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Updated Bible Version
Ecclesiastes 7:29
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- EveryParallel Translations
See, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."
"Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices."
Lo this onlye haue I founde, that God made man iust and right: but they sought many inuentions.
Only see this which I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.
Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes."
See, this only I have found, that God has made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.
"There is one other thing I have learned. God made people good, but they have found many ways to be bad."
Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.
Loe, this onely haue I found, that God hath made man vpright: but they haue sought out many inuentions.
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Lo, this onely haue I founde, that God made man iust & right, but they seke dyuerse sotylties,
"Behold, I have found only this [as a reason]: God made man upright and uncorrupted, but they [both men and women] have sought out many devices [for evil]."
Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
This only have I seen, that God made men upright, but they have been searching out all sorts of inventions.
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.
I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.
This is the only thing I have found, that God made human beings upright, but they have devised many schemes.
Onely loe, this haue I founde, that God hath made man righteous: but they haue sought many inuentions.
But behold, this thing I have found, that God has made men upright; but they have sought out many devices.
Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.
Behold, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path."
See, I have found only this, that God made men right, but they have found many sinful ways."
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.
Behold, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.
Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes."
See, this alone I found, that God made human beings straightforward, but they have devised many schemes.
Only, see, this, have I found, That God made man upright, but, they, have sought out many devices.
(7-30) Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?
Look! This alone I found: God made mankind upright, but they have devised many schemes."
See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
"Behold, I have found only this, that God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes."
One thing I have learned: God made people good, but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad."
This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.
Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes."
I foond this oonli, that God made a man riytful; and he medlide hym silf with questiouns with out noumbre. Who is siche as a wijs man? and who knowith the expownyng of a word?
Behold, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.
See, this alone I have found, that God made man upright, and they -- they have sought out many devices.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
God: Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:1
they: The descendants of Adam have sought out an immense number of inventions, in order to find happiness in the world, without God, which have only proved so many variations of impiety and iniquity. Genesis 3:6, Genesis 3:7, Genesis 6:5, Genesis 6:6, Genesis 6:11, Genesis 6:12, Genesis 11:4-6, Psalms 99:8, Psalms 106:29, Psalms 106:39, Jeremiah 2:12, Jeremiah 2:13, Jeremiah 4:22, Ezekiel 22:6-13, Mark 7:8, Mark 7:9, Acts 7:40-43, Romans 1:21-32, Romans 3:9-19, Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 2:3, Titus 3:3
Reciprocal: Job 15:14 - is man Psalms 14:3 - all gone Psalms 33:15 - fashioneth Proverbs 19:21 - many Proverbs 21:8 - way Ecclesiastes 3:11 - hath made Ezekiel 28:15 - till iniquity Romans 1:30 - inventors Romans 3:12 - They are
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright,.... The first man Adam, as the Targum and Jarchi interpret it; and not Adam only, but Eve also with him; for these were both made by the Lord, and on the same day, and in the same image, and had the same common name of Adam given them, Genesis 1:27; And they were both made "upright"; which is to be understood, not of the erectness of their bodies, but of the disposition of their minds; they were
"right and innocent before him,''
or in the sight of God, as the Targum; which is best explained by their being made in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26; and which, according to the apostle, lay in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, Ephesians 4:24; agreeably to which Plato o make likeness to God to be righteous and holy, with prudence: for this likeness of Adam and Eve to God; lay not in the shape of their bodies, for God is a spirit, and not a corporeal being, as the Anthropomorphites imagined, and so fancied men to be made like unto him in this respect; but in their souls, and it consisted of knowledge; of the knowledge of the creatures, their nature, use, and ends for which they were made, and put under their government; and of God, and his perfections, as made known in the creatures; and of his mind and will, and manner of worshipping him, he revealed unto them; and they might know the trinity of Persons in the Godhead, who were concerned in the making of them, though they seem not to have known Christ, as Mediator and Saviour, which was not necessary previous to their fall; nor evangelical truths suited to a fallen state: also this image lay in righteousness and true holiness, which was original, natural, and created with them; it was with them