Ecclesiastes 1:15

Ecclesiastes 1:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
• New International Version (NIV)What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
• English Standard Version (ESV)What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
• New King James Version (NKJV)What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

Context of Ecclesiastes 1:15

13I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind. What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered. 16I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:15 word by word

מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• crookedעָוַת‛âvath · to pervertH5791
• cannotיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
• be made straightתָּקַןtâqan · be straightH8626
• and that which is wantingחֶסְרוֹןchesrôn · deficiencyH2642
• be numberedמָנָהmânâh · to countH4487

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:15

• Ecclesiastes 3:14And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.
• Ecclesiastes 7:12Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.
• Job 11:6If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!
• Job 34:29But if he chooses to remain quiet, who can criticize him? When he hides his face, no one can find him, whether an individual or a nation.
• Isaiah 40:4Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places.
• Lamentations 3:37Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission?
• Daniel 4:35All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’
• Matthew 6:27Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15That which is crooked cannot be made straight - There are many apparent irregularities and anomalies in nature for which we cannot account; and there are many defects that cannot be supplied. This is the impression from a general view of nature; but the more we study and investigate its operations, the more we shall be convinced that all is a consecutive and well-ordered whole; and that in the chain of nature not one link is broken, deficient, or lost.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15He saw clearly both the disorder and incompleteness of human actions (compare the marginal reference), and also man‘s impotence to rectify them.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-18The Teacher examines how wisdom, work, and pleasure relate to each other.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Investigation (Ec 1:13) into human ways is vain labor, for they are hopelessly "crooked" and "cannot be made straight" by it (Ec 7:13). God, the chief good, alone can do this (Is 40:4; 45:2). wanting--(Da 5:27). numbered--so as to make a complete number; so equivalent to "supplied" [Maurer]. Or, rather, man's state is utterly wanting; and that which is wholly defective cannot be numbered or calculated. The investigator thinks he can draw up, in…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 1:15

• Instruction
• Investigation
• Science

In the dictionaries

• Sun
• Vanity
• Crooked
• Ecclesiastes, the Preacher
• Synagogue, the Great
• teacher, Teacher

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings