Matthew Poole and continuators on Ecclesiastes 8:13

13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days , which are as a shadow ; because he feareth not before God .

i. e. It shall go very ill with him, great miseries are prepared for him: which is a Figure oft used in Scripture, as hath been formerly and frequently observed.

To wit, very long, or for ever, as he desireth.

His life, though it may be or seem to be long, yet in truth is but a meer shadow, which will quickly vanish and disappear, and be as if it never had been, and many times, like a shadow, when it is longest it is nearest its abolition.

This is the punishment of his wickedness and his casting off the fear and service of God, For although the lives of good men upon Earth are short, as well as the lives of the wicked, yet their days are not like a shadow, because they are prolonged far beyond this mortal state, even to all Eternity, and Death itself doth but open the way for them to an endless life.