Ecclesiastes 7:26–29
"One man among a thousand" and a feminine verb
Qoheleth finds "more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares" (v. 26), says he found one man (adam) in a thousand but no woman (v. 28), and concludes that God made humankind upright, but they sought many schemes (v. 29). In v. 27 the Hebrew has a feminine verb with Qoheleth (amerah qohelet); most scholars redivide the letters as amar ha-qohelet, as in 12:8. The Greek adds "this folly" in v. 26.
Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently
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✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
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- Translation
Every witness, in order
Often dated 4th–3rd century BC (debated)
The book as first written
No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Ecclesiastes are two Qumran fragments, 4Q109 (4QQoh-a, mid-2nd century BC, reported) and 4Q110 (4QQoh-b, reported).
Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
et inveni amariorem morte mulierem, quæ laqueus venatorum est, et sagena cor ejus; vincula sunt manus illius. Qui placet Deo effugiet illam; qui autem peccator est capietur ab illa. Ecce hoc inveni, dixit Ecclesiastes, unum et alterum ut invenirem rationem, quam adhuc quærit anima mea, et non inveni. Virum de mille unum reperi; mulierem ex omnibus non inveni. Solummodo hoc inveni, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis miscuerit quæstionibus. Quis talis ut sapiens est? et quis cognovit solutionem verbi?
Latin numbering: Ecclesiastes 7:27–30. Jerome translated Ecclesiastes from Hebrew (c. AD 398), after writing a commentary on it (c. 388); the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
וּמוֹצֶ֨א אֲנִ֜י מַ֣ר מִמָּ֗וֶת אֶת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֨יא מְצוֹדִ֧ים וַחֲרָמִ֛ים לִבָּ֖הּ אֲסוּרִ֣ים יָדֶ֑יהָ ט֞וֹב לִפְנֵ֤י הָאֱלֹהִים֙ יִמָּלֵ֣ט מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְחוֹטֵ֖א יִלָּ֥כֶד בָּֽהּ׃ רְאֵה֙ זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אָמְרָ֖ה קֹהֶ֑לֶת אַחַ֥ת לְאַחַ֖ת לִמְצֹ֥א חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן׃ אֲשֶׁ֛ר עוֹד־בִּקְשָׁ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י וְלֹ֣א מָצָ֑אתִי אָדָ֞ם אֶחָ֤ד מֵאֶ֙לֶף֙ מָצָ֔אתִי וְאִשָּׁ֥ה בְכָל־אֵ֖לֶּה לֹ֥א מָצָֽאתִי׃ לְבַד֙ רְאֵה־זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֧ה הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָדָ֖ם יָשָׁ֑ר וְהֵ֥מָּה בִקְשׁ֖וּ חִשְּׁבֹנ֥וֹת רַבִּֽים׃
See, this I found, says (feminine verb) Qoheleth, one by one to find the sum (v. 27)… one human (adam) among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I did not find (v. 28)
Hebrew numbering: Ecclesiastes 7:26–29.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: 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. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Greek translation c. 1st–2nd century AD (debated); French 1872
Greek Ecclesiastes (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Et j’ai trouvé cette démence, et je la dis plus amère que la mort; de même est la femme que le veneur poursuit comme une proie, tandis que son cœur est un filet, et qu’elle tient des chaînes en sa main. L’homme bon en face du Seigneur fuira loin d’elle, et le pécheur y sera pris. Voilà ce que j’ai trouvé, dit l’Ecclésiaste, en prenant les choses une à une, pour en découvrir la raison. Mon âme l’a cherchée cette raison, et je ne l’ai point trouvée, et j’ai trouvé un homme sur mille; mais parmi toutes les femmes, je n’en ai pas trouvé une seule. Seulement voici ce que j’ai trouvé: Dieu a créé l’homme droit, et les hommes ont cherché une multitude de raisons; mais qui connaît les raisons véritables? Qui sait la solution des choses?
Greek (digital file) numbering: Ecclesiastes 7:27–30. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). A C check needs the Göttingen edition of Greek Ecclesiastes (P. J. Gentry, 2019). Note the added "cette démence" (this folly) in v. 26.
What changed, and why
The woman of v. 26 is drawn from Proverbs' figure of the seductress (Proverbs 5; 7), not all women. Verse 28 is harder: a generalization typical of male ancient wisdom, Qoheleth quoting a common saying in order to undercut it with v. 29, or a statement about the limits of his own search. Its attitude should be named honestly, not endorsed; the same book commends life with "the wife whom thou lovest" (9:9).
The feminine verb in v. 27 is unique: elsewhere Qoheleth takes masculine verbs. Qoheleth is grammatically feminine (like other office titles), but the redivision amar ha-qohelet needs no change of letters and matches 12:8 exactly. The verse is also a moment where a narrator frames Qoheleth's words ("says Qoheleth").
Hishbonot (v. 29), "schemes, devices," is the word used in 2 Chronicles 26:15 for war machines "invented by cunning men"; the related cheshbon (v. 27, "the account") is Qoheleth's search for the sum of things.
What the evidence shows
- The Masoretic Text of 7:27 has a feminine verb with Qoheleth.
- The original reading was amar ha-qohelet. A widely accepted redivision.
- 7:28 teaches women's moral inferiority. Framed by 7:29 and 9:9; an attitude to be named, not a teaching.
Sources
Related lessons
- Ecclesiastes 7: Better Than →Chapter 7 answers 6:12 ("who knoweth what is good?") with "better than" sayings: a good name than fine oil, the day of death than the day of birth, the house of mourning than the house of feasting (7:1–4); a wise rebuke than fools' songs (vv. 5–6). Oppression and bribes corrupt the wise (v. 7); the end is better than the beginning, patience than pride (vv. 8–9); do not ask why former days were better (v. 10). Wisdom is good with an inheritance; consider God's work: who can straighten what he made crooked? (vv. 11–14). Then the hardest sayings: the righteous perishing and the wicked living long, "Be not righteous over much" (vv. 15–18), and "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (v. 20). Qoheleth's search for wisdom ends with bitter words about a woman like a snare and "one man among a thousand" (vv. 23–28), and one finding: "God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions" (v. 29).
- Investigation: Who Was Qoheleth? →The book calls its speaker Qoheleth, "son of David, king in Jerusalem," and never names Solomon. Jewish and Christian tradition long read it as Solomon's. Most modern scholars date its Hebrew to the Persian or Hellenistic period (roughly 5th–3rd centuries BC) and read the royal voice as a literary persona. This investigation separates the categories that are often blurred: the title, the persona, the narrator who frames him, the historical author, and the date of the earliest copies.