I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skilful: but time and chance in all.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to the intelligent, nor yet favour to men of knowledge; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but fame and chance happeneth to them all.

I have turned so as to see under the sun, that not to the swift is the race, nor to the mighty the battle, nor even to the wise bread, nor even to the intelligent wealth, nor even to the skilful grace, for time and chance happen with them all.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.

And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.

I turned myself toward another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor wealth to the learned, nor grace to the skillful: but there is a time and an end for all these things.

Chance - Or, "incident," that which comes to us from without, one of the external events described in Eccl. 3. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:14 note.

The race is not to the swift - It is not by swiftness, nor by strength and valor, that races are gained and battles won. God causes the lame often to take the prey, the prize; and so works that the weak overthrow the strong; therefore, no man should confide in himself. All things are under the government, and at the disposal of God.
But time and chance - עת eth, time or opportunity, and פגע pega, incident or occurrence: -
Happeneth to them all - Every man has what may be called time and space to act in, and opportunity to do a particular work. But in this Time and Opportunity there is Incident, what may fall in; and Occurrence, what may meet and frustrate an attempt. These things should be wisely weighed, and seriously balanced; for those four things belong to every human action. While you have Time, seek an Opportunity to do what is right; but calculate on hinderances and oppositions, because time and opportunity have their Incident and Occurrence. Coverdale translates this verse well: "I sawe that in runnynge, it helpeth not to be swift; in batayll, it helpeth not to be stronge; to fedynge, it helpeth not to be wyse; to riches, it helpeth not to be sutyll; to be had in favoure, it helpeth not to be connynge; but that all lyeth in time and fortune."

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and (f) chance happeneth to them all.
(f) Thus the worldlings say to prove that all things are lawful for them and attribute that to chance and fortune which is done by the providence of God.

I returned, and saw under the sun,.... The wise man returned to his former subject, concerning the same events happening to all sorts of persons, righteous and wicked, wise and unwise, Ecclesiastes 10:1; and enlarged upon it in his mind; and took notice of various things done under the sun, and made the following remarks: and whereas he had exhorted men to use all their might in doing the duties of their calling while they lived here; he suggests, that they should not depend upon, and promise themselves, anything from their own strength and wisdom; but have a regard to the providence of God, that superintends all affairs, and gives or withholds success as he pleases; since it may be observed,
that the race is not to the swift; swiftness oftentimes is of no service to a man to escape dangers, as may be seen in the case of Asahel and others, 2-Samuel 2:18; so the Targum,
"men who are swift as eagles are not helped by running to escape from death in battle.''
Or the sense may be, that the swift are not always made use of in running a race; or, if they are, they do not always win the prize, something or other happens to hinder them; they fall, or become lame, when one more slow gets the advantage of them, 1-Corinthians 9:24; and so in spiritual things, one that is ready to halt, as David says of himself, gets to heaven, and is saved, Psalm 38:17; when others, at first starting or setting out in a profession, run well for a while, as the Galatians did, Galatians 5:7; but afterwards drop and fall short; for "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God, that sheweth mercy", Romans 9:16;
nor the battle to the strong: as not to the Midianites, nor to Goliath, nor to Abner, in whom Jarchi instances; victory is not always on the side of the mighty and the many, but oftentimes on the side of the weak and few; see 2-Chronicles 14:9; so in spirituals, such who go forth in their own strength against an enemy, trusting in it, fall; while weak believers, depending on the grace and strength of Christ, wrestle with principalities and powers, and come off victorious;
neither yet bread to the wise: the Targum adds, in a time of famine, when their wisdom cannot help them; but the sense rather is, that skilful artificers, in any trade or business, do not always get the best livelihood, yea, sometimes want the necessaries of life, or eat the bread of sorrow, when persons of meaner capacities shall thrive and flourish; and even the wisest of men sometimes have been obliged to others for bread, as was the case of David, 1-Samuel 21:3; and even of a wiser than he, our Lord himself, Luke 8:2; and as for the wise men of this world, the bread of life, Christ Jesus, is neither enjoyed nor sought after by them;
nor yet riches to men of understanding; mention is afterwards made of a wise man that was poor, Jarchi instances in Job; and, on the other hand, sometimes fools are rich, as Nabal and others; and as for the riches of grace, and treasures of spiritual knowledge, they are not usually given to the wise and prudent Matthew 11:25; Nor yet favour to men of skill; to men of knowledge and learning, whose genius and abilities might be thought sufficient to recommend them to the favour, affection, and applause of men, and yet oftentimes fall herein; such who have the art of address and persuasion are not always able to ingratiate themselves, and gain the esteem of men: Jarchi interprets it of the favour of God, and instances in Moses; than whom there was not a more knowing and understanding man in Israel, yet could not by his prayer find grace and favour to enter into the land: but the Targum is better;
"neither they that know understanding are helped by their knowledge to find favour in the eyes of a king;''
but time and chance happeneth to them all; to the swift and strong, the wise, understanding, and skilful; or to the swift and slow, to the strong and weak, to the wise and unwise; everything befalls them just as it is ordered by divine Providence; for there is a certain "time" fixed by the Lord for every event; and whatever seems casual and contingent to man, and which he is ready to call "chance", is noticing but "decree" with God, firm and unalterable; Plato (e) has the same expression. The word signifies "occurrence" (f), or event, which is under the wise direction and order of the providence of God, with respect to whom nothing comes by chance; and it is rendered "occurrent", 1-Kings 5:4; and so it is here, by the Septuagint version, "occurrence" or "event"; and in the Targum, event by their star, which is fate: and Aben Ezra interprets it , the "superior ordination"; it is something we meet, or meets us, by divine appointment. Aben Ezra and Kimchi, who are followed by others, think that, from Ecclesiastes 10:4; to this, Solomon is speaking in the person of epicures and atheists; which is not likely, since it is not in character for such persons to talk of God's acceptance of men's works; of living joyfully with a wife; of this life being a life of vanity; and of death and the grave; and of diligence in working while the present life lasts.
(e) , Plato de Leg. l. 4. p. 827. (f) "occursus", Montanus; "sive eventus", Mercerus, Rambachius; "occurrent", Broughton,

