17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 8:16-17
applied my heart to see wisdom and work which takes place on earth- for even
day or night its eyes see no sleep. And
I perceived all the work of God. Indeed
man cannot fathom the events that occur under the sun, inasmuch as man tries
strenuously to search, but cannot fathom it.
And even though a wise man should presume to know, he cannot know
it. "He searches for the causes and understanding of the
world, why this or that is done, and for what reason the world is steered by
good or bad turns of events; why one is born blind and frail, another born
healthy and with sight; why one is poor, another rich; why one is of high
birth, another inglorious. Nothing else
is of use, unless he is tortured in his search, and has an argument instead of
anguish, but he does not find what he is looking for. And when he says that he knows, then he has
the beginning of ignorance in him, and starts to sink into deeper madness. But he shows later that justice is the cause
of all things, why things happen the way they do, but that those causes hide in
secret and are not able to be understood by men.
<h2>CHAPTER 9</h2>