Ecclesiastes 1:15

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 applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this grievous occupation hath God given to the children of men to weary themselves therewith. 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and pursuit of the wind. That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. 16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge. 17And I applied my heart to the knowledge of wisdom, and to the knowledge of madness and folly: I perceived that this also is a striving after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:15 word by word

מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

• numberedמָנָהmânâh · to countH4487

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:15

• Ecclesiastes 3:14I know that whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever; there is nothing to be added to it, nor anything to be taken from it; and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
• Ecclesiastes 7:12For wisdom is a defence [as] money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is, [that] wisdom maketh them that possess it to live.
• Job 11:6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity!
• Job 34:29When he giveth quietness, who then will disturb? and when he hideth [his] face, who shall behold him? and this towards a nation, or towards a man alike;
• Isaiah 40:4Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.
• Lamentations 3:37Who is he that saith, and there cometh to pass, what the Lord hath not commanded?
• Daniel 4:35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
• Matthew 6:27But which of you by carefulness can add to his growth one cubit?

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

• Instruction
• Investigation
• Science

In the dictionaries

• Sun
• Vanity
• Crooked
• Ecclesiastes, the Preacher
• Synagogue, the Great
• teacher, Teacher

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