Ecclesiastes 7:29 (DRB)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

Ecclesiastes 7:30 Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "soul", "seeketh", "found", "thousand", and "woman". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "soul" and "seeketh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "Lo this have I found said Ecclesiastes..." into verse 30's "Only this I have found that God...", so "soul" and "seeketh" 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 "soul" and "seeketh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.