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Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7 verses 23–29
Solomon had hitherto been proving the vanity of the world and its utter insufficiency to make men happy; now here he comes to show the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make men miserable; and this, as the former, he proves from his own experience, and it was a dear-bought experience. He is here, more than any where in all this book, putting on the habit of a penitent. He reviews what he had been discoursing of already, and tells us that what he had said was what he knew and was well assured of, and what he resolved to stand by: All this have I proved by wisdom, Ecc 7:23. Now here,
I. He owns and laments the deficiencies of his wisdom. He had wisdom enough to see the vanity of the world and to experience that that would not make a portion for a soul. But, when he came to enquire further, he found himself at a loss; his eye was too dim, his line was too short, and, though he discovered this, there were many other things which he could not prove by wisdom.
1.His searches were industrious. God had given him a capacity for knowledge above any; he set up with a great stock of wisdom; he had the largest opportunities of improving himself that ever any man had; and, (1.) He resolved, if it were possible, to gain his point: I said, I will be wise. He earnestly desired it as highly valuable; he fully designed it as that which he looked upon to be attainable; he determined not to sit down short of it, Pro 18:1. Many are not wise because they never said they would be so, being indifferent to it; but Solomon set it up for the mark he aimed at. When he made trial of sensual pleasures, he still thought to acquaint his heart with wisdom (Pro 2:3), and not to be diverted from the pursuits of that; but perhaps he did not find it so easy a thing as he imagined to keep up his correspondence with wisdom, while he addicted himself so much to his pleasures. However, his will was good; he said, I will be wise. And that was not all: (2.) He resolved to spare no pains (Ecc 7:25): "I applied my heart; I and my heart turned every way; I left no stone unturned, no means untried, to compass what I had in view. I set myself to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, to accomplish myself in all useful learning, philosophy, and divinity." If he had not thus closely applied himself to study, it would have been but a jest for him to say, I will be wise, for those that will attain the end must take the right way. Solomon was a man of great quickness, and yet, instead of using that (with many) as an excuse for slothfulness, he pressed it upon himself as an inducement to diligence, and the easier he found it to master a good notion the more intent he would be that he might be master of the more good notions. Those that have the best parts should take the greatest pains, as those that have the largest stock should trade most. He applied himself not only to know what lay on the surface, but to search what lay hidden out of the common view and road; nor did he search a little way, and then give it over because he did not presently find what he searched for, but he sought it out, went to the bottom of it; nor did he aim to know things only, but the reasons of things, that he might give an account of them.
2.Yet his success was not answerable or satisfying: "I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; I could not compass it. After all, This only I know that I know nothing, and the more I know the more I see there is to be known, and the more sensible I am of my own ignorance. That which is far off, and exceedingly deep, who can find it out?" He means God himself, his counsels and his works; when he searched into these he presently found himself puzzled and run aground. He could not order his speech by reason of darkness. It is higher than heaven, what can he do? Job 11:8. Blessed be God, there is nothing which we have to do which is not plain and easy; the word is nigh us (Pro 8:9); but there is a great deal which we would wish to know which is far off, and exceedingly deep, among the secret things which belong not to us. And probably it is a culpable ignorance and error that Solomon here laments, that his pleasures, and the many amusements of his court, had blinded his eyes and cast a mist before them, so that he could not attain to true wisdom as he designed.
II. He owns and laments the instances of his folly in which he had exceeded, as, in wisdom, he came short. Here is,
1.His enquiry concerning the evil of sin. He applied his heart to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness. Observe, (1.) The knowledge of sin is a difficult knowledge, and hard to be attained; Solomon took pains for it. Sin has many disguises with which it palliates itself, as being loth to appear sin, and it is very hard to strip it of these and to see it in its true nature and colours. (2.) It is necessary to our repentance for sin that we be acquainted with the evil of it, as it is necessary to the cure of a disease to know its nature, causes, and malignity. St. Paul therefore valued the divine law, because it discovered sin to him, Rom 7:7. Solomon, who, in the days of his folly, had set his wits on work to invent pleasures and sharpen them, and was ingenious in making provision for the flesh, now that God had opened his eyes is as industrious to find out the aggravations of sin and so to put an edge upon his repentance. Ingenious sinners should be ingenious penitents, and wit and learning, among the other spoils of the strong man armed, should be divided by the Lord Jesus. (3.) It well becomes penitents to say the worst they can of sin, for the truth is we can never speak ill enough of it. Solomon here, for his further humiliation, desired to see more, [1.] Of the sinfulness of sin; that is it which he lays the greatest stress upon in this inquiry, to know the wickedness of folly, by which perhaps he means his own iniquity, the sin of uncleanness, for that was commonly called folly in Israel, Gen 34:7; Deu 22:21; Jdg 20:6; Sa2 13:12. When he indulged himself in it, he made a light matter of it; but now he desires to see the wickedness of it, its great wickedness, so Joseph speaks of it, Gen 39:9. Or it may be taken there generally for all sin. Many extenuate their sins with this, They were folly; but Solomon sees wickedness in those follies, an offence to God and a wrong to conscience. This is wickedness, Jer 4:18; Zac 5:8. [2.] Of the folly of sin; as there is a wickedness in folly, so there is a folly in wickedness, even foolishness and madness. Wilful sinners are fools and madmen; they act contrary both to right reason and to their true interest.
