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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- BSB 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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.
- NLT 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!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
After diligent searching the Preacher confesses he found scarcely one upright person, and even fewer among the rest. The point is the rarity of true integrity, not a slur on any group.
Overview
This difficult verse laments how rare genuine uprightness is in a fallen world, using the proverbial 'one in a thousand' to stress scarcity. Read with verse 29, it is best taken as a confession of universal human crookedness rather than a sweeping judgment on women; the immediate target is Solomon's own bitter experience and humanity in general. Faithful interpreters differ on its precise force, but all agree it underscores that no one is righteous apart from grace (Romans 3:10-12).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 12:1Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Job 33:23If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
- 1 Kgs 11:1–3But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
- Isa 26:9With 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.
- Eccl 7:23–24All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 7:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.