New King James Version
Ecclesiastes 7:28
28Which 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:28
26And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her. 27Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher, “Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason, 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. 29Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”
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 7:23All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
- Isaiah 26:9With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
- Job 33:23“If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,
- Psalms 12:1Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
- 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—
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries