Ecclesiastes 8 · Verse 10

Ecclesiastes 8:10

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

Ecclesiastes 8:10, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 8:10 in other translations

BSB	Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile.
WEB	So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is vanity.
ASV	So I saw the wicked buried, and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.
YLT	And so I have seen the wicked buried, and they went in, even from the Holy Place they go, and they are forgotten in the city whether they had so done. This also is vanity.
DARBY	And I have also seen the wicked buried and going away; and such as had acted rightly went from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city. This also is vanity.
BBE	And then I saw evil men put to rest, taken even from the holy place; and they went about and were praised in the town because of what they had done. This again is to no purpose.
Webster	And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

What does Ecclesiastes 8:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

10. the wicked--namely, rulers (Ec 8:9). buried--with funeral pomp by man, though little meriting it (Jr 22:19); but this only formed the more awful contrast to their death, temporal and eternal, inflicted by God (Lu 16:22, 23). come and gone from the place of the holy--went to and came from the place of judicature, where they sat as God's representatives (Psa 82:1-6), with pomp [Holden]. Weiss translates, "Buried and gone (utterly), even from the holy place they departed." As Joab, by Solomon's command, was sent to the grave from the "holy place" in the temple, which was not a sanctuary to murderers (Ex 21:14; 1Ki 2:28, 31). The use of the very word "bury" there makes this view likely; still "who had come and gone" may be retained. Joab came to the altar, but had to go from it; so the "wicked rulers" (Ec 8:9) (including high priests) came to, and went from, the temple, on occasions of solemn worship, but did not thereby escape their doom. forgotten--(Pr 10:7).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 10 Who had come and gone from the place of the holy - The place of the holy is the sacred office which they held, anointed either as kings or priests to God; and, not having fulfilled the holy office in a holy way, have been carried to their graves without lamentation, and lie among the dead without remembrance.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8:9-13

Solomon observed, that many a time one man rules over another to his hurt, and that prosperity hardens them in their wickedness. Sinners herein deceive themselves. Vengeance comes slowly, but it comes surely. A good man's days have some substance; he lives to a good purpose: a wicked man's days are all as a shadow, empty and worthless. Let us pray that we may view eternal things as near, real, and all-important.

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 →

Ecclesiastes 8:10 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבְכֵ֡ןu.ve.Khenand in suchH3651

רָאִיתִי֩ra.'i.TiI have seenH7200

רְשָׁעִ֨יםre.sha.'Imwicked [people]H7563

קְבֻרִ֜יםke.vu.Rimbeing buriedH6912

וָבָ֗אוּva.Va.'uand they cameH935

וּמִמְּק֤וֹםu.mi.me.Komand from a place ofH4725

קָדוֹשׁ֙ka.do.VoshholyH6918

יְהַלֵּ֔כוּye.ha.Le.khuthey wentH1980

וְיִֽשְׁתַּכְּח֥וּve.yish.ta.ke.Chuand they may be forgottenH7911

בָעִ֖ירva.'Irin the cityH5892

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhereH834

כֵּן\־ken-rightH3651

עָשׂ֑וּ'a.Suthey had doneH6213

גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571

זֶ֖הzehthisH2088

הָֽבֶל\׃Ha.vel[is] futilityH1892

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 8:10

Ecclesiastes 2:16
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Job 21:32-33
Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
Jeremiah 17:13
O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
Luke 16:22
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Ecclesiastes 1:11
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
Psalms 31:12
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
Hebrews 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
2 Kings 9:34-35
And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter. And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
Acts 6:13
And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Job 21:18
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

so.
2Ki 9:34,35; Job 21:18,32,33; Lu 16:22
the place.
Ps 122:1-5; Ac 6:13
they were.
2:16; 9:5; Ps 31:12; Pr 10:7; Jer 17:13; Heb 10:38

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Ecclesiastes 8:9
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
Ecclesiastes 8:10
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 8

Ecclesiastes 8:10 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Esto vi también: que los impíos sepultados vinieron aún en memoria; mas los que partieron del lugar santo, fueron luego puestos en olvido en la ciudad donde con rectitud habían obrado. Esto también es vanidad.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et de même j’ai vu des méchants enterrés et s’en allant, mais ceux qui avaient bien fait s’en allaient du lieu saint, et étaient oubliés dans la ville. Cela aussi est vanité.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und alsdann habe ich Gesetzlose gesehen, die begraben wurden und zur Ruhe eingingen; diejenigen aber, welche recht gehandelt hatten, mußten von der heiligen Stätte wegziehen und wurden in der Stadt vergessen. Auch das ist Eitelkeit.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Vidi impios sepultos, qui etiam cum adhuc viverent in loco sancto erant, et laudabantur in civitate quasi justorum operum. Sed et hoc vanitas est.