Ecclesiastes 12:10 (DBY)

Passage

The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher: all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 12:9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are as goads, and the collections [of them] as nails fastened in: they are given from one shepherd.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 And besides, my son, be warned by them: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "preacher", "sought", "find", "acceptable", "words", "written", and "upright". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "preacher" and "sought", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And moreover because the Preacher was wise..." into verse 11's "The words of the wise are as...", so "preacher" and "sought" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "preacher" and "sought" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.