I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.
World English Bible
Ecclesiastes 7:25
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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- TCENT Text-Critical English New Testament A modern reasoned-eclectic New Testament (2022) · CC BY 4.0
- F35 Family 35 New Testament Wilbur Pickering's Byzantine-priority New Testament, with text-critical commentary notes · CC BY-SA 4.0
- OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible A Messianic-Jewish English Bible using transliterated Hebrew names and terms · CC BY 4.0
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Is wisdom a good thing?
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and James repeatedly extol wisdom as supremely valuable, something to be pursued and preferred over gold. Genesis 3:6, Job 37:24, and 1 Corinthians 1:19 present wisdom as dangerous, rejected by God, or targeted for destruction.
Critical scholarship: Usually considered reconciled.
Theology
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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Should we think for ourselves?
Proverbs 2:2, Ecclesiastes 7:25, and 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ("test all things") encourage active critical thinking. Proverbs 3:5 ("lean not on your own understanding") and 2 Corinthians 10:5 ("bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ") push the opposite direction — distrust your own reasoning and submit your thoughts.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward reconciliation.
Law & ethics
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Ecclesiastes 7:25 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/ecclesiastes/7/25?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).