7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?
7 It's true that no one knows what's going to happen, or when. Who's around to tell us?
7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?
7 Indeed, how can people avoid what they don't know is going to happen?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8:7
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8:6-8
(Read Ecclesiastes 8:6-8)
God has, in wisdom, kept away from us the knowledge of future events, that we may be always ready for changes. We must all die, no flight or hiding-place can save us, nor are there any weapons of effectual resistance. Ninety thousand die every day, upwards of sixty every minute, and one every moment. How solemn the thought! Oh that men were wise, that they understood these things, that they would consider their latter end! The believer alone is prepared to meet the solemn summons. Wickedness, by which men often escape human justice, cannot secure from death.