Ecclesiastes 7:26

And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Teacher addresses readers while reflecting on his search for wisdom and the folly of wickedness. He speaks from a position of examined experience, having just noted his attempt to understand madness and stupidity.

The words — מַר (mar) translates literally as bitter, and מִ/מָּ֗וֶת (mi./Ma.vet) means more than death. These terms establish the extreme severity of the entrapment described.

The thread — The text’s warning aligns with Proverbs 22:14, which describes a deep pit for those under God’s wrath. It also connects to Proverbs 5:3, noting dripping lips and smooth speech, and Proverbs 2:16, which speaks of rescuing someone from a forbidden woman and a stranger with seductive words.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of a specific danger and identifies divine pleasure as the only means of escape. It requires the reader to choose alignment with God to avoid being caught.

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

And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Cross-references

Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
Proverbs 5:3 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 2:16 It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Proverbs 2:18 For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Proverbs 7:21 With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
Proverbs 23:27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
Judges 16:18 When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.
Proverbs 9:18 But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.