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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out 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

27“Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things— 28while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of 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 mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
• Genesis 5:1This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.
• Genesis 3:6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
• Genesis 6:5The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
• Genesis 11:4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
• Psalms 99:8Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.
• Psalms 106:29they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
• Jeremiah 2:12Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord.
• Jeremiah 4:22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
• Ezekiel 22:16When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
• Mark 7:8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
• Acts 7:40They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’
• Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• Romans 3:9What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
• Ephesians 2:2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

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

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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