Ecclesiastes 7:23-29

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:25

I applied mine heart - I cast about, סבותי sabbothi , I made a circuit; I circumscribed the ground I was to traverse; and all within my circle I was determined to know, and to investigate, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things. Has man reason and understanding? If so, then this is his work. God as much calls him to use these powers in this way, as to believe on the Lord Jesus that he may be saved; and he that does not, according to the means in his power, is a slothful... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:26

And I find more bitter than death the woman - After all his investigation of the wickedness of folly, and the foolishness of madness, he found nothing equally dangerous and ruinous with the blandishments of cunning women. When once the affections are entangled, escape without ruin is almost impossible. Whoso pleaseth God - The man who walks with God, and he alone, shall escape this sore evil: and even he that fears God, if he get with an artful woman, may be soon robbed of his strength,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:27

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:29

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright - Whatever evil may be now found among men and women, it is not of God; for God made them all upright. This is a singular verse, and has been most variously translated: רבים חשבנות בקשו והמה ישר האדם את האלהים עשה asah haelohim eth haadam yashar vehemhah bikkeshu chishbonoth rabbim . "Elohim has made mankind upright, and they have sought many computations." "He hath meddled with endless questions." - Vulgate. "Many... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:23

All this have I proved by wisdom ; i.e. wisdom was the means by which he arrived at the practical conclusions given above ( Ecclesiastes 7:1-22 ). Would wisdom solve deeper questions? And if so, could he ever hope to attain it? I said, I will be wise . This was his strong resolve. He desired to grow in wisdom, to use it in order to unfold mysteries and explain anomalies. Hitherto he had been content to watch the course of men's lives, and find by experience what was good and what was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:23-29

Section 4. Further in sight into essential wisdom was not obtain able; but Koheleth learned some other practical lessons, viz. that wickedness was folly and madness ; that woman was the most evil thing in the world ; that man had perverted his nature , which was made originally good . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:24

That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? The broken, interjectional style of the original in this passage, as Professor Taylor Lewis terms it, is better brought out by translating, "Far off is that which is, and deep, deep: who can find it out?" Professor Lewis renders, "Far off! the past, what is it? Deep—a deep—oh, who can find?" and explains "the past" to mean, not merely the earthly past historically unknown, but the great past before the creation of the universe,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:25

I applied mine heart to know ; more literally, I turned myself , and my heart was [set] to know . We have the expression, "tamed myself," referring to a new investigation in Ecclesiastes 2:20 and elsewhere; but the distinguishing the heart or soul from the man himself is not common in Scripture (see on Ecclesiastes 11:9 ), though the soul is sometimes apostrophized, as in Luke 12:19 (comp. Psalms 103:1 ; Psalms 146:1 ). The writer here implies that he gave up himself with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:26

One practical result of his quest Koheleth cannot avoid mentioning, though it comes with a suddenness which is somewhat startling. And I find more bitter than death the woman . Tracing men's folly and madness to their source, he finds that they arise generally from the seductions of the female sex. Beginning with Adam, woman has continued to work mischief in the world. "Of the woman came the beginning of sin," says Siracides, "and through her we all die" (Ecclesiasticus 25:24); it was owing... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:27

Behold, this have I found . The result of his search, thus forcibly introduced, follows in Ecclesiastes 7:28 . He has carefully examined the character and conduct of both sexes, and he is constrained to make the unsatisfactory remark which he there puts forth. Saith the preacher. Koheleth is here treated as a feminine noun, being joined with the feminine form of the verb, though elsewhere it is grammatically regarded as masculine (see on Ecclesiastes 1:1 ). Many have thought that,... read more

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