The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 1:15 Explained

Ecclesiastes 1:15

KJV: That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

YLT: A crooked thing one is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered.

Darby: That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

ASV: That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[That which is] crooked  cannot  be made straight:  and that which is wanting  cannot  be numbered. 

What does Ecclesiastes 1:15 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 - The Testimony Of An Unsatisfied Soul
All is vanity! This cry finds an echo in human hearts of every age and clime. Clod meant man to be happy. "These things," said our Lord, "I have spoken to you, that your joy may be full." "The fruit of the Spirit is joy." Yet the air is laden with complaint and bitterness. Men are asking constantly, "Is life worth living?" The present age is full of unrest and weariness, of war and strife, of unsatisfied yearnings and desires. The mistake is that men seek to solve the mystery of life and to find their happiness apart from God, who has made us for Himself.
This book was written and incorporated in the Bible to show that man's quest for happiness is vain, so long as it is apart from God. Solomon had unbounded opportunities for pursuing his quest. Youth, wealth, wisdom, royalty, human love were his, but when all were mixed in the golden cup of his life, he turned from the draught unsatisfied and sad. Listen to the sigh of the sated voluptuary: Vanity of vanities! Let us turn from these bitter experiences to 1 John 2:15-17. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 1

1  the preacher shows that all human courses are vain
4  because the creatures are restless in their courses
9  they bring forth nothing new, and all old things are forgotten
12  and because he has found it so in the studies of wisdom

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 1:15 mean?

[What is] crooked cannot be made straight and what is lacking be numbered
מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־ יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת

מְעֻוָּ֖ת  [What  is]  crooked 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָוַת  
Sense: to be bent, be crooked, bend, make crooked, pervert.
לֹא־  cannot 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יוּכַ֣ל  be  made 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
לִתְקֹ֑ן  straight 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: תָּקַן  
Sense: to equalise, make straight, become straight.
וְחֶסְר֖וֹן  and  what  is  lacking 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֶסְרֹון  
Sense: the thing lacking, defect, deficiency.
לְהִמָּנֽוֹת  numbered 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Nifal, Infinitive construct
Root: מָנָה  
Sense: to count, reckon, number, assign, tell, appoint, prepare.