28 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.
28 while I was still searching but not finding- I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.
28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
28 But the wisdom I've looked for I haven't found. I didn't find one man or woman in a thousand worth my while.
28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.
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!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:28
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:23-29
(Read Ecclesiastes 7:23-29)
Solomon, in his search into the nature and reason of things, had been miserably deluded. But he here speaks with godly sorrow. He alone who constantly aims to please God, can expect to escape; the careless sinner probably will fall to rise no more. He now discovered more than ever the evil of the great sin of which he had been guilty, the loving many strange women, 1 Kings 11:1. A woman thoroughly upright and godly, he had not found. How was he likely to find such a one among those he had collected? If any of them had been well disposed, their situation would tend to render them all nearly of the same character. He here warns others against the sins into which he had been betrayed. Many a godly man can with thankfulness acknowledge that he has found a prudent, virtuous woman in the wife of his bosom; but those men who have gone in Solomon's track, cannot expect to find one. He traces up all the streams of actual transgression to the fountain. It is clear that man is corrupted and revolted, and not as he was made. It is lamentable that man, whom God made upright, has found out so many ways to render himself wicked and miserable. Let us bless Him for Jesus Christ, and seek his grace, that we may be numbered with his chosen people.