Ecclesiastes 7:22
in Ecclesiastes 7For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
KJV
For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 7
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth,.... Or "thy conscience", as the Vulgate Latin version, which is as a thousand witnesses; which, if a man attends to, he will be convinced of his own faults, failings, and infirmities, he is frequently in the commission of.
This site's exposition
Wisdom makes the wise man stronger
on Ecclesiastes 7:19-22
Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. The admission follows at once: there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. The counsel not to heed every word that is spoken guards against a servant's curse overheard.
This site's exposition
you know in your heart
Gill renders the heart as the conscience, following the Vulgate, and calls it a thousand witnesses to a man's own faults. Clarke reads the cursing as backbiting and slander. God may justly let such a man be slandered in turn, Clarke adds.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And do not heed all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you. For often your own heart knows that you likewise have cursed others. "Make sure to do only those things which have been taught, and strengthened by the help of wisdom, prepare yourself for either good or bad outcomes, and don't worry about what your enemies might say about you, or what kind of reputation you have.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And this indeed often happens, as a man can know from himself: "For your conscience knows that you have frequently cursed others," and so you ought not diligently heed nor punish: Sirach 31: "Know the things of your neighbor from yourself." And again, forgive: for …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He is here, more than any where in all this book, putting on the habit of a penitent. He reviews what he had been discoursing of already, and tells us that what he had said was what he knew and was well assured of, and what he resolved to stand by: All this have I proved by wisdom,
In short, the best way to save ourselves from the vexation which the vanity of the world creates us is to keep our temper and to maintain a strict government of our passions. He laments his own iniquity, as that which was more vexatious than any of these vanities, that mystery of iniquity, the having of many wives, by which he was drawn away from God and his duty,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou thyself - hast cursed others - קללת kalalta, thou hast spoken evil; hast vilified others. O, who is free from evil speaking, from uncharitable speaking; from detailing their neighbor’s faults, from whispering, talebearing, and backbiting? Do not wonder if God, in his justice, permit thee to be calumniated, seeing thou hast so frequently calumniated others. See my discourse on Psa 15:1-5 (note).
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| פְּעָמִ֥ים | peamim | times | H6471 → | |
| רַבּ֖וֹת | rabot | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| יָדַ֣ע | yada' | it knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לִבֶּ֑ךָ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾat | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| קִלַּ֥לְתָּ | kilalta | you have cursed | H7043 → | 82 times |
| אֲחֵרִֽים׃ | ʾacherim | others | H312 → |
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
פְּעָמִ֥יםtimes
peamimH6471 →
רַבּ֖וֹתmany
rabotH7227 →454 times
יָדַ֣עit knows
yada'H3045 →945 times
לִבֶּ֑ךָheart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatH859 →1094 times
קִלַּ֥לְתָּyou have cursed
kilaltaH7043 →82 times
אֲחֵרִֽים׃others
ʾacherimH312 →
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
Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
it leads to
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- James 1:13–15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
- Titus 3:2–6
to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.
- Mark 7:21–23
Through
James 3:9With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
it leads to
- Psalms 10:7
His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
- Genesis 1:26–27
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the…
- Psalms 62:4
They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
- Psalms 10:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.