Ecclesiastes 7:29

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.”
• New King James Version (NKJV)Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

Context of Ecclesiastes 7:29

27Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28which 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. See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 word by word

לְבַד֙ רְאֵה־זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֧ה הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָדָ֖ם יָשָׁ֑ר וְהֵ֥מָּה בִקְשׁ֖וּ חִשְּׁבֹנ֥וֹת רַבִּֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Loרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: behold!H7200
• this onlyבַּדbad · aloneH905
• have I foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• that Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• hath madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• uprightיָשָׁרyâshâr · uprightH3477
• but they have sought outבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• inventionsחִשָּׁבוֹןchishshâbôn · inventionH2810

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:29

• Genesis 1:26Then 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 livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
• Genesis 5:1This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
• Genesis 3:6So 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 its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
• Genesis 6:5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• Genesis 11:4Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
• Psalms 99:8O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
• Psalms 106:29they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
• Jeremiah 2:12Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord,
• Jeremiah 4:22"For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."
• Ezekiel 22:16And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord."
• Mark 7:8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."
• Acts 7:40saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'
• Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• Romans 3:9What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
• Ephesians 2:2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work 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

• Depravity of Man
• Fall of Man
• God
• Man

In the dictionaries

• God
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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