Ecclesiastes 7:29 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:23-29

Solomon had hitherto been proving the vanity of the world and its utter insufficiency to make men happy; now here he comes to show the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make men miserable; and this, as the former, he proves from his own experience, and it was a dear-bought experience. 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:29

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright ,.... The first man Adam, as the Targum and Jarchi interpret it; and not Adam only, but Eve also with him; for these were both made by the Lord, and on the same day, and in the same image, and had the same common name of Adam given them, Genesis 1:27 ; And they were both made "upright"; which is to be understood, not of the erectness of their bodies, but of the disposition of their minds; they were "right and innocent before... 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 7:23-29

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 7:29

Lo, this only (or, only see! this ) have I found . Universal corruption was that which met his wide investigations, but of one thing he was sure, which he proceeds to specify—he has learned to trace the degradation to its source, not in God's agency, but in man's perverse will. That God hath made man upright. Koheleth believes that man's original constitution was yasbar , "straight," "right," "morally good," and possessed of ability to choose and follow what was just and right ( ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:29

God hath made - Rather, God made. A definite allusion to the original state of man: in which he was exempt from vanity. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 7:29

Ecclesiastes 7:29. Lo, this only have I found Though I could not find out all the streams of wickedness, and their infinite windings and turnings, yet I have discovered the fountain of it, original sin, and the corruption of nature, which is both in men and women; that God made our first parents, Adam and Eve, upright Hebrew, right: without any imperfection or corruption, conformable to his nature and will, after his own likeness: but they Our first parents, and after them their... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 7:15-29

Avoid extremes (7:15-29)One of the puzzles of life is that bad people often have long and prosperous lives, but good people suffer and sometimes die before they have had a chance to enjoy life. The writer suggests that people follow a middle course through life, where they do not ruin their lives through being either over-zealous for goodness and wisdom or over-tolerant towards sin and foolishness. Those who fear God will be successful in avoiding both extremes (15-18).Certainly, wisdom is... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 7:29

Lo. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 . Same as "Behold" in Ecclesiastes 7:27 . they = mankind: not merely the above classes. This verse is admittedly the inspired truth of God: so therefore are the other statements in this book. Moreover, "they" is emphatic. inventions = devices. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 7:29

29. The "only" way of accounting for the scarcity of even comparatively upright men and women is that, whereas God made man upright, they (men) have, c. The only account to be "found" of the origin of evil, the great mystery of theology, is that given in Holy Writ ( :-). Among man's "inventions" was the one especially referred to in Ecclesiastes 7:26, the bitter fruits of which Solomon experienced, the breaking of God's primeval marriage law, joining one man to "one" woman (Matthew 19:4 Matthew... read more