Ecclesiastes 8:10-15

The One End of Righteousness and Unrighteousness. The good are soon forgotten, the wicked enjoy honour and long life; the best thing a man can do is to enjoy life while he has it.

Ecclesiastes 8:10 is difficult, MT is probably corrupt. RV is a fair attempt; others would emend so as to read, I saw the wicked buried, carried even from the sanctuary, and they used to go about and be praised in the city because they had done so (i.e. used their power to hurt others; cf. Ecclesiastes 8:9). This excludes all mention of the righteous and their shameful exclusion from the holy place, which in any case cannot be interpreted as consecrated burial ground.

Ecclesiastes 8:12 f. is plainly the insertion of an orthodox annotator; Ecclesiastes 8:12 is a concession, Ecclesiastes 8:13 is the general rule as to the wicked man's long life. Ecclesiastes 8:12 b seems to hint at some compensation, possibly future, for the short-lived good man.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 f. shows us the typical mood of Qoheleth; cf. especially Ecclesiastes 3:12 f., Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Ecclesiastes 9:7.