2.The result of this enquiry.
(1.)He now discovered more than ever of the evil of that great sin which he himself had been guilty of, the loving of many strange women, Kg1 11:1. This is that which he here most feelingly laments, and in very pathetic expressions. [1.] He found the remembrance of the sin very grievous. O how heavily did it lie upon his conscience! what an agony was he in upon the thought of it - the wickedness, the foolishness, the madness, that he had been guilty of! I find it more bitter than death. As great a terror seized him, in reflection upon it, as if he had been under the arrest of death. Thus do those that have their sins set in order before them by a sound conviction cry out against them; they are bitter as gall, nay, bitter as death, to all true penitents. Uncleanness is a sin that is, in its own nature, more pernicious than death itself. Death may be made honourable and comfortable, but this sin can be no other than shame and pain, Pro 5:9, Pro 5:11. [2.] He found the temptation to the sin very dangerous, and that it was extremely difficult, and next to impossible, for those that ventured into the temptation to escape the sin, and for those that had fallen into the sin to recover themselves by repentance. The heart of the adulterous woman is snares and nets; she plays her game to ruin souls with as much art and subtlety as ever any fowler used to take a silly bird. The methods such sinners use are both deceiving and destroying, as snares and nets are. The unwary souls are enticed into them by the bait of pleasure, which they greedily catch at and promise themselves satisfaction in; but they are taken before they are aware, and taken irrecoverably. Her hands are as bands, with which, under colour of fond embraces, she holds those fast that she has seized; they are held in the cords of their own sin, Pro 5:22. Lust gets strength by being gratified and its charms are more prevalent. [3.] He reckoned it a great instance of God's favour to any man if by his grace he has kept him from this sin: He that pleases God shall escape from her, shall be preserved either from being tempted to this sin or from being overcome by the temptation. Those that are kept from this sin must acknowledge it is God that keeps them, and not any strength or resolution of their own, must acknowledge it a great mercy; and those that would have grace sufficient for them to arm them against this sin must be careful to please God in every thing, by keeping his ordinances, Lev 18:30. [4.] He reckoned it a sin that is as sore a punishment of other sins as a man can fall under in this life: The sinner shall be taken by her. First, Those that allow themselves in other sins, by which their minds are blinded and their consciences debauched, are the more easily drawn to this. Secondly, it is just with God to leave them to themselves to fall into it. See Rom 1:26, Rom 1:28; Eph 4:18, Eph 4:19. Thus does Solomon, as it were, with horror, bless himself from the sin in which he had plunged himself.
