Amplified Bible
Ecclesiastes 1:15
15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted.
Ecclesiastes 1:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
- New International Version (NIV)What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
- English Standard Version (ESV)What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
- New King James Version (NKJV)What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.
Context of Ecclesiastes 1:15
13And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is defective and lacking cannot be counted. 16I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.” 17And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 1Ecclesiastes 1:15 word by word
מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:15
- Ecclesiastes 3:14I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor can anything be taken from it, for God does it so that men will fear and worship Him [with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is God].
- Ecclesiastes 7:12For wisdom is a protection even as money is a protection, But the [excellent] advantage of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the lives of its possessors.
- Job 11:6And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.
- Job 34:29When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him], Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—
- Isaiah 40:4Every valley shall be raised, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged places a broad valley.
- Lamentations 3:37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?
- Daniel 4:35All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth; And no one can hold back His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
- Matthew 6:27And who of you by worrying can add one hour to [the length of] his life?
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15That which is crooked cannot be made straight - There are many apparent irregularities and anomalies in nature for which we cannot account; and there are many defects that cannot be supplied. This is the impression from a general view of nature; but the more we study and investigate its operations, the more we shall be convinced that all is a consecutive and well-ordered whole; and that in the chain of nature not one link is broken, deficient, or lost.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15He saw clearly both the disorder and incompleteness of human actions (compare the marginal reference), and also man‘s impotence to rectify them.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-18The Teacher examines how wisdom, work, and pleasure relate to each other.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Investigation (Ec 1:13) into human ways is vain labor, for they are hopelessly "crooked" and "cannot be made straight" by it (Ec 7:13). God, the chief good, alone can do this (Is 40:4; 45:2). wanting--(Da 5:27). numbered--so as to make a complete number; so equivalent to "supplied" [Maurer]. Or, rather, man's state is utterly wanting; and that which is wholly defective cannot be numbered or calculated. The investigator thinks he can draw up, in…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 1:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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