Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 5:8
If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses a reader who has witnessed corruption in a provincial court. He is not issuing a command to act but normalizing the observation.
The words — עֹשֶׁק ('o.shek) is active exploitation, not passive suffering; גֵּזֶל (ge.zel) is robbery, and together they describe the theft of justice itself.
The thread — The same scene appears in Ecclesiastes 3:16 (wickedness in the place of judgment) and Ecclesiastes 4:1 (tears of the oppressed with no one to comfort). Psalms 12:5 offers the counter-note: God will arise for the needy.
Why it lands — The verse refuses both outrage and complacency; it tells the reader the hierarchy of oversight is the only lever, and that astonishment is a waste of energy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
Cross-references
- Psalms 12:5 “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16 Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- 1 Kings 21:19 Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
- Psalms 58:10 The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Psalms 82:1 A Psalm of Asaph. God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
- Revelation 17:6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- 1 Chronicles 21:15 Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?