New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:20
20Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
- New International Version (NIV)Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:20
18Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes. 19One wise person is stronger than ten leading citizens of a town! Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. 21Don’t eavesdrop on others—you may hear your servant curse you. 22For you know how often you yourself have cursed others.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:20 word by word
כִּ֣י אָדָ֔ם אֵ֥ין צַדִּ֖יק בָּאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲשֶׂה־טּ֖וֹב וְלֹ֥א יֶחֱטָֽא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:20
- 1 Kings 8:46“If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near.
- 2 Chronicles 6:36“If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near.
- Job 15:14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?
- Psalms 130:3Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?
- Psalms 143:2Don’t put your servant on trial, for no one is innocent before you.
- Proverbs 20:9Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin”?
- Isaiah 53:6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
- Romans 3:23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
- James 3:2Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.
- 1 John 1:8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
- Isaiah 64:6We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not - יחטא לא lo yechta, that may not sin. There is not a man upon earth, however just he may be, and habituated to do good, but is peccable - liable to commit sin; and therefore should continually watch and pray, and depend upon the Lord. But the text does not say, the just man does commit sin, but simply that he may sin; and so our translators have rendered it in 1 Samuel 2:25, twice in 1…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The connection of this verse with Ecclesiastes 7:18-19 becomes clearer if it is borne in mind that the fear of God, wisdom, and justice, are merely different sides of one and the same character, the formation of which is the aim of all the precepts in this chapter. The words “just” Ecclesiastes 7:15, Ecclesiastes 7:20 and “righteous” Ecclesiastes 7:16 are exactly the same in Hebrew.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-22Verses 11-22 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yea better. It shelters from the storms and scorching heat of trouble. Wealth will not lengthen out the natural life; but true wisdom will give spiritual life, and strengthen men for services under their sufferings. Let us look upon the disposal of our condition as the work of God, and at last all will appear to have been for the best. In acts of righteousness, be not carried into heats or passions, no…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20no righteous man...never sins: See 1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:23.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Referring to Ec 7:16. Be not "self-righteous," seek not to make thyself "just" before God by a superabundance of self-imposed performances; "for true 'wisdom,' or 'righteousness,' shows that there is not a just man," &c.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:20
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
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