10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried-those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[1] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
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.
English Standard Version
The Inequalities of Life
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praisedSome Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts forgotten in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity.
The Message
The Inequalities of Life
10 One time I saw wicked men given a solemn burial in holy ground. When the people returned to the city, they delivered flowery eulogies - and in the very place where wicked acts were done by those very men! More smoke. Indeed.
New King James Version
The Inequalities of Life
10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
New Living Translation
The Inequalities of Life
10 I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless.
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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8:10
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 8:9-13
(Read 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.