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 discovered as more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are chains. One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but the sinner will be captured by her. 27“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation, which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these. 29Behold, I have found only this, that God made people 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

• whichאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• I am stillעוֹד‛ôd ‛ôd · stillH5750
• seekingבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• but have not foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• amongמִן־min minnîy minnêy · fromH4480
• a thousandאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
• womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• among allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• theseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:28

• Ecclesiastes 7:23I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but wisdom was far from me.
• Isaiah 26:9At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments, The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
• Job 33:23“If there is an interceding angel for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a person of what is right for him,
• Psalms 12:1Help, Lord, for the godly person has come to an end, For the faithful have disappeared from the sons of mankind.
• 1 Kings 11:1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and 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