Ecclesiastes 7:28

Ecclesiastes 7:28 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
• New International Version (NIV)while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
• English Standard Version (ESV)which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.

Context of Ecclesiastes 7:28

26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared. 27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. 29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Ecclesiastes 7:28 word by word

אֲשֶׁ֛ר עוֹד־בִּקְשָׁ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י וְלֹ֣א מָצָ֑אתִי אָדָ֞ם אֶחָ֤ד מֵאֶ֙לֶף֙ מָצָ֔אתִי וְאִשָּׁ֥ה בְכָל־אֵ֖לֶּה לֹ֥א מָצָֽאתִי׃Read the interlinear

• Whileאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• my soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soulH5315
• was stillעוֹד‛ôd ‛ôd · stillH5750
• searchingבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• but notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• findingמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• among a thousandאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• but among allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• theseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428
• womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:28

• Ecclesiastes 7:23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
• Isaiah 26:9My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
• Job 33:23Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
• Psalms 12:1Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
• 1 Kings 11:1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:28

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28One man - One whose good qualities quite satisfy our expectation. Compare the expression “one among a thousand” (marginal reference). A woman - The number of Solomon‘s wives and concubines 1 Kings 11:3 was a thousand.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. 28The New Living Translation adds the phrase "is virtuous" (based on Ecclesiastes 7:29) to clarify the verse. Virtue is very rare. The Teacher found only a few virtuous men and no virtuous women in his experience.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2828. Rather, referring to his past experience, "Which my soul sought further, but I found not." one man--that is, worthy of the name, "man," "upright"; not more than one in a thousand of my courtiers (Job 33:23; Psa 12:1). Jesus Christ alone of men fully realizes the perfect ideal of "man." "Chiefest among ten thousand" (So 5:10). No perfect "woman" has ever existed, not even the Virgin Mary. Solomon, in the word "thousand," alludes to his three hundred…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:28

• Women

In the dictionaries

• Adversity
• Bosom
• Consider
• Crackling
• Living
• Rest
• Anthropology
• Synagogue, the Great

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