Charles Ellicott Commentary Ecclesiastes 8:10

"So I saw the wicked buried, and they came [to the grave]; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity." — Ecclesiastes 8:10 (ASV)

They had so done.— An ambiguity in translation of this verse arises from the fact that the word translated “so” is rendered “well” (2 Kings 7:9 and elsewhere). Consequently some understand the verse, “The wicked receive an honourable burial, while those who have acted well are driven away from the holy place (namely, Jerusalem, Isaiah 48:2; Nehemiah 11:1, 18) and forgotten.” But we prefer to translate the word “so” the second time, as well as the first, where it occurs in the verse; and to take the meaning to be that the oppressor’s prosperity is but temporary, for soon comes death, burial, and forgetfulness of his honour.