , where this “considering that” may be exchanged with “although,” there follows not the part., but the fut. natural to the concessive clause; then, in the second place, by this antecedent rendering of asher a closer connection of and is indeed gained, but the mediation of and is lost; in the third place, גם כי, in the meaning “however” ( gam , ὃμως, with affirmative ki ), is not found; not asher , but just this ki gam , signifies, in the passage before us, as at , εἰ καί, although, - only a somewhat otherwise applied gam ki , Ewald, §362 b , as כי על־כן is a somewhat otherwise applied על־כן כי. Rightly, Hitzig: “In , is again resumed, and it is explained how tardy justice has such a consequence.” The sinner is thereby encouraged in sinning, because he does evil, and always again evil, and yet enjoys himself in all the pleasures of long life. Regarding חטא for חטא, vid ., above, p. 641, 1. מאת is = פעמים מאה, an hundred times, as אחת, , is = אחת פעם; Hengst. and others, inexactly: an hundredfold, which would have required the word מאתים; and falsely, Ginsburg, with the Targ.: an hundred years, which would have required מאה, scil. שׁנה, Gen 17:17. This centies (Jerome) is, like מאה, scil . בנים, , a round number for a great many, as at , and frequently in the Talm. and Midrash, e.g. , Wajikra rabba, c. 27: “an hundred deeply-breathed sighs (מאה פעיות) the mother gave forth.” The meaning of לו וּמעריך לו is in general clear: he becomes therein old. Jerome, improbable: et per patientiam sustentatur , as Mendelssohn: he experiences forbearance, for they supply 'pow ( ), and make God the subject. לּו is in any case the so-called dat. ethic. ; and the only question is, whether the doing of evil has to be taken from רע עשׂה, as obj. to ומא: he practises it to him long, or whether, which is more probable, ימים is to be supplied after , so that האריך signifies to live long, as at , to last long; the dat. ethic . gives the idea of the feeling of contentment connected with long life: he thereupon sins wantonly, and becomes old in it in good health. That is the actual state of the case, which the author cannot conceal from himself; although, on the other hand, as by way of limitation he adds ki ... ani , he well knows that there is a moral government of the world, and that this must finally prevail. We may not translate: that it should go well, but rather: that it must go well; but there is no reason not to interpret the fut. as a pure indic.: that it shall go well, viz., finally, - it is a postulate of his consciousness which the author here expresses; that which exists in appearance contradicts this consciousness, which, however, in spite of this, asserts itself. That to ליר האל the clause אשׁר מלּ, explaining idem per idem , is added, has certainly its reason in this, that at the time of the author the name “fearers of God” [ Gottesfürchitige ] had come into use. “The fearers of God, who fear before (מלּפני, as at ) Him,” are such as are in reality what they are called. In , Hitzig, followed by Elster, Burg., and Zöckl., places the division at ימים: like the shadow is he who fears not before God. Nothing can in point of syntax be said against this (cf. ), although אשׁר כּצּל, “like the shadow is he who,” is in point of style awkward. But that the author did not use so rude a style is manifest from , according to which כצל is rightly referred to ימים ... ולא־. Is then the shadow, asks Hitzig, because it does not “prolong its days,” therefore ימים קצר? How subtle and literal is this use of ימים! Certainly the shadow survives not a day; but for that very reason it is short-lived, it may even indeed be called קצר ימים, because it has not existence for a single day. In general, qetsel, ὡς σκιά, is applicable to the life of all men, , Wisd. 2:5, etc. It is true of the wicked, if we keep in view the righteous divine requital, especially that he is short-lived like the shadow, “because he has no fear before God,” and that in consequence of this want of fear his life is shortened by his sin inflicting its own punishment, and by the act of God. Asher , , as at , , is the relative conj. Also in , אשׁר (שׁ) as a pronoun, and אשׁר (שׁ) as a conj., are mixed together. After the author has declared the reality of a moral government of the world as an inalienable fact of human consciousness, and particularly of his own consciousness, he places over against this fact of consciousness the actual state of things partly at least contradicting it.

