Ecclesiastes 7:27 (DRB)

Passage

And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 7:25 Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out?

Ecclesiastes 7:26 I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:

Ecclesiastes 7:27 And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.

Ecclesiastes 7:28 Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account,

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "found", "woman", "bitter", "than", "death", "hunter's", "snare", and "heart". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "found" and "woman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "I have surveyed all things with my..." into verse 28's "Lo this have I found said Ecclesiastes...", so "found" and "woman" 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 "found" and "woman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.