Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Matter - Rather, purpose (as in the margin, and Ecclesiastes 3:1), referring either to the will of God or to the edict of an oppressive ruler.
For he ... they - literally, for high watches over high and the highest over them, i. e., the king in the capital watches over the judge or governor in the province, and God over both. This seems more in harmony with the preceding verses, and more agreeable to the scope of this passage than to understand the passage only of earthly rulers.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Ecclesiastes 5:8:
Proverbs 24:12
Ecclesiastes 7:15-17
Habakkuk 1:7
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