‏ Ecclesiastes 8:12

Ecc 8:12-13 “Because a sinner doeth evil an hundred times, and he becometh old therein, although I know that it will go well with them that fear god, that fear before Him: but it will not go well with the wicked, and he shall not live long, like a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” Ewald (whom Heiligst., Elst., and Zöckl. follow), as among the ancients, e.g., Mendelssohn, translates Ecc 8:12 : “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and live long, yet I know,” etc. That an antecedent may begin with asher is admissible, Lev 4:22; Deu 18:22; but in the case lying before us, still less acceptable than at Ecc 8:11. For, in the first place, this asher of the antecedent cannot mean “although,” but only “considering that;” and in places such as Ecc 6:3, where this “considering that” may be exchanged with “although,” there follows not the part., but the fut. natural to the concessive clause; then, in the second place, by this antecedent rendering of asher a closer connection of Ecc 8:12 and Ecc 8:12 is indeed gained, but the mediation of Ecc 8:12 and Ecc 8:11 is lost; in the third place, גם כי, in the meaning “however” (gam, ὃμως, with affirmative ki), is not found; not asher, but just this ki gam, ^{▼▼That גּם is pointed גּם, has its reason in the disjunctive Jethîb with כי, which is not interchanged with the conjunctive Mahpach. Thus, Ecc 8:1, כּ מי, and Ecc 8:7, כּ כּי.} signifies, in the passage before us, as at Ecc 4:14, εἰ καί, although, - only a somewhat otherwise applied gam ki, Ewald, §362 b, as כי על־כן is a somewhat otherwise applied על־כן כי. Rightly, Hitzig: “In Ecc 8:12, Ecc 8:11 is again resumed, and it is explained how tardy justice has such a consequence.” The sinner is thereby encouraged in sinning, because he does evil, and always again evil, and yet enjoys himself in all the pleasures of long life. Regarding חטא for חטא, vid., above, p. 641, 1. מאת is = פעמים מאה, an hundred times, as אחת, Job 40:5, is = אחת פעם; Hengst. and others, inexactly: an hundredfold, which would have required the word מאתים; and falsely, Ginsburg, with the Targ.: an hundred years, which would have required מאה, scil. שׁנה, Gen 17:17. This centies (Jerome) is, like מאה, scil. בנים, Ecc 6:3, a round number for a great many, as at Pro 17:10, and frequently in the Talm. and Midrash, e.g., Wajikra rabba, c. 27: “an hundred deeply-breathed sighs (מאה פעיות) the mother gave forth.” ^{▼▼Vid., Jac. Reifmann in the Zeitsch., המגיד, 1874, p. 342.}

The meaning of לו וּמעריך לו is in general clear: he becomes therein old. Jerome, improbable: et per patientiam sustentatur, as Mendelssohn: he experiences forbearance, for they supply 'pow (Isa 48:9), and make God the subject. לּו is in any case the so-called dat. ethic.; and the only question is, whether the doing of evil has to be taken from רע עשׂה, ^{▼▼We expect these two words (cf. Gen 31:12) with the retrogression of the tone; but as this ceases, as a rule, with Mercha before Tifcha and Pashta, Gen 47:3; Exo 18:5; Deu 4:42; Deu 19:4; Isa 10:14 (cf. the penult. accent of יאכל, Lev 22:10, Lev 22:10, Lev 22:19, and בּנה, Gen 4:17, with the ult. accent Lev 22:14; Hab 2:12), so with Mercha sometimes also before other disjunctives, as here before Tebîr.} as obj. to ומא: he practises it to him long, or whether, which is more probable, ימים is to be supplied after Ecc 8:13, so that האריך signifies to live long, as at Pro 28:2, to last long; the dat. ethic. gives the idea of the feeling of contentment connected with long life: he thereupon sins wantonly, and becomes old in it in good health.

That is the actual state of the case, which the author cannot conceal from himself; although, on the other hand, as by way of limitation he adds ki ... ani, he well knows that there is a moral government of the world, and that this must finally prevail. We may not translate: that it should go well, but rather: that it must go well; but there is no reason not to interpret the fut. as a pure indic.: that it shall go well, viz., finally, - it is a postulate of his consciousness which the author here expresses; that which exists in appearance contradicts this consciousness, which, however, in spite of this, asserts itself. That to ליר האל the clause אשׁר מלּ, explaining idem per idem, is added, has certainly its reason in this, that at the time of the author the name “fearers of God” [Gottesfürchitige] had come into use. “The fearers of God, who fear before (מלּפני, as at Ecc 3:14) Him,” are such as are in reality what they are called.

In Ecc 8:13, Hitzig, followed by Elster, Burg., and Zöckl., places the division at ימים: like the shadow is he who fears not before God. Nothing can in point of syntax be said against this (cf. 1Ch 29:15), although אשׁר כּצּל, “like the shadow is he who,” is in point of style awkward. But that the author did not use so rude a style is manifest from Ecc 6:12, according to which כצל is rightly referred to ימים ... ולא־. Is then the shadow, asks Hitzig, because it does not “prolong its days,” therefore ימים קצר? How subtle and literal is this use of ימים! Certainly the shadow survives not a day; but for that very reason it is short-lived, it may even indeed be called קצר ימים, because it has not existence for a single day. In general, qetsel, ὡς σκιά, is applicable to the life of all men, Psa 144:4, Wisd. 2:5, etc. It is true of the wicked, if we keep in view the righteous divine requital, especially that he is short-lived like the shadow, “because he has no fear before God,” and that in consequence of this want of fear his life is shortened by his sin inflicting its own punishment, and by the act of God. Asher, Ecc 8:13, as at Ecc 8:11, Ecc 8:12, is the relative conj. Also in Ecc 8:14, אשׁר (שׁ) as a pronoun, and אשׁר (שׁ) as a conj., are mixed together. After the author has declared the reality of a moral government of the world as an inalienable fact of human consciousness, and particularly of his own consciousness, he places over against this fact of consciousness the actual state of things partly at least contradicting it.