Ecclesiastes 1:15

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it, 1. By his own experience; he tried them all, and found them vanity. 2. By an induction of particulars; and here he begins with that which bids fairest of all to be the happiness of a reasonable creature, and that is knowledge and learning; if this be vanity, every thing else must needs be so. Now as to this, I. Solomon tells us here... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:15

That which is crooked cannot be made straight ,.... By all the art and cunning, wisdom and knowledge of man, that he can attain unto; whatever he, in the vanity of his mind, may find fault with in the works of God, either of nature of providence, and which he may call crooked, it is not in his power to make them straight, or to mend them; see Ecclesiastes 7:13 . There is something which, through sin, is crooked, in the hearts, in the nature, in the principles, ways and works, of men;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:15

That which is crooked cannot be made straight - There are many apparent irregularities and anomalies in nature for which we cannot account; and there are many defects that cannot be supplied. This is the impression from a general view of nature; but the more we study and investigate its operations, the more we shall be convinced that all is a consecutive and well-ordered whole; and that in the chain of nature not one link is broken, deficient, or lost. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Section 1. Vanity of striving for wisdom and knowledge. Esther 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem . Koheleth relates his own experience as king, in accordance with his assumption of the person of Solomon. The use of the past tense in this verse is regarded by many as strong evidence against the Solomonic authorship of the book. "I have been king" (not "I have become king," as Gratz would translate) is a statement introducing the supposed speaker, not as a reigning... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:15

That which is crooked cannot be made straight . This is intended as a confirmation of Ecclesiastes 1:14 . By the utmost exercise of his powers and faculties man cannot change the course of events; he is constantly met by anomalies which he can neither explain nor rectify (comp. Ecclesiastes 7:13 ). The above is probably a proverbial saying. Knobel quotes Suidas: ξύλον ἀγκύλον οὐδέποτ ὀρθόν . The Vulgate takes the whole maxim as applying only to morals: "Perverse men are... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:15

He saw clearly both the disorder and incompleteness of human actions (compare the marginal reference), and also man’s impotence to rectify them. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

Ecclesiastes 1:14-15. I have seen all the works, &c. Diligently observed, and, in a great measure, understood them; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit Not only unsatisfying, but also an affliction or breaking to a man’s spirit. That which is crooked, &c. All our knowledge serves only to discover our miseries, but is utterly insufficient to remove them; it cannot rectify those disorders which are either in our own hearts and lives, or in the men and things of the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Lessons from experience (1:12-2:26)Writing as Solomon, the author now looks back and describes the experiences of a truly wise and wealthy man who searched for a meaning to life. First he tried the study of wisdom, but it led only to misery and frustration. Some things could not be made to fit any sort of consistent pattern; others, which in theory may have solved some problems, in practice did not exist (12-15). His learning and experience enabled him to tell the difference between wisdom and... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:15

Ecclesiastes 1:15. And that which is wanting cannot be numbered— Nor can men's wants be numbered. For the first clause of this verse, see chap. Ecclesiastes 7:13. From the 12th to this verse, we have the second proof of the first proposition, taken from the various occupations of men in search of happiness, which Solomon had both opportunities to observe from his high station, and abilities to observe rightly, from the wisdom he was endowed with, Ecclesiastes 1:12-13. These he found to be such,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:15

15. Investigation ( :-) into human ways is vain labor, for they are hopelessly "crooked" and "cannot be made straight" by it ( :-). God, the chief good, alone can do this (Isaiah 40:4; Isaiah 45:2). wanting— (Isaiah 45:2- :). numbered—so as to make a complete number; so equivalent to "supplied" [MAURER]. Or, rather, man's state is utterly wanting; and that which is wholly defective cannot be numbered or calculated. The investigator thinks he can draw up, in accurate numbers, statistics of man's... read more

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