(2.)He now discovered more than ever of the general corruption of man's nature. He traces up that stream to the fountain, as his father had done before him, on a like occasion (Psa 51:5): Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. [1.] He endeavoured to find out the number of his actual transgressions (Ecc 7:27): "Behold, this have I found, that is, this I hoped to find; I thought I could have understood my errors and have brought in a complete list, at least of the heads of them; I thought I could have counted them one by one, and have found out the account." He desired to find them out as a penitent, that he might the more particularly acknowledge them; and, generally, the more particular we are in the confession of sin the more comfort we have in the sense of the pardon; he desired it also as a preacher, that he might the more particularly give warning to others. Note, A sound conviction of one sin will put us upon enquiring into the whole confederacy; and the more we see amiss in ourselves the more diligently we should enquire further into our own faults, that what we see not may be discovered to us, Job 34:32. [2.] He soon found himself at a loss, and perceived that they were innumerable (Ecc 7:28): "Which yet my soul seeks; I am still counting, and still desirous to find out the account, but I find not, I cannot count them all, nor find out the account of them to perfection. I still make new and amazing discoveries of the desperate wickedness that there is in my own heart," Jer 17:9, Jer 17:10. Who can know it? Who can understand his errors? Who can tell how often he offends? Psa 19:12. He finds that if God enters into judgment with him, or he with himself, for all his thoughts, words, and actions, he is not able to answer for one of a thousand, Job 9:3. This he illustrates by comparing the corruption of his own heart and life with the corruption of the world, where he scarcely found one good man among a thousand; nay, among all the thousand wives and concubines which he had, he did not find one good woman. "Even so," says he, "When I come to recollect and review my own thoughts, words, and actions, and all the passages of my life past, perhaps among those that were manly I might find one good among a thousand, and that was all; the rest even of those had some corruption or other in them." He found (Ecc 7:20) that he had sinned even in doing good. But for those that were effeminate, that passed in the indulgence of his pleasures, they were all naught; in that part of his life there did not appear so much as one of a thousand good. In our hearts and lives there appears little good, at the best, but sometimes none at all. Doubtless this is not intended as a censure of the female sex in general; it is probable that there have been and are more good women than good men (Act 17:4, Act 17:12); he merely alludes to his own sad experience. And perhaps there may be this further in it: he does, in his proverbs, warn us against the snares both of the evil man and of the strange woman (Pro 2:12, Pro 2:16; Pro 4:14; Pro 5:3); now he had observed the ways of the evil women to be more deceitful and dangerous than those of the evil men, that it was more difficult to discover their frauds and elude their snares, and therefore he compares sin to an adulteress (Pro 9:13), and perceives he can no more find out the deceitfulness of his own heart than he can that of a strange woman, whose ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. [3.] He therefore runs up all the streams of actual transgression to the fountain of original corruption. The source of all the folly and madness that are in the world is in man's apostasy from God and his degeneracy from his primitive rectitude (Ecc 7:20): "Lo, this only have I found; when I could not find out the particulars, yet the gross account was manifest enough; it is as clear as the sun that man is corrupted and revolted, and is not as he was made." Observe, First, How man was made by the wisdom and goodness of God: God made man upright; Adam the first man, so the Chaldee. God made him, and he made him upright, such a one as he should be; being made a rational creature, he was, in all respects, such a one as a rational creature should be, upright, without any irregularity; one could find no fault in him; he was upright, that is, determined to God only, in opposition to the many inventions which he afterwards turned aside to. Man, as he came out of God's hands, was (as we may say) a little picture of his Maker, who is good and upright. Secondly, How he was marred, and in effect unmade, by his own folly and badness: They have sought out many inventions - they, our first parents, or the whole race, all in general and every one in particular. They have sought out great inventions (so some), inventions to become great as gods (Gen 3:5), or the inventions of the great ones (so some), of the angels that fell, the Magnates, or many inventions. Man, instead of resting in what God had found for him, was for seeking to better himself, like the prodigal that left his father's house to seek his fortune. Instead of being for one, he was for many; instead of being for God's institutions, he was for his own inventions. The law of his creation would not hold him, but he would be at his own disposal and follow his own sentiments and inclinations. Vain man would be wise, wiser than his Maker; he is giddy and unsettled in his pursuits, and therefore has many inventions. Those that forsake God wander endlessly. Men's actual transgressions are multiplied. Solomon could not find out how many they are (Ecc 7:28); but he found they were very many. Many kinds of sins, and those often repeated. They are more than the hairs on our heads, Psa 40:12.
Consider therefore how it is written in the book of Ecclesiastes, “I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who shall find it out?” [Consider] what is said in the Psalms, “The knowledge of you is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” And Solomon says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.” [Therefore] I frequently designed to stop and to cease writing; believe me, I did. But lest I should be found to disappoint you, or by my silence to lead into impiety those who have made enquiry of you and are given to disputation, I constrained myself to write briefly, what I have now sent to your piety.
Even if all minds, in fact, should combine their researches and all tongues would concur in their utterance, never, as I have said, could anyone achieve a worthy result in this matter. Solomon, the wisest of all, presents this thought clearly to us when he says, “I have said: I will be wise; and it departed farther from me”; not that it really fled but because wisdom appears unattainable particularly to those to whom knowledge has been given in an exceptionally high degree by the grace of God.
