Ecclesiastes 7:28
New International Version
while I was still searching but not finding— I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.

New Living Translation
Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman!

English Standard Version
which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

Berean Standard Bible
While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

King James Bible
Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

New King James Version
Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.

New American Standard Bible
which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

NASB 1995
which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

NASB 1977
which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

Legacy Standard Bible
which my soul still seeks but has not found. I have found one man out of a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all these.

Amplified Bible
which I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand [who pleases God], but I have not found [such] a woman among all these [a thousand in my harem].

Christian Standard Bible
which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman.

American Standard Version
which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And again my soul searched and I have not found; one man of a thousand I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found

Brenton Septuagint Translation
which my soul sought after, but I found not: for I have found one man of a thousand; but a woman in all these I have not found.

Contemporary English Version
but so far I have not been able to. I do know there is one good man in a thousand, but never have I found a good woman.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.

English Revised Version
which my soul still seeketh, but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I am still seeking a reason for things, but have not found any. I found one man out of a thousand who had it, but out of all these I didn't find one woman.

Good News Translation
I have looked for other answers but have found none. I found one man in a thousand that I could respect, but not one woman.

International Standard Version
Among the things I seek but have not found: one man among a thousand I did find, but I have not found one woman to be wise among all these.

JPS Tanakh 1917
which yet my soul sought, but I found not; one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Literal Standard Version
(that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), | One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.

Majority Standard Bible
While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.

New American Bible
What my soul still seeks and has yet to find is this: “One man out of a thousand have I found, but a woman among them all I have not found.”

NET Bible
What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only one upright man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

New Revised Standard Version
which my mind has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

New Heart English Bible
which my soul still seeks; but I have not found: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Webster's Bible Translation
Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

World English Bible
which my soul still seeks, but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a woman among all those.

Young's Literal Translation
(that still my soul had sought, and I had not found), One man, a teacher, I have found, and a woman among all these I have not found.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Limits of Human Wisdom
27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. 28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman. 29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”…

Cross References
1 Kings 11:3
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines--and his wives turned his heart away.

Ecclesiastes 7:27
"Behold," says the Teacher, "I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.


Treasury of Scripture

Which yet my soul seeks, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

yet

Ecclesiastes 7:23,24
All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me…

Isaiah 26:9
With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

one

Job 33:23
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:

Psalm 12:1
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

but

1 Kings 11:1-3
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; …

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Ecclesiastes 7
1. remedies against vanity are, a good name
2. mortification
7. patience
11. wisdom
23. The difficulty of wisdom














(28) One man among a thousand.--See Job 9:3; Job 33:23. The disparaging estimate of the female sex here expressed is common in countries where polygamy is practised. (See Ecclesiasticus 25:24; Ecclesiasticus 42:13.) It is credible enough that Solomon, with his thousand wives, did not find a good one among them; but see Proverbs 18:22; Proverbs 19:14; Proverbs 31:10. . . . Verse 28. - Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not; or, which my soul hath still sought, but I have not found. The conclusion at which he did arrive was something utterly different from what he had hoped to achieve. The soul and the ego are separately regarded (comp. ver. 25); the whole intellectual faculties were absorbed in the search, and the composite individual gives his consequent experience. One man (Adam) among a thousand have I found. He found only one man among a thousand that reached his standard of excellence - the ideal that he had formed for himself, who could be rightly called by the noble name of man. The phrase, "one of a thousand," occurs in Job 9:3; Job 33:23; Ecclus. 6:6 (εϊς ἀπὸ χιλίων, as in the Septuagint here). Adam, the generic term, is used here instead of ish, the individual, to emphasize the antithetical ishah, "woman," in the following clause, or to lead the thought to the original perfection of man's nature. So in Greek ἄνθρωπος is sometimes used for ἀνήρ, though generally the distinction between the two is sufficiently marked, as we find in Herodotus, 7:210, Ὅτι πολλοὶ μὲν ἄνθρωποι εϊεν ὀλίγοι δὲ ἄνδρες. But a woman among all those have I not found; i.e. not one woman in a thousand who was what a woman ought to be. Says the Son of Sirach, "All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman; let the portion of a sinner fall upon her" (Ecclus. 25:19). So the Greek gnome -

Θάλασσα καὶ πῦρ καὶ γυνὴ κακὰ τρία.

"Three evils are there - sea, fire, and woman." Solomon had a thousand wives and concubines, and his experience might well have been that mentioned in this passage.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
While
אֲשֶׁ֛ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

my soul
נַפְשִׁ֖י (nap̄·šî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5315: A soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion

was still
עוֹד־ (‘ō·wḏ-)
Adverb
Strong's 5750: Iteration, continuance, again, repeatedly, still, more

searching
בִּקְשָׁ֥ה (biq·šāh)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

but not
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

finding,
מָצָ֑אתִי (mā·ṣā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

among a thousand
מֵאֶ֙לֶף֙ (mê·’e·lep̄)
Preposition-m | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 505: A thousand

I have found
מָצָ֔אתִי (mā·ṣā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

one
אֶחָ֤ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

[upright] man,
אָדָ֞ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

but among all
בְכָל־ (ḇə·ḵāl-)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

these
אֵ֖לֶּה (’êl·leh)
Pronoun - common plural
Strong's 428: These, those

I have not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

found
מָצָֽאתִי׃ (mā·ṣā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

a [virtuous] woman.
וְאִשָּׁ֥ה (wə·’iš·šāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 7:28 Which my soul still seeks (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 7:27
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