NOTES for Ecc 8:1-17
Long reflection, as it appears, finally led Ecclesiastes to the conclusion that it is impossible to understand the meaning of the events that happen in the world, and that this meaning is clear only to God, not to human beings (vv. 16-17). The value of wisdom is not that it explains everything in the world, but that it changes the person himself (v. 1). And the only thing worth living for is joy ("merriment"), the joy that fellowship at table with those close to us and in the presence of God can give. The corresponding Hebrew word used in the text means precisely the joy a person experiences in God's presence.
Of course, little depends on a person here, since such joy is given by God, and it has little connection with the merriment of fools condemned by the sages of antiquity; the resemblance is purely outward. But joy in God is possible only when a person is ready to observe the Torah and preserve wisdom. It is in this sense that Ecclesiastes says of the wise person that he will experience no evil (v. 5). Such a person is ready for any turn of fate, and although no one has power over his own life and no one can change anything in it (vv. 6-8), the wise person is not afraid of surprises.
For Ecclesiastes, wickedness, as it appears, is first of all connected with the desire to avoid something the wicked perceive as evil (v. 8), but he clearly understands the ultimate barrenness of such attempts (vv. 12-13). That is why Ecclesiastes appears to insist on conscientiousness and honesty in matters of state service: the point is not only that other behavior is imprudent and dangerous, but also that by behaving otherwise a person violates oaths given before God, deceiving not only the king but also God (vv. 2-4). Of course, because punishment for sin does not fall on the sinner immediately, many think it can be avoided altogether (v. 11). Yet according to Ecclesiastes it is still inevitable (vv. 12-13).
Still, it remains not entirely clear what this inevitability consists of in this case. According to Ecclesiastes, the wicked and their deeds are soon forgotten (v. 10). But a little earlier he said the same about good deeds that deserve to be remembered (Eccl. 4:15-16). As for rewards and punishments in this world, Ecclesiastes has no illusions about justice: far too often the righteous receive what the wicked deserve, and the reverse also happens (v. 14). Apparently, the only punishment for the wicked is the impossibility of that joy in God which is available to the righteous. In that case righteousness, like wisdom, proves to be a reward in itself, and acquiring wisdom, like righteous living, becomes an end in itself.