American Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 7:29
29Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
- New International Version (NIV)This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:29
27Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account; 28which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:29 word by word
לְבַד֙ רְאֵה־זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֧ה הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָדָ֖ם יָשָׁ֑ר וְהֵ֥מָּה בִקְשׁ֖וּ חִשְּׁבֹנ֥וֹת רַבִּֽים׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:29
- Genesis 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
- Genesis 5:1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
- Genesis 3:6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
- Genesis 6:5And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Genesis 11:4And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
- Psalms 99:8Thou answeredst them, O Jehovah our God: Thou wast a God that forgavest them, Though thou tookest vengeance of their doings.
- Psalms 106:29Thus they provoked him to anger with their doings; And the plague brake in upon them.
- Jeremiah 2:12Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith Jehovah.
- Jeremiah 4:22For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
- Ezekiel 22:16And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
- Mark 7:8Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.
- Acts 7:40saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
- Romans 1:21because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.
- Romans 3:9What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin;
- Ephesians 2:2wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright - Whatever evil may be now found among men and women, it is not of God; for God made them all upright. This is a singular verse, and has been most variously translated: רבים חשבנות בקשו והמה ישר האדם את האלהים עשה asah haelohim eth haadam yashar vehemhah bikkeshu chishbonoth rabbim . "Elohim has made mankind upright, and they have sought many computations." "He hath meddled with endless…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 29God hath made - Rather, God made. A definite allusion to the original state of man: in which he was exempt from vanity.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23-29Verses 23-29 Solomon, in his search into the nature and reason of things, had been miserably deluded. But he here speaks with godly sorrow. He alone who constantly aims to please God, can expect to escape; the careless sinner probably will fall to rise no more. He now discovered more than ever the evil of the great sin of which he had been guilty, the loving many strange women, I Kin. 11:1. A woman thoroughly upright and godly, he had not found. How was…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 29After much searching, the Teacher found that humanity's decline from God's created order (Genesis 1:27–28; 2:23–25; 3:1–19) was repeated by Adam and Eve's descendants (compare Romans 3:10–18, 23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2929. The "only" way of accounting for the scarcity of even comparatively upright men and women is that, whereas God made man upright, they (men) have, &c. The only account to be "found" of the origin of evil, the great mystery of theology, is that given in Holy Writ (Ge 2:1-3:24). Among man's "inventions" was the one especially referred to in Ec 7:26, the bitter fruits of which Solomon experienced, the breaking of God's primeval marriage law, joining one…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:29
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries