Ecclesiastes 7:17 BSB

Ecclesiastes 7:17

Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

KJV

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

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Commentary

4 voices

Ambrose of Milan

Concerning Repentance 1.1.2 (397)

He who endeavors to amend the faults of human weakness ought to bear this very weakness on his own shoulders, let it weigh upon himself, not cast it off. For we read that the Shepherd in the Gospel carried the weary sheep and did not cast it off. And Solomon says, "Be not overmuch righteous," for restraint should temper righteousness. For how shall he offer himself to you for healing whom you despise, who thinks that he will be an object of contempt, not of compassion, to his physician?

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes (420)

"Do not be too wicked, and do not be foolish: why should you die before your time? "When God says, "I do not want the death of the dying, only let him return and live" [Ezek. 18, 32.], it suffices to have sinned only once. We ought to raise ourselves up after a catastrophe. For just like those who argue about worldly matters, the swallow knows how to protect its young from poppy seeds, and wounded roes seek wild marjoram to cure themselves. Then why are we ignorant that the cure of repentance is proposed for sinners?

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? - אל תרשע הרבה al tirsha harbeh. Do not multiply wickedness, do not add direct opposition to godliness to the rest of your crimes. Why should you provoke God to destroy you before your time? Perdition will come soon enough. If you will not turn from your sins, and avoid it finally, yet keep out of it as long as you can.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Solomon says, therefore, Be not so foolish (answering antithetically to "over wise," Ec 7:16), as to run to such excess of riot, that God will be provoked to cut off prematurely thy day of grace (Ro 2:5). The precept is addressed to a sinner. Beware of aggravating thy sin, so as to make thy case desperate.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
אַל־	'al-	may not	H408 →
תִּרְשַׁ֥ע	tir.Sha'	you be wicked	H7561 →
הַרְבֵּ֖ה	har.Beh	greatly	H7235 →
וְאַל־	ve.'al-	and may not	H408 →
תְּהִ֣י	te.Hi	you be	H1961 →
סָכָ֑ל	sa.Khal	a fool	H5530 →
לָ֥מָּה	La.mah	<to> why?	H4100 →
תָמ֖וּת	ta.Mut	will you die	H4191 →
בְּלֹ֥א	be.Lo'	at not	H3808 →
עִתֶּֽךָ׃	'i.Te.kha	time your	H6256 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Job 22:16
They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
leads to
- Job 15:32
  It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.
leads to
- Proverbs 9:11
  For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.
- Proverbs 3:2
  for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
Through
Acts 12:23
Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
leads to
- Acts 10:25–26
  As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him.
- Psalms 115:1
  Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4
  He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Acts 14:14–15
  But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
Through
Psalms 55:23
But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
leads to
- Proverbs 10:27
  The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 7 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 7 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Ecclesiastes