Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 8:10
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses an unnamed audience while cataloging the patterns of human governance under the sun. He records this observation immediately after noting how one person oppresses another to his own detriment.
The words — רָאִיתִי (ra.'i.Ti) translates literally as "I have seen," grounding the claim in direct observation. קָדוֹשׁ (ka.do.Vosh) means "holy place," specifying the precinct where the wicked regularly conducted their activities.
The thread — The contrast between earthly praise and moral standing runs through Proverbs 10:7 regarding the divergent memories of the righteous and wicked. It intersects with Ecclesiastes 2:16 and 9:5 on the erasure of human remembrance and the finality of death.
Why it lands — The text records that temporal society grants honor to those who operate within sacred boundaries despite their moral corruption. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human reputation is an unstable metric that cannot secure lasting justice or meaning.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
- Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- 2 Kings 9:34 Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”
- Job 21:18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
- Job 21:32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
- Psalms 31:12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel.
- Ecclesiastes 1:11 There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
- Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
- Luke 16:22 One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.