Ecclesiastes 5:8

American Standard Version (1901)

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְיִתְר֥וֹן אֶ֖רֶץ בַּכֹּ֣ל *היא **ה֑וּא מֶ֥לֶךְ לְשָׂדֶ֖ה נֶעֱבָֽד׃

Transliteration

And yiṯrôn ʾereṣ in bakkōl hûʾ, meleḵ to śāḏeh neʿĕḇāḏ

Grammar Details

• *yiṯrôn*: noun, masculine singular construct - advantage/profit of
• *ʾereṣ*: noun, feminine singular - land/earth/ground
• *bakkōl*: preposition + definite article + noun, masculine singular - in the all/everything
• *hûʾ*: 3rd person masculine singular pronoun - he/it
• *meleḵ*: noun, masculine singular - king
• *śāḏeh*: noun, masculine singular - field
• *neʿĕḇāḏ*: niphal participle, masculine singular - being served/cultivated/worked

Word Meanings

• *yiṯrôn*: profit/advantage/excess/excellency
• *ʾereṣ*: land/earth/ground/territory/country
• *neʿĕḇāḏ*: being served/worked/cultivated/tilled
• *hûʾ*: he/it (text shows alternate reading between masculine and feminine forms)

Referenced Verses

• Ps 12:5 : 5 Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy, Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; I will set him in the safety he panteth for.
• Eccl 3:16 : 16 And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.
• Eccl 4:1 : 1 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
• Ps 82:1 : 1 [A Psalm of Asaph]. God standeth in the congregation of God; He judgeth among the gods.
• Ps 83:18 : 18 That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, Art the Most High over all the earth.
• Ps 95:3 : 3 For Jehovah is a great God, And a great King above all gods.
• Ps 140:11-12 : 11 An evil speaker shall not be established in the earth: Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 12 I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the needy.
• Prov 8:17 : 17 I love them that love me; And those that seek me diligently shall find me.
• 1 Kgs 21:19-20 : 19 And 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 dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah.
• 1 Chr 21:15-16 : 15 And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
• Job 20:19-29 : 19 For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. 20 Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth. 21 There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him. 23 When he is about to fill his belly, [God] will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through. 25 He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him. 26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown [by man] shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent. 27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him. 28 The increase of his house shall depart; [His goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
• Job 27:8-9 : 8 For what is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, When God taketh away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry, When trouble cometh upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty, And call upon God at all times? 11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain? 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty: 14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death, And his widows shall make no lamentation. 16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, And prepare raiment as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, And the innocent shall divide the silver. 18 He buildeth his house as the moth, And as a booth which the keeper maketh. 19 He lieth down rich, but he shall not be gathered [to his fathers] ; He openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors overtake him like waters; A tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth; And it sweepeth him out of his place. 22 For [God] shall hurl at him, and not spare: He would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, And shall hiss him out of his place.
• Ps 10:17-18 : 17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek: Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear; 18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.
• Ps 55:9 : 9 Destroy, O Lord, [and] divide their tongue; For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
• Ps 58:10-11 : 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 11 So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
• Isa 3:15 : 15 what mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
• Isa 5:7 : 7 For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.
• Isa 10:5-7 : 5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! 6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.
• Isa 10:12 : 12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
• Isa 37:36 : 36 And the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
• Isa 46:10-11 : 10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not [yet] done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; 11 calling a ravenous bird 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, I will also do it.
• Isa 57:15 : 15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
• Isa 59:13-16 : 13 transgressing and denying Jehovah, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 15 Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him.
• Jer 22:17-19 : 17 But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, [saying] Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! 19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
• Ezek 22:6-9 : 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood. 7 In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow. 8 Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. 9 Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness. 10 In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity. 11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah. 13 Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. 14 Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.
• Amos 5:12 : 12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins--ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right] .
• Amos 6:2-6 : 2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border? 3 --ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 4 that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5 that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; 6 that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
• Amos 6:12 : 12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow [there] with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
• Amos 8:4-7 : 4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
• Mic 2:1-3 : 1 Woe 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. 2 And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore 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.
• Mic 2:9 : 9 The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away my glory for ever.
• Mic 3:1-4 : 1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice? 2 ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 who also 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 caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
• Mic 3:9-9 : 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
• Mic 6:10-13 : 10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable? 11 Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.
• Hab 1:2-3 : 2 O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. 3 Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness? for destruction and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
• Hab 1:12-13 : 12 Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction. 13 Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;
• Zech 7:9-9 : 9 Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother; 10 and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. 13 And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts;
• Zech 8:6 : 6 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith Jehovah of hosts.
• Mal 3:5 : 5 And 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 hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
• Matt 13:41-42 : 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, 42 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
• Luke 1:32 : 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
• Luke 1:35 : 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.
• Luke 1:76 : 76 Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways;
• Acts 4:27-28 : 27 for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, 28 to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass.
• Acts 12:7-9 : 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell: and he smote Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9 And he went out, and followed; and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. 10 And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and straightway the angel departed from him.
• Acts 12:23 : 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
• Rom 11:33 : 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
• Jas 2:13 : 13 For judgment [is] without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.
• Jas 5:2-7 : 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous [one] ; he doth not resist you. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.
• 1 Pet 4:12 : 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you:
• 1 John 3:13 : 13 Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you.
• Rev 17:6-7 : 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.