23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said, "I am determined to be wise"- but this was beyond me.

Other Translations of Ecclesiastes 7:23

King James Version

23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

English Standard Version

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me.

The Message

23 I tested everything in my search for wisdom. I set out to be wise, but it was beyond me,

New King James Version

23 All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise"; But it was far from me.

New Living Translation

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.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:23

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.