as soon as they were; not acquired, but infused; not a habit obtained, but a quality given; and this not supernatural, but natural; it was perfect in its kind, and entirely agreeable to the holy, just, and good law of God; it had no defects in it, yet was but the righteousness of a creature, and loseable, as the event showed; and so very different from the righteousness of Christ, man is justified by. Likewise, this uprightness is no other than the rectitude of human nature, of all the powers and faculties of the soul of man, as they were when he was created; his understanding clear of all errors and mistakes, either about divine or human things; his affections regular and ordinate, no unruly passion in him, no sinful affection, lust, and desire; he loved God with all his heart and soul, and delighted in him, and communion with him; the bias of his will was to that which is good; the law of God was written on his heart, and he had both power and will to keep it; and, during his state of integrity, was pure and sinless; yet he was not impeccable, as the confirmed angels and glorified saints are; nor immutable, as God only is; but being a creature, and changeable, he was liable to temptation, and subject to fall, as he did. Now Solomon, with all his diligent search and scrutiny, could not find out the infinity of sin, the boundless extent of it among mankind, the exceeding sinfulness of it, which he sought after, Ecclesiastes 7:25; yet this he "found" out, and this "only", the fountain of all sin, the origin of moral evil; namely, the corruption of human nature through the fall of Adam: this he found by reading the Scriptures, the three first chapters of Genesis; and by consulting human nature he found some remains of the image of God, and of the law that was in man's heart; whereby he perceived that man was once another man than he is now; and that this corruption is not owing to God, who is not the author of any thing sinful, he made man upright; but to himself, his own sin and folly: and this he found confirmed by sad experience; in himself and others, and by observing the history of all ages, from the times of the first man; and as this was notorious, it was worth knowing and observing, and therefore he calls upon others to take notice of it; lo, behold, consider it, as well as what follows;
but they have sought out many inventions; that is, Adam and Eve, not content with their present knowledge and happiness, they sought out new ways and means of being wiser and happier than God made them, or it was his will they should be. "They sought out the inventions of the many", or "great things", or "of the mighty and great ones" p, as it may be rendered, the eternal Three in One; they sought to be as wise as God himself; or, however, as the great and mighty ones, the angels, who excelled them, as in strength, so in knowledge; see Genesis 3:5; or they sought out thoughts of sin, as Jarchi says it is interpreted in the Midrash. Sins are the inventions of men, and these are many and numerous; they sought to gratify their senses, on which followed innumerable evils; and then they sought for shifts and evasions to excuse themselves; the man shifting it from himself, and throwing the blame upon the woman, and the woman upon the serpent: and so sinning, they lost the knowledge they had; their righteousness and holiness, the rectitude of their nature; the moral freedom of their will to that which is good, and their power to perform it; and they lost the presence of God, and communion with him: and so their posterity are not only inventors of evil things, of sins, but of new ways of happiness; some placing it in riches; others in honours; others in pleasures; and some in natural wisdom and knowledge; and some in their own works of righteousness; the vanity of all which Solomon has before exposed.
o Theaeteto, p. 129. p חשבנות רבים "cogitationes magnatum", De Dieu; "ratiocina multarum, magnarumque rerum", so some in Rambachius; see Luke x. 41, 42.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
God hath made - Rather, God made. A definite allusion to the original state of man: in which he was exempt from vanity.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Ecclesiastes 7:29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright — Whatever evil may be now found among men and women, it is not of God; for God made them all upright. This is a singular verse, and has been most variously translated: עשה האלהים את האדם ישר והמה בקשו חשבנות רבים asah haelohim eth haadam yashar vehemhah bikkeshu chishbonoth rabbim.
"Elohim has made mankind upright, and they have sought many computations."
"He hath meddled with endless questions." - VULGATE.
"Many reasonings." - SEPTUAGINT, SYRIAC, and ARABIC.
"They seek dyverse sotylties."COVERDALE.
And he himself mengide with questions without eend. - Old MS. Bible.
The Targum considers the text as speaking of Adam and Eve.
"This have I found out, that the Lord made the first man upright before him, and innocent: but the serpent and Eve seduced him to eat of the fruit of the tree, which gave the power to those who ate of it to discern between good and evil; and was the cause that death came upon him, and all the inhabitants of the earth; and they sought that they might find out many stratagems to bring this evil upon all the inhabitants of the world."
I doubt much whether the word חשבנות chishbonoth should be taken in a bad sense. It may signify the whole of human devices, imaginations, inventions, artifice, with all their products; arts, sciences, schemes, plans, and all that they have found out for the destruction or melioration of life. God has given man wondrous faculties; and of them he has made strange uses, and sovereign abuses: and they have been, in consequence, at one time his help, and at another his bane. This is the fair way of understanding this question.
