Ecclesiastes 7:24

New Living Translation

Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find.

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
That which is, is far off and exceeding deep; who can find it out?

New Century Version
I cannot understand why things are as they are. It is too hard for anyone to understand.

New English Translation
Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding; it is far deeper than anyone can fathom.

Webster's Bible Translation
That which is far off, and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?

World English Bible
That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?

Amplified Bible
Whatever has been is far off, deeply remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it [for it is beyond the grasp of man]?

English Standard Version
That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and the depthe is hiy, who schal fynde it?

English Revised Version
That which is is far off, and exceeding deep; who can find it out?

Berean Standard Bible
What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

Contemporary English Version
The truth is beyond us. It's far too deep.

American Standard Version
That which is, is far off and exceeding deep; who can find it out?

Bible in Basic English
Far off is true existence, and very deep; who may have knowledge of it?

Complete Jewish Bible
That which exists is far away and deep, so deep, that it can't be discovered.

Darby Translation
Whatever hath been, is far off, and exceeding deep: who will find it out?

Easy-to-Read Version
I cannot understand why things are as they are. It is too hard for anyone to understand.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
That which is is far off, and exceeding deep; who can find it out?

King James Version (1611)
That which is farre off, and exceeding deepe, who can finde it out?

New Life Bible
Wisdom has been far away and hidden. Who can find it?

New Revised Standard
That which is, is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

Geneva Bible (1587)
It is farre off, what may it be? and it is a profound deepenesse, who can finde it?

George Lamsa Translation
Yea, wisdom was far off; it also had depth beyond depth; who can find it out?

Good News Translation
How can anyone discover what life means? It is too deep for us, too hard to understand.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Far away, is that which hath been, - and deep, deep, who can find it out?

Douay-Rheims Bible
(7-25) Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?

Revised Standard Version
That which is, is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
yea and so deepe, that I might not reache vnto her.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
All these things have I proved in wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

Christian Standard Bible®
What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it?

Hebrew Names Version
That which is, is far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out?

King James Version
That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?

Lexham English Bible
Whatever is—it is far beyond comprehension. Who can discover it?

Literal Translation
That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?

Young's Literal Translation
Far off [is] that which hath been, and deep, deep, who doth find it?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
then she was before, yee & so depe that I might not reach vnto her.

New American Standard Bible
What has been is remote and very mysterious. Who can discover it?

New King James Version
As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
What has been is remote and exceedingly mysterious. Who can discover it?

Legacy Standard Bible
What has been is far away and exceedingly deep. Who can find it?

Contextual Overview

²³ I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, "I am determined to be wise." But it didn't work. ²⁴ Wisdom is always distant and difficult to find. ²⁵ I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things. I was determined to prove to myself that wickedness is stupid and that foolishness is madness. ²⁶ I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare. ²⁷ "This is my conclusion," says the Teacher. "I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. ²⁸ 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! ²⁹ But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Job 11:7, Job 11:8, Job 28:12-23, Job 28:28, Psalms 36:6, Psalms 139:6, Isaiah 55:8, Isaiah 55:9, Romans 11:33, 1 Timothy 6:16

Reciprocal: Job 28:20 - General Psalms 92:5 - deep Ecclesiastes 1:8 - man Ecclesiastes 7:28 - yet Ecclesiastes 8:17 - that a man Ecclesiastes 11:5 - even

Cross-References

Genesis 7:3
Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood.

Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That which is far off,.... Or, "far off [is] that which has been" g. That which has been done by God already, in creation and providence, is out of the reach of men, is far from their understandings wholly to comprehend or account for; and likewise that which is past with men, what has been done in former ages, the history of past times, is very difficult to come at: or rather, according to Schmidt, and Rambachius after him, what was of old is now afar off or absent; the image of God in man which consisted of perfect wisdom, and was created at the same time with him, is now lost, and that is the reason why wisdom is far from him;

and exceeding deep, who can find it out? the primitive perfect wisdom is sunk so deep and gone, that no man can find it to the perfection it was once enjoyed; see Job 28:12. This may respect the knowledge of God, and the perfections of his nature; which are as high as heaven, and deeper than hell, Job 11:7; and of his thoughts, counsels, purposes, and decrees, which are the deep things of God; as well as the doctrines of the Gospel, and the mysteries of grace, 1 Corinthians 2:10; and even his providential dispensations towards the sons of men, Romans 11:33. The Targum of the whole is,

"Lo, now it is far off from the children of men to know all that has been from the days of old; and the secret of the day of death, and the secret of the day in which the King Messiah shall come, who is he that shall find it out by his wisdom?''

g רחוק מה שהיה "remotum (est) illud quod fuit", Montanus, Mercerus, Vatablus, Drusius, Gejerus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

literally, Far off is that which hath been i. e., events as they have occurred in the order of Divine Providence), and deep, deep, who can find it out?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 24. That which is far off — Though the wisdom that is essential to our salvation may be soon learned, through the teaching of the Spirit of wisdom, yet in wisdom itself there are extents and depths which none can reach or fathom.