The Greek word prognosis occurs two times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, in Acts 2:23 (above) and 1 Peter 1:1, 2 (below):
23 this [man], as one delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge (prognosis) of God, YOU fastened to a stake by the hand of lawless men and did away with.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the temporary residents scattered about in Ponʹtus, Ga·laʹti·a, Cap·pa·doʹci·a, Asia, and Bi·thynʹi·a, to the ones chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge (prognosis) of God the Father, with sanctification by the spirit, for the purpose of their being obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ: May undeserved kindness and peace be increased to YOU.
Jehovah God is omnipotent, meaning he has unlimited power and can do anything. Some people believe that everything that happens is predestined by God, including whether a human being will get everlasting life or not. The problem with predestination is that, if it is correct, God is also responsible for the suffering in the world.
We can understand whether God’s knowledge and decisions encompass everyone and everything by looking at what happened to Abraham. According to Genesis 22:2, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The account tells that Abraham was on the point of killing Isaac when God stopped him. And God said, according to verse 12:
12 And he went on to say: “Do not put out your hand against the boy and do not do anything at all to him, for now I do know that you are God-fearing in that you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me.”
The important point is that God did not know the innermost feelings of Abraham before Abraham tried to sacrifice his son. But how can this agree with God’s omnipotence? There is no question that God has all power and can do everything, including reading the minds and thoughts of humans. But the situation with Abraham shows that he has given his creatures free will to decide. And because of this, God refrains from knowing what they will decide. Human actions show their decisions about right and wrong.
One important point in Ecclesiastes is that it clearly speaks against predestination, the teaching that God decides everything beforehand.
A CHANCE EVENT
No passage in the Hebrew Scriptures says that God predestined an event in the lives of individual Israelites. But many prophecies speak of God’s purpose to restore the paradise in Eden. (Acts 3:19-22)
While God-fearing Israelites believed in ‘ōlām habbā (“the world to come”), where the resurrection would take place, they also believed that happenings in this life were coincidences. This is particularly shown in the book of Ecclesiastes. I quote Ecclesiastes 2:14 (above) and 9:13 (below) from NWT84 and from Young’s Literal Translation:
Table 1.1 The same chance event for all
| 2:14 NWT84 | There is one eventuality (miqræ) that eventuates (qāra) to them all. |
| 2:14 YOUNG | I also knew that one event (miqræ) happeneth (qāra) with them all. |
| 9:2 NWT84 | There is one eventuality (miqræ) to all. |
| 9:2 YOUNG | That one event (miqræ) [is] to all. |
To understand Solomon, we need to understand the Hebrew verb qarā and the corresponding noun miqræ. The meaning of the verb qāra is “to encounter, meet, befall,” and the noun miqræ has the meaning “happening by chance, fate, destiny.”(Kohlenberger/Mounce Hebrew Lexicon) Koehler and Baumgartner Hebrew Lexicon defines miqræ, as: “what happens to someone not through their own will or actions and without any known instigator.”
The NWT84 translates miqræ as “eventuality,” and Young’s Literal Translation uses “event.” Based on the lexical meaning of the verb qāra, the noun miqræ, and the context, the English rendering “event” means “chance event.”
This is confirmed by 1 Samuel 6:9 (above) and Ruth 2:3 (below):
9 And YOU must look: if it is the road to its territory that it goes up, to Beth-sheʹmesh, it is he that has done to us this great evil; but if not, we must know that it was not his hand that touched us; an accident (miqræ) it was that happened to us.”
3 At that she went off and entered and began to glean in the field behind the harvesters. Thus by chance (qāra miqræ) she lighted on the tract of the field belonging to Boʹaz, who was of the family of E·limʹe·lech.
The Philistines had taken the ark of Jehovah, and after this, a great number of them got piles. They wanted to know if the piles were a punishment from Jehovah, and their priests suggested a test to know the answer.
They put the ark on a wagon and hitched two cows that were giving suck to the wagon. And the question was where the cows would go. Naturally, the cows would go after their calves. But if they went to Beth Shemesh in Israel instead, the Philistines would know that the hand of God was behind their piles. In verse 9, miqræ contrasts with “his hand.” Thus, miqræ means “accident” or “chance event.”
In Ruth 2:3, the verb qāra is used with the noun miqræ, and each word alone means “chance.” When both words are used together, that the situation occurred by chance is stressed.
AN UNFORESEEN OCCURRENCE
The central thought of Ecclesiastes is that everything in this life is vanity or chasing the wind because of human imperfection. The idea of verse 2 in chapter 9 is that there is “one eventuality” (miqræ), one chance happening, to the righteous one and to the wicked one, to the good one and to the sinner, so, “everything is vanity.” In verses 11 and 12, Solomon shows that even persons who are qualified for something do not reach their goals because of unforeseen occurrence. I quote Ecclesiastes 9:11, 12:
11 I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time (‘ēt) and unforeseen occurrence (pæga‘) befall (qāra) them all. 12 For man also does not know his time (‘ēt). Just like fishes that are being taken in an evil net, and like birds that are being taken in a trap, so the sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time (‘ēt), when it falls (nāfal) upon them suddenly (pitōm)
Table 1.2 The same chance event for all
| 9:11 NWT84 | Because time (‘ēt) and unforeseen occurrence (pæga‘) befall (qāra) them all. |
| 9:11 YOUNG | For time (‘ēt) and chance (pæga‘) happen (qāra) with them all. |
| 9:12 NWT84 | The sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time (‘ēt), when it falls (nāfal) upon them suddenly (pitōm). |
| 9:12 YOUNG | The sons of man snared at an evil time (‘ēt), when it falleth upon them suddenly (pitōm). |
For an understanding of the verses, we need to find the meaning of the words:
Table 1.2 The meaning of the words
| ‘ēt | Time, generally speaking |
| pæga‘ | Chance, occurrence. |
| qāra | To happen, meet, encounter. |
| nāfal | Fall, fall down. |
| pitōm | Suddenly, unexpectedly, all at once, in an instant. |
Verses 11 and 12 in chapter 9 represent Hebrew parallelisms: they express the same idea with different words. In verse 11, the verb qāra, with the meaning “to happen (by chance) is used, and its object is pæga‘ with the meaning “chance.” So, the NWT84 rendering “unforeseen occurrence befall them all” is excellent.
The parallel words are marked with the same colors:
11 Time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.
12 When it (the evil time) falls upon them unexpectedly.
The parallels are:
- “time” with “it (the evil time)
- unforeseen occurrence with unexpectedly
- befall with fall upon
- then all with them
The basic idea of Ecclesiastes is that because humans are imperfect and are living in an imperfect world, and that every achievement disappears when one dies, verything is vanity. The words in 9:11, 12 accord with this view by pointing out that regardless of human efforts and qualifications, chance happenings may destroy any achievement.
CONCLUSION
Regarding the issue of predestination or free will, the witness of Ecclesiastes is clear. What happens in the lives of the humans on earth is not predestined. It happens because of decisions each one does because of his free will and on chance happenings and unforeseen occurrences.
However, Jehovah God has decided and predestined that there will be a restoration of all things, including the paradise in Eden. And he invites all humans to decide to worship him and to receive everlasting life.
