New King James Version
Ecclesiastes 7:23
23All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
Ecclesiastes 7:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
- New International Version (NIV)All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise”— but this was beyond me.
- English Standard Version (ESV)All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me.
- New Living Translation (NLT)I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, “I am determined to be wise.” But it didn’t work.
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:23
21Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others. All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me. 24As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out? 25I 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.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:23 word by word
כָּל־זֹ֖ה נִסִּ֣יתִי בַֽחָכְמָ֑ה אָמַ֣רְתִּי אֶחְכָּ֔מָה וְהִ֖יא רְחוֹקָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנִּי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:23
- Genesis 3:5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
- 1 Kings 3:11Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice,
- 1 Kings 11:1But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—
- Romans 1:22Professing to be wise, they became fools,
- 1 Corinthians 1:20Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23All this have I proved by wisdom - These rules I have laid down for my own conduct, and sought after more wisdom; but have fallen far short of what I wished to be.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23I will be - Or, I am. There was a time when Solomon thought himself wise enough to comprehend the work of God, and therefore needed for himself the self-humbling conviction declared in this verse. It - i. e. Wisdom. Compare Ecclesiastes 8:17.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. 2323. All this--resuming the "all" in Ec 7:15; Ec 7:15-22 is therefore the fruit of his dearly bought experience in the days of his "vanity." I will be wise--I tried to "be wise," independently of God. But true wisdom was then "far from him," in spite of his human wisdom, which he retained by God's gift. So "over wise" (Ec 7:16).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:23
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries