15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, A minus that won't add up.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:15
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
(Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)
Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the more he knew, the more he saw cause to lament and mourn. Let us learn to hate and fear sin, the cause of all this vanity and misery; to value Christ; to seek rest in the knowledge, love, and service of the Saviour.