Ecclesiastes 5:8

KJV1611 – Modern English

If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of judgment and justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for He who is higher than the highest regards, 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)

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  The benefit of the land is for everyone; even a king depends on the field being cultivated.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Yf thou seyst the poore to be oppressed and wrongeously dealt withall, so yt equite & the right of the lawe is wraisted in the londe: maruell not thou at soch iudgmet, for one greate ma kepeth touch with another, and the mightie helpe the selues together.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  (5:7) If in a countrey thou seest the oppression of the poore, and the defrauding of iudgement and iustice, be not astonied at the matter: for hee that is higher then the highest, regardeth, and there be higher then they.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  If thou seest the poore to be oppressed, and wrongfully dealt withall, so that equitie and right of the lawe is wrested in the lande, maruayle not thou at such a thyng: for he that is higher then the hyghest regardeth, and there be hygher then they.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and [there be] higher than they.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don't marvel at the matter: for one official is eyed by a higher one; and there are officials over them.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  If oppression of the poor, and violent taking away of judgment and righteousness thou seest in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for a higher than the high is observing, and high ones `are' over them.

• 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.

• 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.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.

• World English Bible (2000)

  If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in a district, don't marvel at the matter: for one official is eyed by a higher one; and there are officials over them.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Government Corruption If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them!

Referenced Verses

• Ps 12:5 : 5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the LORD; I will set him in safety from him who puffs at him.
• Eccl 3:16 : 16 Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
• Eccl 4:1 : 1 So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who 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 God stands in the assembly of the mighty; He judges among the gods.
• Ps 83:18 : 18 That men may know that you, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth.
• Ps 95:3 : 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
• Ps 140:11-12 : 11 Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth; evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. 12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
• Prov 8:17 : 17 I love those who love me; and those who seek me early shall find me.
• 1 Kgs 21:19-20 : 19 And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD, Have you killed, and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him, saying, Thus says the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours. 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? And he answered, I have found you: because you have sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
• 1 Chr 21:15-16 : 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD looked, and relented of the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed, It is enough, stay your hand now. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between the earth and the heavens, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
• Job 20:19-29 : 19 Because he has oppressed and has forsaken the poor; because he has violently taken away a house he did not build; 20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save anything of what he desired. 21 None of his food shall be left; therefore no one shall look for his goods. 22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in distress; every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. 23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of His wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of bronze shall strike him through. 25 It is drawn, and comes out of the body; yes, the glittering sword comes out of his gall; terrors are upon him. 26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures; a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with the one who remains 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, and his goods shall flow away in the day of God's wrath. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage assigned to him by God.
• Job 27:8-9 : 8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God? 11 I will teach you by the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. 12 Behold, you yourselves have seen it; why then are you altogether vain? 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive from the Almighty. 14 If his children multiply, it is for the sword; and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep. 16 Though he heaps up silver as the dust, and prepares clothing as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall wear it, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 18 He builds his house like a moth, and like a booth that a keeper makes. 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered; he opens his eyes, and he is no more. 20 Terrors overtake him like waters; a tempest steals him away in the night. 21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs; and as a storm hurls him out of his place. 22 For God will hurl upon him, and not spare; he would gladly 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 LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, 18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.
• Ps 55:9 : 9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
• Ps 58:10-11 : 10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 So that a man shall say, Truly there is a reward for the righteous: truly he is a God who judges in the earth.
• Isa 3:15 : 15 What do you mean by crushing My people, and grinding the faces of the poor? says the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
• Isa 5:7 : 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.
• Isa 10:5-7 : 5 O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation. 6 I will send him against a hypocritical 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 Yet he does not mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off not a few nations.
• Isa 10:12 : 12 Therefore, it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
• Isa 37:36 : 36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies.
• Isa 46:10-11 : 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the 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 who executes my counsel from a far country: yes, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
• Isa 57:15 : 15 For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
• Isa 59:13-16 : 13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14 And judgment is turned backward, and justice stands far off: for truth has fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. 15 Yes, truth fails; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
• Jer 22:17-19 : 17 But your eyes and your heart are set only on your covetousness, and on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression, and on violence, to do it. 18 Therefore thus says the LORD 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 a donkey, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
• Ezek 22:6-9 : 6 Behold, the princes of Israel, every one, were in you using their power to shed blood. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt: in your midst they have dealt oppressively with the stranger: in you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My sabbaths. 9 In you are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in you they eat on the mountains: in the midst of you they commit lewdness. 10 In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness: in you they have humbled her who was set apart for impurity. 11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken usury and increase, and you have greedily gained from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me, says the Lord GOD. 13 Behold, therefore I have struck My hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at the blood which has been in your midst. 14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.
• Amos 5:12 : 12 For I know your many transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
• Amos 6:2-6 : 2 Pass over to Calneh, and see; and from there go 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 You who put far away the evil day, and bring near the seat of violence; 4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5 Who sing to the sound of the harp, and invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; 6 Who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest ointments: but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
• Amos 6:12 : 12 Shall horses run on the rock? Will one plow there with oxen? For you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
• Amos 8:4-7 : 4 Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, making the ephah small and the shekel large, and falsifying the balances with deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; yes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
• Mic 2:1-3 : 1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. 2 They covet fields and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away; so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, against this family I devise an evil from which you shall not remove your necks; neither shall you go haughtily, for this time is evil.
• Mic 2:9 : 9 The women of my people you have cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children you have taken away my glory forever.
• Mic 3:1-4 : 1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O leaders of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know justice? 2 Who hate good and love evil; who strip 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; they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, like meat for the pot, and like flesh within the cauldron. 4 Then they shall cry to the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, because they have done evil in their deeds.
• Mic 3:9-9 : 9 Hear this, I pray you, you leaders of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The leaders judge for reward, and the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us. 12 Therefore for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
• Mic 6:10-13 : 10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the short measure that is abominable? 11 Shall I count them pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 For the rich men there are full of violence, the inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I will make you sick by striking you, making you desolate because of your sins.
• Hab 1:2-3 : 2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear! Even cry out to You of violence, and You will not save! 3 Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to behold trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there are those who raise up strife and contention.
• Hab 1:12-13 : 12 Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment; O mighty God, You have established them for correction. 13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a man more righteous than he?
• Zech 7:9-9 : 9 Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother: 10 And do not oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you plot evil against his brother in your heart. 11 But they refused to heed, and shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears, so they should not hear. 12 Yes, they made their hearts like an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts sent in His Spirit by the former prophets: therefore, great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. 13 Therefore it has come to pass, that just as He called and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, says the LORD of hosts:
• Zech 8:6 : 6 Thus says the LORD of hosts; If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in My eyes? says the LORD of hosts.
• Mal 3:5 : 5 And I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who turn aside the stranger from his right, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
• Matt 13:41-42 : 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Luke 1:32 : 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
• Luke 1:35 : 35 The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
• Luke 1:76 : 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
• Acts 4:27-28 : 27 For truly against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 To do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
• Acts 12:7-9 : 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison. He struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly!' And his chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, 'Get dressed and put on your sandals.' And he did so. And he said to him, 'Wrap your cloak around yourself and follow me.' 9 And he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them by itself; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
• Acts 12:23 : 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
• Rom 11:33 : 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
• Jas 2:13 : 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
• Jas 5:2-7 : 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded; and their corrosion shall be a witness against you, and shall consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure for the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been indulgent; you have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and killed the righteous; and he does not resist you. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.
• 1 Pet 4:12 : 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to test you, as though some strange thing happened to you:
• 1 John 3:13 : 13 Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you.
• Rev 17:6-7 : 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I marveled with great wonder. 7 And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.