Who is it, who made all things by his Word, and formed man by his Wisdom, and gathered into one things scattered abroad, and mingled dust with spirit, and compounded an animal visible and invisible, temporal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, able to attain to God but not to comprehend him, drawing near and yet far off? “I said, I will be wise,” says Solomon, “but she was far from me beyond what is,” and, “Verily, he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.” For the joy of what we have discovered is no greater than the pain of what escapes us; a pain, I imagine, like that felt by those who are dragged, while yet thirsty, from the water, or are unable to retain what they think they hold, or are suddenly left in the dark by a flash of lightning.
What Ecclesiastes is saying is this: Before I turned my thoughts to ponder over God’s work, I was not aware of God’s magnificence. I said, I must have wisdom; that is, I must inquire into the nature of every cause; and wisdom withdrew farther away from me than it ever was before. By that I mean, formerly I was not in quest of wisdom because I was unaware of it, and afterwards, when I began to seek it, I could not find it.
"I have
proved all this by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me." "That
which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? "Just as is attested in the Book of Kings [Cfr. III Reg. 3. 4.]
he says that he sought wisdom more than other men, and tried to reach the
pinnacle, but the more he sought, the less he found, and in the midst of his
confusion, he was surrounded by the darkness if ignorance. But at another time, regarding him who was
learned in the Scriptures- the more he wanted to know, the more a greater
obscurity arose each day for him.
Another meaning of this is: he seems to mean that contemplation of
wisdom in this life is like looking in a mirror or at a picture; therefore if I
look at my face in the mirror in the future I'll think back to the way it used
to be, and then in the liquid pool I'll recognise that I differ greatly from
the way I used to be.
As far in it as the breath of the divine Spirit may have brought us, yet the vastness that opens out before our eyes is ever more immeasurable. In the words of Solomon, “It will become much farther from us than it was, and a great depth. Who shall find it out?” Therefore let us beseech the Lord that the fear of him and the love that cannot fail may remain fixed in us, making us wise in all things and keeping us ever unharmed from the devil’s missiles. For with these protections it is impossible for anyone to fall into the snares of death. -.
As the breath of the Divine Spirit drives us further in, so is there an ever-widening and immeasurable vastness opened to us, reaching beyond the sight of our eye. As Solomon says, “It will become much further from us than it was, and a great depth. Who shall find it out?” Therefore let us pray to the Lord that both his fear and his love, which cannot fail, may continue steadfast in us, make us wise in all things, and ever shield us unharmed from the darts of the devil. For with these guards it is impossible for anyone to fall into the snares of death.
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SUMMARY
Ecclesiastes 7:24 encapsulates Qoheleth's profound and humbling realization regarding the inherent limitations of human wisdom and intellectual inquiry. Despite his diligent and exhaustive search, the Preacher concludes that ultimate truths, the deepest realities of existence, and the full scope of God's purposes remain "far off" and "exceeding deep," inherently beyond the complete grasp of human intellect. This verse stands as a poignant acknowledgment of the unsearchable nature of certain divine mysteries and the futility of attempting to fully comprehend them through human effort alone, leading to a posture of intellectual humility.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ecclesiastes 7:24 employs several potent Literary Devices to convey its central message of intellectual humility and the limits of human understanding. The most prominent is the Rhetorical Question, "who can find it out?". This question is not posed to elicit an answer, but rather to emphatically state that no one can, thereby highlighting the absolute inability of humanity to fully grasp the profound truths Qoheleth describes. The phrases "far off" and "exceeding deep" function as powerful Metaphors for the inherent inaccessibility and incomprehensibility of these ultimate truths. They evoke vivid images of physical distance and profound depth to represent conceptual remoteness and intellectual unfathomability. Furthermore, the KJV's rendering "exceeding deep" subtly hints at Intensification or even Hyperbole, as the underlying Hebrew (ʻâmôq ʻâmôq) utilizes repetition to emphasize an extreme, unplumbable depth, reinforcing the idea that these truths are not merely deep, but impossibly so for human comprehension. This masterful combination of devices powerfully communicates Qoheleth's humbling realization about the inherent boundaries of human knowledge in the face of divine mystery.