Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 8:2-5 
Context8:2 Obey the king’s command, 1
because you took 2 an oath before God 3 to be loyal to him. 4
8:3 Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, 5
for he can do whatever he pleases.
8:4 Surely the king’s authority 6 is absolute; 7
no one can say 8 to him, “What are you doing?”
8:5 Whoever obeys his 9 command will not experience harm,
and a wise person 10 knows the proper time 11 and procedure.
1 tc The Leningrad Codex (the basis of BHS) reads אֲנִי (’ani, 1st person common singular independent personal pronoun): “I obey the king’s command.” Other medieval Hebrew
2 tn The phrase “you took” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
3 tn The genitive-construct שְׁבוּעַת אֱלֹהִים (shÿvu’at ’elohim, “an oath of God”) functions as a genitive of location (“an oath before God”) or an adjectival genitive of attribute (“a supreme oath”).
4 tn The words “to be loyal to him” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.
5 tn Or “do not stand up for a bad cause.”
6 tn Heb “word.”
7 tn Heb “supreme.”
8 tn Heb “Who can say…?”
9 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
10 tn Heb “the heart of a wise man.”
11 tn The term עֵת (’et, “time”) connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event; the right moment” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b); e.g., “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the time when mountain goats are born” (Job 39:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27).
