Ecclesiastes 7:29

"Lo, this only have I found, that God created man upright; but they seek many arts." Also here the order of the words is inverted, since זה, belonging as obj. to מץ (have I found), which is restricted by לבד, is amalgamated with ראה (Lo! see!). The author means to say: Only this (solummodo hocce) have I found, that ...; the ראה is an interjected nota bene. The expression: God has made man ישׁר, is dogmatically significant. Man, as he came from the Creator's hand, was not placed in the state of moral decision, nor yet in the state of absolute indifference between good and evil; he was not neither good nor bad, but he was טוב, or, which is the same thing, ישׁר; i.e., in every respect normal, so that he could normally develope himself from this positively good foundation. But by the expression ישׁר `שׁ, Koheleth has certainly not exclusively his origin in view, but at the same time his relative continuation in the propagation of himself, not without the concurrence of the Creator; also of man after the fall the words are true, ישׁר עשׂה, in so far as man still possesses the moral ability not to indulge sinful affections within him, nor suffer them to become sinful actions. But the sinful affections in the inborn nature of weak sinful man have derived so strong a support from his freedom, that the power of the will over against this power of nature is for the most part as weakness; the dominance of sin, where it is not counteracted by the grace of God, has always shown itself so powerful, that Koheleth has to complain of men of all times and in all circles of life: they seek many arts (as Luther well renders it), or properly, calculations, inventions, devices (hhishshevonoth, (Note: If we derive this word from hhěshbon, the Dagesh in the שׁ is the so-called Dag. dirimens.)…

Solomon had given many proofs and instances of the vanity of this world and the things of it; now, in this chapter, I. He recommends to us some good means proper to be used for the redress of these grievances and the arming of ourselves against the mischief we are in danger of from them, that we may make the best of the bad, as 1. Care of our reputation (Ecc 7:1). 2. Seriousness (Ecc 7:2-6). 3. Calmness of spirit (Ecc 7:7-10). 4. Prudence in the management of all our affairs (Ecc 7:11, Ecc 7:12). 5. Submission to the will of God in all events, accommodating ourselves to every condition (Ecc 7:13-15). 6. A conscientious avoiding of all dangerous extremes (Ecc 7:16-18). 7. Mildness and tenderness towards those that have been injurious to us (Ecc 7:19-22). In short, the best way to save ourselves from the vexation which the vanity of the world creates us is to keep our temper and to maintain a strict government of our passions. II. He laments his own iniquity, as that which was more vexatious than any of these vanities, that mystery of iniquity, the having of many wives, by which he was drawn away from God and his duty (Ecc 7:23-29).

7:29 After much searching, the Teacher did find that humanity’s downward path from God’s created order (Gen 1:27-28; 2:23-25; 3:1-19) was repeated by Adam and Eve’s descendants (cp. Rom 3:10-18, 23).