Men's success seldom equals their expectations. We must use means, but not trust to them: if we succeed, we must give God the praise; if crossed, we must submit to his will. Those who put off the great concerns of their souls, are caught in Satan's net, which he baits with some worldly object, for which they reject or neglect the gospel, and go on in sin till they suddenly fall into destruction.

This verse qualifies the sentiment, Ecclesiastes 9:7-9. Earthly "enjoyments," however lawful in their place (Ecclesiastes 3:1), are to give way when any work to be done for God requires it. Reverting to the sentiment (Ecclesiastes 8:17), we ought, therefore, not only to work God's work "with might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10), but also with the feeling that the event is wholly "in God's hand" (Ecclesiastes 9:1).
race . . . not to the swift-- (2-Samuel 18:23); spiritually (Zephaniah 3:19; Romans 9:16).
nor . . . battle to . . . strong-- (1-Samuel 17:47; 2-Chronicles 14:9, 2-Chronicles 14:11, 2-Chronicles 14:15; Psalm 33:16).
bread--livelihood.
favour--of the great.
chance--seemingly, really Providence. But as man cannot "find it out" (Ecclesiastes 3:11), he needs "with all might" to use opportunities. Duties are ours; events, God's.

"Further, I came to see under the sun, that the race belongs not to the swift, and the war not to the heroes, and also not bread to the wise man, and not riches to the prudent, and not favour to men of knowledge; for time and chance happeneth to them all." The nearest preceding רא, to which this ורב ורא suitably connects itself, is at Ecclesiastes 8:17. Instead of redii et videndo quidem = rursus vidi (cf. Ecclesiastes 8:9 and under Ecclesiastes 9:1), we had at Ecclesiastes 4:1 the simpler expression, redii et vidi. The five times repeated ל is that of property, of that, viz., by virtue of which one is master of that which is named, has power over it, disposes of it freely. The race belongs not to the swift (מרוץ, masc. to מרוּצה, only here), i.e., their fleetness is yet no guarantee that on account of it they will reach the goal. Luther freely: "To be fleet does not help in running," i.e., running to an object or goal. "The war belongs not to the heroes," means that much rather it belongs to the Lord, 1-Samuel 17:47. - God alone gives the victory (Psalm 33:16). Even so the gaining of bread, riches, favour (i.e., influence, reputation), does not lie in wisdom, prudence, knowledge of themselves, as an indispensable means thereto; but the obtaining of them, or the not obtaining of them, depends on times and circumstances which lie beyond the control of man, and is thus, in the final result, conditioned by God (cf. Romans 9:16);
(Note: But not Jeremiah 9:22; this passage, referred to by Bernstein, is of a different nature.)
time and fate happen to all whose ability appears to warrant the issue, they both time and fate encounter them and bar to them the way; they are in an inexplicable manner dependent on both, and helplessly subject to them. As the idea of spiritual superiority is here expressed in a threefold manner by הח (whence לה of the plur., also with the art. Ecclesiastes 9:1; Exodus 36:4; Esther 1:13), 'הן, and היּ, so at Isaiah 11:2, the gifts of "wisdom," "counsel," and "knowledge" follow each other. 'Eth is here "time" with its special circumstances (conjunctures), and pega', "accident," particularly as an adversity, disappointment of the word is used also without any addition (1-Kings 5:18) of misfortune (cf. שיר פגעים, Psalm 3:1-8; 91). The masc. יק is regulated after וף; 'eth can, however, be used in the masc., Song 2:12; Bttch. 648, viz., "with the misapprehension of its origin" (v. Orelli).
This limitation of man in his efforts, in spite of all his capacity, has its reason in this, that he is on the whole not master of his own life:

But time - There are times or seasons, casual to men, but known by God, in which alone he will give men success.