Ecclesiastes 7:27

27 “Look,” says the Teacher,^[a] “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

Ecclesiastes 7:27 in Other Translations

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

27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things--

27 “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle.

27 At least this is my experience - what I, the Quester, have pieced together as I've tried to make sense of life.

27 Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, [laying] one thing to another, to find out the account;

27 The spokesman said, "This is what I've found: I added one thing to another in order to find a reason for things.

27 "Look," says the Teacher, "this I have discovered, by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation,

27 "Look," says the Teacher. "Here's what I've discovered. "I added one thing to another to find out everything I could about wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 7:27 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 7:27

Behold, this have I found
That a harlot is more bitter than death; and which he found by his own experience, and therefore would have it observed by others for their caution: or one man among a thousand, ( Ecclesiastes 7:28 ) ; (saith the preacher);
of which title and character see ( Ecclesiastes 1:1 ) ; it is here mentioned to confirm the truth of what he said; he said it as a preacher, and, upon the word of a preacher, it was true; as also to signify his repentance for his sin, who was now the "gathered soul", as some render it; gathered into the church of God by repentance; [counting] one by one, to find out the account;
not his own sins, which he endeavoured to reckon up, and find out the general account of them, which yet he could not do; nor the good works of the righteous, and the sins of the wicked, which are numbered before the Lord one by one, till they are added to the great account; as Jarchi, from the Rabbins, interprets it, and so the Midrash: but rather the sense is, examining women, one by one, all within the verge of his acquaintance; particularly the thousand women that were either his wives or concubines; in order to take and give a just estimate of their character and actions. What follows is the result.

Ecclesiastes 7:27 In-Context

25 So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

26 I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.

27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—

28 while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.

29 This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

Cross References

• 1. S Ecclesiastes 1:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "the leader of the assembly"