Darby Bible
Ecclesiastes 7:25
25I turned, I and my heart, to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom and reason, and to know wickedness to be folly, and foolishness to be madness;
Ecclesiastes 7:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
- New International Version (NIV)So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:25
23All this have I tried by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. 24Whatever hath been, is far off, and exceeding deep: who will find it out? I turned, I and my heart, to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom and reason, and to know wickedness to be folly, and foolishness to be madness; 26and I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is nets and snares, [and] whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be caught by her. 27See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, [searching] one by one to find out the reason;
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:25 word by word
סַבּ֨וֹתִֽי אֲנִ֤י וְלִבִּי֙ לָדַ֣עַת וְלָת֔וּר וּבַקֵּ֥שׁ חָכְמָ֖ה וְחֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן וְלָדַ֙עַת֙ רֶ֣שַׁע כֶּ֔סֶל וְהַסִּכְל֖וּת הוֹלֵלֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:25
- Ecclesiastes 1:13And 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.
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 7:27See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, [searching] one by one to find out the reason;
- Ecclesiastes 2:15And I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so will it happen even to me; and why was I then so wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there.
- Ecclesiastes 9:1For all this I laid to my heart and [indeed] to investigate all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; man knoweth neither love nor hatred: all is before them.
- Jeremiah 12:1Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of [thy] judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
- 2 Peter 2:3And through covetousness, with well-turned words, will they make merchandise of you: for whom judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction slumbers not.
- 2 Peter 3:3knowing this first, that there shall come at [the] close of the days mockers with mocking, walking according to their own lusts,
- Ecclesiastes 9:3This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, [they have to go] to the dead.
- Ecclesiastes 10:13The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly; and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
- Genesis 34:7And the sons of Jacob came from the fields when they heard [it]; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had wrought what was disgraceful in Israel, in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done.
- Joshua 7:13Rise up, hallow the people, and say, Hallow yourselves for to-morrow; for thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, Israel: thou shalt not be able to stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from your midst.
- 2 Samuel 13:12And she said to him, No, my brother, do not humble me; for no such thing is done in Israel: do not this infamy.
- Proverbs 17:12Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a fool in his folly.
- Proverbs 26:11As a dog turneth back to its vomit, [so] a fool repeateth his folly.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25I applied mine heart - I cast about, סבותי sabbothi, I made a circuit; I circumscribed the ground I was to traverse; and all within my circle I was determined to know, and to investigate, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things. Has man reason and understanding? If so, then this is his work. God as much calls him to use these powers in this way, as to believe on the Lord Jesus that he may be saved; and he that does not, according to the means in…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25Reason - The same word is translated “account” Ecclesiastes 7:27, “invention” Ecclesiastes 7:29, and “device” Ecclesiastes 9:10: it is derived from a root signifying “to count.”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. 23-25it was beyond me: The Teacher could not find the wisdom or reasons he sought. Such reasons are hidden in God's mind (Ecclesiastes 3:11; 8:17).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2525. Literally, "I turned myself and mine heart to." A phrase peculiar to Ecclesiastes, and appropriate to the penitent turning back to commune with his heart on his past life. wickedness of folly--He is now a step further on the path of penitence than in Ec 1:17; 2:12, where "folly" is put without "wickedness" prefixed. reason--rather, "the right estimation" of things. Holden translates also "foolishness (that is, sinful folly, answering to 'wickedness'…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:25
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
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