Ecclesiastes 7:16
in Ecclesiastes 7Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
KJV
Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
⋯
This verse in Ecclesiastes 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhy shouldest thou destroy thyself? - תשומם tishshomem, make thyself desolate, so that thou shalt be obliged to stand alone; neither make thyself over-wise, תתחכם tithchaccam, do not pretend to abundance of wisdom. Why shouldest thou be so singular? In other words, and in modern language, “There is no need of all this watching, fasting, praying, self-denial, etc., you carry things to extremes. Why should you wish to be reputed singular and precise?” To this the man of God answers:
This site's exposition
In my futile life I have seen both of these
on Ecclesiastes 7:15-18
The Teacher reports two anomalies, A righteous man perishing and a wicked man living long. The counsel Do not be overly righteous has drawn two readings, a caution against censorious strictness, or the world's excuse for sin reported. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
This site's exposition
Do not be overly righteous
Wesley hears the voice of an ungodly man who uses the fate of the righteous to dissuade others from righteousness. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take it as Solomon's own warning against a self-made righteousness of outward works. Henry applies it to fasting that ruins health.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
She also said, 'The devil sometimes sends a severe fast which is too prolonged; the devil's disciples do this as well as holy men. How do we distinguish the fasting of our God and King from the fasting of that tyrant the devil? Clearly by …
No one can say that he has strayed from ignorance into some silly fancy of separating, locally, the supreme from that which is below, and assigning to the Father as it were the peak of some hill, while he seats the Son lower down in the hollows. No one is so childish as to conceive of differences in space, when the intellectual and spiritual is under discussion. Local position is a property of the material: but the intellectual and immaterial is confessedly removed from the idea of locality. What, then, is the reason why he says that the Father alone has supreme being? For one can hardly think it is from ignorance that he wanders off into these conceptions, being one who, in the many displays he makes, claims to be wise, even "making himself overwise," as the Holy Scripture forbids us to do.
Neither those who love too much nor those who hate, abide by the rule of truth. The former lie through love; the latter lie through hatred. It is right to place a bridle even on charity and to permit it freedom to roam only insofar as it does not rush headlong over a cliff. Scripture says, in Ecclesiastes, "Do not be righteous in excess, nor think yourself more than you are, lest perhaps you should be struck dumb." Following this, I can say something similar. Do not love a man "with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength." Do not love an angel "with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength." In accord with the Savior's words, keep this command in respect to God alone. For, he says, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Above he set forth instructions for possessing modesty, constancy, and prudence; here in the fourth place he sets forth instructions for possessing justice: and because that is not true justice which exceeds in rigor and cruelty, but rather is to be scorned by piety: therefore …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Be not - This verse and the next have a manifest reference to ver. 15, being two inferences drawn from the two clauses of the observation. Solomon here speaks in the person of an ungodly man, who takes occasion to dissuade men from righteousness, because of the danger which attends it.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Self-denial and mortification of the flesh are good; but if we prejudice our health by them, and unfit ourselves for the service of God, we are righteous overmuch. To reprove those that offend is good, but to cast that pearl before swine, who will turn again and rend us, is to be righteous overmuch. "Make not thyself over-wise.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Be not righteous over much,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
However, "Be not righteous over much," may be taken as Solomon's words, forbidding a self-made righteousness of outward performances, which would wrest salvation from God, instead of receiving it as the gift of His grace. It is a fanatical, pharisaical righteousness, separated from God; for the "fear of God" is in antithesis to it (Ec 7:18;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּהִ֤י | tehi | you be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| צַדִּיק֙ | tzadik | righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| הַרְבֵּ֔ה | harbeh | greatly | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּתְחַכַּ֖ם | titchakam | you make yourself wise | H2449 → | 27 times |
| יוֹתֵ֑ר | yoter | excess | H3148 → | 9 times |
| לָ֖מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תִּשּׁוֹמֵֽם׃ | tishomem | will you destroy yourself | H8074 → |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּהִ֤יyou be
tehiH1961 →3559 times
צַדִּיק֙righteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
הַרְבֵּ֔הgreatly
harbehH7235 →227 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
תִּתְחַכַּ֖םyou make yourself wise
titchakamH2449 →27 times
יוֹתֵ֑רexcess
yoterH3148 →9 times
לָ֖מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תִּשּׁוֹמֵֽם׃will you destroy yourself
tishomemH8074 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 12:3For 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…
it leads to
- Galatians 6:3
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
- Philippians 2:3–8
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- Galatians 6:3
Through
Colossians 2:18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual…
it leads to
- Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- 1 John 4:1–2
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Colossians 2:8
Through
Proverbs 25:16If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.
it leads to
- Proverbs 25:27
It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory.
- Proverbs 25:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius, Book 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 25:6.