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ecclesiastes 7:24 profoundly articulates the fundamental theological truth of God's transcendence and the inherent limitations of human understanding. It asserts that there are ultimate realities, divine purposes, and the full scope of God's wisdom that remain entirely beyond the exhaustive investigative capacity of humanity. This realization does not diminish the intrinsic value of seeking wisdom or knowledge, but rather reorients the seeker toward a posture of profound humility and a greater dependence on divine revelation, rather than relying solely on self-sufficient intellectual prowess. The verse implicitly points to a God whose thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than our own, whose wisdom is not fully discoverable or exhaustible through human reason alone. It serves as a crucial theological counterpoint to any form of humanistic hubris that presumes complete intellectual mastery over all truth, reminding us that true wisdom begins with acknowledging the vastness of what we cannot know and reverently acknowledging the One who knows all things perfectly.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ecclesiastes 7:24 offers a timeless and profoundly relevant lesson in intellectual humility and spiritual perspective for all generations. In an age that often prioritizes human discovery, scientific advancement, and the relentless pursuit of comprehensive knowledge, this verse serves as a crucial reminder that not all truths are quantifiable, fully discernible, or exhaustively knowable through human effort alone. It encourages us to embrace the inherent mystery in God's creation and His sovereign ways, finding a deep sense of peace and contentment in the knowledge that some things are simply beyond our current capacity to "find out." This should not, however, lead to intellectual apathy or a cessation of diligent inquiry. Instead, it should inspire a deeper reliance on God's gracious self-revelation and a greater appreciation for the profound wisdom He has chosen to disclose to us. Ultimately, this verse invites us to live wisely and responsibly within the boundaries of what is knowable, while reverently acknowledging the vastness of what remains hidden, trusting implicitly that God's unsearchable wisdom is always good, always purposeful, and always perfectly ordered for His glory and our ultimate good.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "far off" and "exceeding deep" mean in this context?
Answer: In Ecclesiastes 7:24, "far off" and "exceeding deep" are powerful metaphorical expressions referring to ultimate truths, divine mysteries, or the profound meaning of existence that are inherently inaccessible and incomprehensible to the finite human intellect. "Far off" suggests remoteness, being beyond reach, or existing at a great distance from human perception. "Exceeding deep" (reflecting an emphatic repetition of the Hebrew word for "deep") implies an unfathomable, unplumbable profundity, like an abyss that cannot be sounded. Together, these phrases emphasize the absolute limits of human wisdom to fully grasp certain divine realities or the complete, intricate workings of God's universe. It is Qoheleth's humble and honest admission that despite his diligent and exhaustive search for wisdom, some ultimate answers and the full scope of God's purposes remain hidden from human discovery.
Does this verse discourage the pursuit of wisdom or knowledge?
Answer: No, Ecclesiastes 7:24 does not discourage the pursuit of wisdom or knowledge; rather, it refines and reorients it. Throughout the book, Qoheleth diligently seeks wisdom and consistently encourages its acquisition and appreciation (e.g., Ecclesiastes 7:12). This verse serves as a crucial corrective, reminding us of the inherent and divinely ordained boundaries of human wisdom. It promotes intellectual humility, acknowledging that while much can be known and understood "under the sun" through diligent inquiry, certain ultimate truths and divine mysteries remain "far off" and "exceeding deep," accessible only through God's gracious revelation or entirely beyond our current comprehension. It ultimately redirects our focus from self-sufficient discovery to a reverent acceptance of God's unsearchable ways and a humble reliance on His self-disclosure.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Ecclesiastes 7:24, with its poignant declaration of human inability to "find out" what is "far off" and "exceeding deep," finds its ultimate fulfillment and profound resolution in the person of Jesus Christ. The unsearchable wisdom and the deep mysteries of God, which Qoheleth despaired of comprehending through human effort, are fully embodied, revealed, and made accessible in Christ. He is not merely a wise teacher or a profound philosopher, but the very "wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24), in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). What was "far off" and "exceeding deep" for humanity has been brought near and made plain through His incarnation, His perfect life, His atoning death, and His glorious resurrection. The Father has chosen to reveal Himself not through the exhaustive searching of human reason, but uniquely and fully through His Son, for "no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27). Thus, the human quest for ultimate truth, which Qoheleth found so frustratingly limited and unfulfilling, is supremely satisfied in Christ, who is the "way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), making the previously unsearchable God knowable and bringing divine light to the deepest mysteries of existence.