Ecclesiastes 7 · Verse 27

Ecclesiastes 7:27

Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account:

Ecclesiastes 7:27, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 7:27 in other translations

BSB	“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
WEB	“Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find an explanation
ASV	Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account;
YLT	See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason
DARBY	See this which I have found, saith the Preacher, searching one by one to find out the reason;
BBE	Look! this I have seen, said the Preacher, taking one thing after another to get the true account,
Webster	Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account:

What does Ecclesiastes 7:27 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

27. this--namely, what follows in Ec 7:28. counting one by one--by comparing one thing with another [Holden and Maurer]. account--a right estimate. But Ec 7:28 more favors Gesenius. "Considering women one by one."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 27 Counting one by one - I have gone over every particular. I have compared one thing with another; man with woman, his wisdom with her wiles; his strength with her blandishments; his influence with her ascendancy; his powers of reason with her arts and cunning; and in a thousand men, I have found one thoroughly upright man; but among one thousand women I have not found one such. This is a lamentable account of the state of morals in Judea, in the days of the wise King Solomon. Thank God! it would not be difficult to get a tithe of both in the same number in the present day. The Targum gives this a curious turn: "There is another thing which my soul has sought, but could not find: a man perfect and innocent, and without corruption, from the days of Adam until Abraham the just was born; who was found faithful and upright among the thousand kings who came together to construct the tower of Babel: but a woman like to Sarah among the wives of all those kings I have not found."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:23-29

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…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 7:23-29 →

Ecclesiastes 7:27 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

רְאֵה֙re.'EhconsiderH7200

זֶ֣הzehthisH2088

מָצָ֔אתִיma.Tza.tiI have foundH4672

אָמְרָ֖ה'a.me.Rahshe saidH559

קֹהֶ֑לֶתko.He.letTeacherH6953

אַחַ֥ת'a.ChatoneH259

לְאַחַ֖תle.'a.Chatto oneH259

לִמְצֹ֥אlim.Tzo'to findH4672

חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן\׃chesh.Bonan explanationH2808

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 7:27

Ecclesiastes 12:8-10
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

saith.
1:1,2; 12:8-10
counting one by one, to find out the account. or, weighingone thing after another, to find out the reason.
25

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
Ecclesiastes 7:27
Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account:
Ecclesiastes 7:28
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.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7:27 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	He aquí, esto he hallado, dice el Predicador, pesando las cosas una por una para hallar la razón;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Regarde ceci que j’ai trouvé, dit le prédicateur, en examinant les choses une à une pour en trouver la raison,
German Elberfelder 1871	Siehe, dieses habe ich gefunden, spricht der Prediger, indem ich eines zum anderen fügte, um ein richtiges Urteil zu finden:
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et inveni amariorem morte mulierem, quæ laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor ejus; vincula sunt manus illius. Qui placet Deo effugiet illam; qui autem peccator est capietur ab illa.