Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Pengkhotbah 8:14

This holy book, as is clear from its composition, is a formal debate about the apparently unfair workings of Divine Governance.²The Hebrew term is הנהגה – Governance, i.e., how God governs the world. The alternative term השגחה used is translated as 'Providence'; it is generally taken to indicate individual Providence. For there are righteous people who suffer the deserts of the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:14), while there are wicked ones whose paths prosper…they grow and even produce fruit (Jeremiah 12:1-2). Yea, they vex God, yet escape capture (Malachi 3:15).

AND ABRAM SAID, O LORD ETERNAL, WHAT WILT THOU GIVE ME? “Behold, Thou hast saved me from the kings, but Thou hast not assured me against extinction. Thou hast only said that Thou wilt give me great reward, but what can my reward be without children?”
Now it had not occurred to Abraham that this great reward would be in the World to Come for there is no necessity for such a promise; every servant of G-d will find life in the hereafter before him. But in this world there are righteous men, unto whom it happened according to the work of the wicked.²²¹Ecclesiastes 8:14. It is for this reason that the righteous have need of assurance. Moreover, very great²²²Thy reward shall be ‘very great.’ implies that he will merit both worlds²²³“Both worlds,” literally “two tables,” a Rabbinic figure of speech (Berachoth 5 b) signifying access to the best of this world and also of the hereafter. with all the best therein without any punishment whatever as befits the really righteous people. Moreover, an assurance is given for that which a person fears. [Hence, he needed no assurance concerning the hereafter. But he feared being childless; therefore G-d] rejoined and explained that His assurance included that he should not fear this either, as He will make his children as the stars of heaven for multitude.²²⁴Deuteronomy 1:10.
You may ask: Has it not been told to Abraham already, For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,²²⁵Above, 13:15-16. and so, how could Abraham now say, Since I go childless…lo, my household slave will be mine heir?²²⁶Verses 2-3 here. And why did he not believe in the first prophecy, as he would believe in this [second one which G-d will now relate to him?] The answer is that the righteous ones have no trust in themselves, fearing they might have sinned in error. Thus it is written At one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and plant it; but if that nation turn and do evil before Me, then I repent of the good.²²⁷Jeremiah 18:9-10, with some changes. Now when Abraham saw himself advanced in years and the first prophecy concerning him had not yet been fulfilled, he thought that his sins had withheld that good from him.²²⁸See ibid., 5:25. And perhaps he now feared that he would be punished for the people that he killed in the war, as our Rabbis have said.²²⁹Bereshith Rabbah 44:5. They have expressed a similar thought in Bereshith Rabbah:²³⁰Ibid., 76:2. “Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed.²³¹Genesis 32:8. From this we derive the principle that there is no assurance for the righteous ones in this world, etc.”

God endowed man with a rational faculty, which is also referred to as lev in order to actualize every soul's potential in due time. God also provided him with mitzvot to make it possible to maintain everything in proper proportion... Now although the three souls are alluded to by one all-embracing name, we shall distinguish the three different powers of the soul by three specific names: neshamah, ruach, nefesh. This will avoid undue elaboration on the various qualities associated with each of the three souls. Thus the term nefesh refers to man's desire to eat, to be merry, and indulge in sexual pleasures. The name ruach alludes to our sensations that stir feelings for mastery and self-glorification. Neshamah denotes our rational faculties. Saadia made a similar classification of the three souls. It is, moreover, apparent that when the nefesh increases in power, the neshamah becomes weaker and has no strength to resist the power of the nefesh, reintroduced as it is by all the other organs of the body. Hence one who overindulges in food and drink can never acquire wisdom. And when neshamah and ruach get together they overpower nefesh and pave the way for a partial opening of the "eyes" of the neshamah to comprehend the physical but not yet the metaphysical disciplines. The reason for this limitation is due to the power of ruach which strives for mastery and gives rise to the sensation of anger. This is then the implication of the verse: "Vexation is better than revelry, for though the face may be sad, the heart may be glad." (Ecclesiastes 7:3) Sadness of the face refers to vexations, and the "heart" alludes to our rational faculty. Subsequently, when neshamah finally prevails over nefesh with the help of ruach, it becomes necessary for neshamah to be preoccupied exclusively with wisdom in order that with the help of the latter, neshamah will be able to overcome ruach and render her subservient to neshamah. This is the meaning of the verse, "Don’t let your spirit be quickly vexed, for vexation abides in the breasts of fools." (Ecclesiastes 7:9) "For as wisdom grows, vexation grows." (Ecclesiastes 1:18) "Don’t act the wise man to excess." (Ecclesiastes 7:16) For much wisdom increases indignation over the petty vanities of the world and its inhabitants...Thus the apparent contradictions that appear in the Book of Ecclesiastes where the author seems to say one thing in one instance and its opposite another time are only on the surface. The same applies to the Book of Proverbs where the author says: "Do not answer a dullard in accord with his folly" (Proverbs 26:4) and in the following verse: "Answer a dullard in accord with his folly." (Proverbs 26:5) In the Prophets and the Torah, our principal source book, we find similar contradictions, e.g. "There shall be no needy among you" (Deuteronomy 15:4) and later, "For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land." (Deuteronomy 15:11) In reality they are similar provided we apply to them the proper philosophic notions.