God’s Word Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:28
28I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman.
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
26I find that a woman whose thoughts are ⌞like⌟ traps and snares is more bitter than death itself. Even her hands are ⌞like⌟ chains. Whoever pleases God will escape her, but she will catch whoever continues to sin. 27The spokesman said, “This is what I’ve found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things. I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn’t find one woman. 29I have found only this: God made people decent, but they looked for many ways ⌞to avoid being decent⌟.”
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:28 word by word
אֲשֶׁ֛ר עוֹד־בִּקְשָׁ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י וְלֹ֣א מָצָ֑אתִי אָדָ֞ם אֶחָ֤ד מֵאֶ֙לֶף֙ מָצָ֔אתִי וְאִשָּׁ֥ה בְכָל־אֵ֖לֶּה לֹ֥א מָצָֽאתִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:28
- Ecclesiastes 7:23I used wisdom to test all of this. I said, “I want to be wise, but it is out of my reach.”
- Isaiah 26:9With my soul I long for you at night. Yes, with my spirit I eagerly look for you. When your guiding principles are on earth, those who live in the world learn to do what is right.
- Job 33:23“If they have a messenger for them, a spokesman, one in a thousand, to tell people what is right for them,
- Psalms 12:1Help, O Lord. No godly person is left. Faithful people have vanished from among Adam’s descendants!
- 1 Kings 11:1King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter. He loved Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon.
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
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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