Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 7:20
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Preacher (Qohelet) addresses a general audience in a run of practical observations (Ecclesiastes 7:12–28). The verse sits between a commendation of wisdom (v. 19) and a warning against over-listening (v. 21), functioning as the hinge: no one is exempt from the problem the surrounding advice addresses.
The words — צַדִּיק (tsadik) is the technical term for a righteous person, not a vague "good guy"; the Preacher denies that even one exists on earth. The negation אֵין ('ein) is a flat, absolute "there is not," not a soft "few."
The thread — The same universal claim recurs in Romans 3:23 ("all have sinned"), Isaiah 53:6 ("each one has turned to his own way"), and 1 John 1:8 ("we have no sin" is self-deception).
Why it lands — It forecloses the reader's ability to hold themselves up as the exception. The verse is not a comfort; it is a barrier to self-righteousness that makes the surrounding practical wisdom necessary rather than optional.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Cross-references
- Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- Isaiah 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
- 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Proverbs 20:9 Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?
- 1 Kings 8:46 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
- Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
- Isaiah 64:6 Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- 2 Chronicles 6:36 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,
- Psalms 143:2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.