Be not overly righteous ???

[Pianoworldstage]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

 

[quietthinker]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

I think it's saying don't be self righteous ie, don't have too high an opinion of yourself

 

[DNB]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

I think because the author leads in with the demise of those who have perished prematurely, due to their righteousness, may offer some insight?
I might think that there's a danger in being too naive, which is indicative of bleeding hearts and those who wear rose-coloured glasses. People who suffer, do mature quick. That is, we suffer sometimes by being adventurous in one way or another, not remaining conservative (not necessarily being evil, but being exposed to it).
Plus, I agree with @quietthinker that there can be an element of self-righteousness, or again, being excessively conservative, about the connotation.

Ecclesiastes 7:15-17
7:15. I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. 16. Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? 17. Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

 

[Paul Christensen]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

What this tells me is that we should not trust in our own righteousness at all. We, as converted believers, have been given the righteousness of Christ as a free gift. This is all the righteousness we need.

 

[Enoch111]

I think it's saying don't be self righteous ie, don't have too high an opinion of yourself

That is probably what he meant.

 

[Paul Christensen]

That is probably what he meant.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" (Romans 12:3).

 

[Episkopos]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

God sees righteousness in people. But once we have been deemed righteous by the Lord...there is not MORE we can do about it. We can only just BE righteous. There is no extra righteousness we can attain of ourselves. So then focusing too much on being MORE righteous or more wise can be as harmful as not having enough of these.

This is about balance.

Now there is a higher righteousness...the righteousness of God. But to partake of God's righteousness one must have entered into a spiritual communion with Him. And this involves holiness...a holiness and righteousness which are NOT ours.

So then we should seek to obey God as we can in the flesh. Anything else we need to go to God for to equip us with His grace.

We can only do so much of ourselves. And God doesn't expect us to try perfecting ourselves in our own strength. His perfection is a free gift we receive when we enter INTO Christ....who is our sanctification and wisdom.

1 Cor. 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Now compare that with this...


ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise.

 

[Episkopos]

The righteous are scarcely saved. It is a minimum requirement of the Lord to act with righteousness. You can't be MORE saved by a personal righteousness. There is no more rewards for trying harder to be MORE righteous of ourselves.

But make no mistake ...they who claim to be saved but are not acting righteously will be rejected by God. We will all be judged on whether we have acted in righteousness or not. There are many who hold the truth in unrighteousness. If we wish to go farther with God....then we need to surrender ourselves into God's hands and seek the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness. If we are good representatives of Christ then we can also have an ABUNDANT salvation (not just a basic salvation)

 

[Joseph77]

It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

 

[Joseph77]

The Limits of Human Wisdom
15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. 16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?…
Berean Study Bible · Download

 

[Joseph77]

Cross References
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

 

[Joseph77]

excerpt from studylight.org

"John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Be not righteous over much,.... This is not meant of true and real righteousness, even moral righteousness, a man cannot be too holy or too righteous; but of a show and ostentation of righteousness, and of such who would be thought to be more righteous and holy than others, and therefore despise those who, as they imagine, do not come up to them; and are very rigid and censorious in their judgment of others, and very severe in their reproofs of them; and, that they may appear very righteous persons, will do more than what the law requires of them to do, even works of supererogation, as the Pharisees formerly, and Papists now, pretend, and abstain from the lawful use of things which God has given to be enjoyed; and macerate their bodies by abstinence, fastings, pilgrimages, penance, scourges, and the like, as the Eremites among the Christians, and the Turks, as Aben Ezra on the place observes; and many there be, who, by an imprudent zeal for what they judge right, and which sometimes are mere trifles, and by unseasonable reproofs for what is wrong, expose themselves to resentment and danger."

 

[DPMartin]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Be not overly righteous.
Surly that doesn't mean it's ok to sin from time to time?

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
Confused..

moderation

 

[Jay Ross]

The Limits of Human Wisdom
15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. 16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?…
Berean Study Bible · Download

If we must quote then we should look at and read the whole passage from which the above quote was wrestled from: -

The Limits of Human Wisdom​

15 In my futile life I have seen both of these:

A righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.​

16 Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.b

19 Wisdom makes the wise man
stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth
who does good and never sins.​

21 Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you. 22 For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me. 24 What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness. 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.

27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation. 28 While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found a virtuous woman. 29 Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Footnotes:

18 b Or will avoid all extremes
​

 

[Joseph77]

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I ...
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified,

a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, Galatians 6:14

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.


No compromise.
(also re Keith Green, etc)

 

[Pianoworldstage]

Thank you Episkopos, interesting read. Also thank you to everyone else.

 

[Dcopymope]

Hi
Not exactly sure what God is saying here..

ECCLESIASTES 7:16
Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

I think this is pretty self explanatory. Whenever humans figure things out, it tends to inflate their ego into believing they are something more than they really are, so gotta put a lid on it.

Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

"Overly Wicked"? Weird statement, as if Solomon is saying its fine to be a little "wicked" to get things done. If that's the case, then I understand, the Hebrews didn't take the promised land by being nice and kind. In this world, it pays to get your hands dirty sometimes. The "overly righteous" will claim otherwise of course because they think they are so above reproach. You can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs you know.