Ecclesiastes 12:10
in Ecclesiastes 12The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.
KJV
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSecond, the book of Proverbs is touched upon, when he says: "And searching, he composed parables, which are useful words," that is, in Proverbs: at the beginning of Proverbs: "The parables of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, for knowing wisdom and discipline, for …
This site's exposition
Not only was the Teacher wise
on Ecclesiastes 12:9-12
The epilogue steps back to commend the Teacher: he searched to find delightful sayings. The words of the wise are like goads, prodding, and like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd, holding. There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.
This site's exposition
delightful sayings
Clarke gives the Hebrew for delightful sayings as dibrey chephets, words of desire, the words the people could best understand. Henry adds that the record is upright, words of truth that show things as they are. Delight and truth stand together.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words,....
Those that would win souls must contrive how to win upon them with words fitly spoken. That which he wrote for our instruction is of unquestionable certainty, and what we may rely upon: That which was written was upright and sincere, according to the real sentiments of the penman, even words of truth, the exact representation of the thing as it is.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He sought to find out acceptable words - דברי חפץ dibrey chephets, words of desire, words of will; the best, the most suitable words; those which the people could best understand. But these words were not such as might merely please the people; they were words of truth; such as came from God, and might lead them to him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Koheles sought. He set his heart and sought the matter and found it.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
10. King Solomon, who was called Kohelet, tried in his wisdom to judge people according to the thoughts of their hearts (minds) without witnesses. Therefore, it was told to him by the spirit of prophecy from 'ה, this is already written in the Torah by Moses the teacher of Israel-- proper are the words and true: "By the word of witnesses shall the matter be established."
The words of the wise. They made a “fence” for the Torah with [various] decrees in order to distance a person from sin, e.g., eating hallowed things [is permitted] until dawn, but they declared “[only] until midnight,” and likewise, the evening recitation of Shema. 53 See Mishnayos Berachos:1.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּקֵּ֣שׁ | bikesh | <he> sought | H1245 → | 225 times |
| קֹהֶ֔לֶת | kohelet | Teacher | H6953 → | 7 times |
| לִמְצֹ֖א | limtzo' | to find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| דִּבְרֵי־ | divrei- | words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| חֵ֑פֶץ | chefetz | delight | H2656 → | 39 times |
| וְכָת֥וּב | vekhatuv | and [what] was written | H3789 → | |
| יֹ֖שֶׁר | yosher | uprightness | H3476 → | |
| דִּבְרֵ֥י | divrei | [was] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֱמֶֽת׃ | ʾemet | truth | H571 → |
בִּקֵּ֣שׁ<he> sought
bikeshH1245 →225 times
קֹהֶ֔לֶתTeacher
koheletH6953 →7 times
לִמְצֹ֖אto find
limtzo'H4672 →455 times
דִּבְרֵי־words of
divrei-H1697 →1440 times
חֵ֑פֶץdelight
chefetzH2656 →39 times
וְכָת֥וּבand [what] was written
vekhatuvH3789 →
יֹ֖שֶׁרuprightness
yosherH3476 →
דִּבְרֵ֥י[was] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
אֱמֶֽת׃truth
ʾemetH571 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 1:15This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.
it leads to
- Mark 2:17
On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
- John 3:16–17
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 12:47
As for anyone who hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
- Mark 2:17
Through
Colossians 1:5the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:3–4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Ephesians 1:13
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- 2 Timothy 4:8
From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who…
- Titus 1:2
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- 1 Peter 1:3–4
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.