Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ecclesiastes 7:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse states that no righteous person on earth always does good and never sins.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 7:19-22
Read Ecclesiastes 7:20 with 7:19-22. This verse states that no righteous person on earth always does good and never sins. The full unit establishes this movement: Wisdom can strengthen a person more than a city's powerful officials, yet no one is sinless, so listeners should not give total attention to every word or pretend they have never cursed others.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The unit turns humility into a practical listening rule before the speaker reports his own fraught search. Within that movement, this verse states that no righteous person on earth always does good and never sins.
Follow the Context
- Wisdom supplies more strength than ten rulers or warriors in a city.
- No righteous person on earth always does good without sin.
- Do not set the heart on all words spoken.
- Otherwise a servant's curse may be heard.
- The listener knows from personal memory that the listener has also cursed others.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“sinneth not”
In plain language: The impossible record of never failing morally.
states that no righteous person on earth always does good and never sins. Universal moral failure defeats perfection claims and calls every person to correction.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not erase differences between mistake and abuse or prevent consequences for serious harm.
It does not mean everyone is equally culpable or that victims must reconcile without safety and justice.
What Remains True
Universal moral failure defeats perfection claims and calls every person to correction.
How It Can Shape Life
- Build accountability that applies to admired leaders and to yourself.
Teach It Back
Explain Ecclesiastes 7:20's precise role in Ecclesiastes 7:19-22. Include the complete movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 — Wisdom, Universal Failure, and Overheard CursesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
This wisdom generalization concerns universal sin, not a claim that every person commits every kind of wrong.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 7:19-22, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 7:19-22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1209-1210, translation and notes on 7:19-22
Open source ↗