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Ecclesiastes 7:27

in Ecclesiastes 7

“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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

This verse in Ecclesiastes 7

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

I have discovered this by adding one thing to another

on Ecclesiastes 7:27-29

The Teacher states his method, adding one thing to another, and reports one upright man among a thousand and no such woman. The chapter closes: God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes. It is the book's Genesis 3, the corruption traced to man's own seeking.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes · Written before 420.

proposed

"I applied my heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness. And I find that woman is more bitter than death, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands are as bands: whoever pleases God shall escape her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. "The Septuagint here has: "I even applied my heart that I should know". Symmachus has interpreted this saying, 'I have looked into all things with my reasoning to know, to distinguish and to find out.' Since therefore Ecclesiastes had said above that he had tried to know all wisdom and the more he sought it the more it eluded him, now he says even that he sought out another thing in his wisdom, for wickedness precedes all things in human affairs, and that affair is first and foremost in impiety, stupidity, madness, and insanity. He also says that he found woman to be the cause of all evil, since through her, death came into the world and took the most prized spirits of men. And even for all adulterers, it is like there is a coat of mail on their heart, the heart that makes the souls of adolescents soar upwards. And when this happens to the mind of a wretched lover, it pushes him into first position, and he is not allowed to look back at his feet, but like a snare or noose it ensnares the heart of a youth. 'For he has chains around his wrists', which Aquila interpreted as being, 'for his hands are in chains'. For he can convince, but he doesn't have the strength and can't pull himself to those who are unwilling. Those things destroy him, who was righteous and good before God; but the sinner who has been captured will be led down to his death. Let us not think that Solomon held this opinion about women thoughtlessly, he speaks only those things that he has experienced. […]

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

Here the second point is noted, namely the universality of concupiscence, the reason for which was difficult to discern; therefore he says: "Behold, this I have found, said Ecclesiastes, one thing," namely the inclination of concupiscence itself, "and another," namely its universality. "And I labored," …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): " Behold, this have I found, that is, this I hoped to find; I thought I could have understood my errors and have brought in a complete list, at least of the heads of them;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The Value of a Good Name. 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v1-3

Behold, this have I found,....
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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."

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • רְאֵה֙consider

    reehH7200 →1300 times

  • זֶ֣הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • מָצָ֔אתִיI have found

    matzatiH4672 →455 times

  • אָמְרָ֖הshe said

    ʾamerahH559 →5305 times

  • קֹהֶ֑לֶתTeacher

    koheletH6953 →7 times

  • אַחַ֥תone

    ʾachatH259 →971 times

  • לְאַחַ֖תto one

    leachatH259 →971 times

  • לִמְצֹ֥אto find

    limtzo'H4672 →455 times

  • חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן׃an explanation

    cheshbonH2808 →3 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.