Whosoever keeps the commandment shall experience no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment.
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 8:5 Go To Ecclesiastes 8
Didymus the Blind
AD 398
Whoever knows what is good also knows at the same time what is bad. “To know” here does not mean “to do” but simply “to know about something.” Because when the commandment is given to turn away from evil and do good, we must also know evil in order to be able to turn away from it and to choose good. About these things the apostle writes with the following words: “But test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” One sees here that whoever tests everything, knows that the good is to be chosen and obeyed and that the evil is to be avoided.… Ecclesiastes means that he who obeys the command does not know an evil word, that is, he does not say that he does not “understand” it, but that he does not “use” it.
