Passage
Ecclesiastes 7.29
29. Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (ASV)Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
27. Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, laying one thing to another, to find out the account; 28. 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.
29. Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (Ecclesiastes 7:27-29, ASV)
WEB
27. “Behold, I have found this,” says the Preacher, “to one another, to find out the scheme; 28. 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.
29. Behold, I have only found this: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:27-29, WEB)
KJV
27. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: counting: or, weighing one thing after another, to find out the reason 28. 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.
29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (Ecclesiastes 7:27-29, KJV)
YLT
27. See, this I have found, said the Preacher, one to one, to find out the reason 28. (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.
29. See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they, they have sought out many devices. (Ecclesiastes 7:27-29, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: TBD
- Audience: TBD
- Location: TBD
- Time period: TBD
Theological reading
Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.
- TBD
- TBD
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Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
Notes
Your annotations.
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.