Don’t Be Overly Righteous or Overly Wicked?

Many have wondered about the exhortations found in Ecclesiastes 7:16-17: “Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?”

Is Solomon saying that if one’s conduct doesn’t fall within some medium standard between righteousness and wickedness, that the result could be destruction or a premature death?

The Keil-Delitzsch Commentary says that these counsels warn “against extremes, on the side of good as well as on that of evil” (note on Ecclesiastes 7:15-16). And later, “But it is strange that the author now warns against an excess in wickedness, so that he seems to find wickedness, up to certain degree, praiseworthy and advisable” (note on Ecclesiastes 7:17).

Contradictions?

But aren’t we supposed to strive for righteousness and to put away all evil? Didn’t Christ say, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48)? Aren’t we to seek to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16)?

Only the righteous will receive eternal life (Matthew 25:46). The apostle Paul says that the unrighteous man will not inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9).

“For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).

And doesn’t the prophet Amos say we are to hate evil and love good (Amos 5:15)?

On the surface, those verses in Ecclesiastes seem to contradict everything else we find in God’s Word. Yet Paul wrote, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

And Jesus said, “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). The Bible does not contradict itself.

So, what does God want us to learn from those verses? If they aren’t contradictory to other scriptures, how should they be understood? In what way are they profitable to those of us who are seeking to live by the Word of God? Let’s look into what Solomon meant by overly righteous or overly wicked.

Overly righteous

“Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16).

Reading the rest of the Bible, it would seem that the more righteous we are, the more pleasing to God we would be. And of course, that is true.

Is it possible to be too righteous? Or does the Bible speak of a “righteousness” that might not, in fact, be pleasing to God? Is this a way of saying we should avoid being self-righteous? The only true righteousness is that which comes from following guidelines revealed through the Holy Scriptures, not what we might choose to come up with on our own.

The Jews of Paul’s time had tried to establish their own righteousness.

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3, emphasis added).

The Pharisees’ wrong approach to righteousness

In His ministry, Christ was surrounded by religious leaders who considered themselves super righteous.

Like many religious people today, they had substituted religious traditions for God’s commandments. Jesus spoke to them about this wrong tendency, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? . . . Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:3, 7-9).

Jesus’ later correction of the scribes and Pharisees was even more direct and forceful:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25-28).

Jesus had much to say about those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” (Luke 18:9). Their criteria for righteousness came from their own ideas and traditions, rather than the Word of God.

Moses warned against adding to or taking away from the instruction we have in the Holy Scriptures. “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32).

The scribes and Pharisees failed to heed that admonition. Jesus observed, “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:4).

They thought they could make themselves and their followers more righteous by adding to God’s laws, requiring much more than what God had said! So, over the centuries they had added hundreds of additional rules and traditions, making it very difficult just to remember all of them, let alone live by them.

Modern parallel

Sadly, many of the teachings and practices of churches today are similarly based on nonbiblical traditions handed down for generations. These include holidays with pagan roots like Christmas and Easter, which have been substituted for the clear biblical commands to observe God’s festivals. These nonbiblical customs clearly add to and take away from the laws God plainly commanded for us.

Jeremiah prophesied that someday people would wake up to the lies they had inherited. “O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Surely our fathers have inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things’” (Jeremiah 16:19).

Nonbiblical practices are worthless in advancing our relationship with God. Even worse, such practices can give a false sense of righteousness! “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Do not be overly wicked

Okay, so what about being “overly wicked”? “Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?” (Ecclesiastes 7:17).

Is this saying that to be slightly wicked, evil or unrighteous is acceptable? How much wickedness can we allow into our lives before we cross the line of “overly” or too much?

To say that Solomon is advocating a middle ground between wickedness and righteousness is contradictory to a host of other statements, not only in Ecclesiastes, but also the rest of Scripture. One’s goal should be to not be wicked at all!

The Bible does not contradict itself. A few verses later, verse 20 helps us to understand his point: “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.”

So it seems Solomon is saying, I know you are going to make mistakes, and you are going to sin. But do realize that there are some sins that are even more damaging, more permanent, and harder to get over than others. There are some that can cause you to die prematurely, just as there are some that can hurt other people and sometimes irrevocably destroy relationships—sins like murder and child abuse and adultery. Any sin can be forgiven, but some leave memories and scars that are even harder to get past.

Like the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is primarily directed to young people. Without the wisdom and experience of an older person, they tend to make more mistakes in their youth and are more vulnerable to poor judgment and sins. David spoke of the “sins of my youth” (Psalm 25:7).

So in Ecclesiastes, Solomon especially has in mind the young man who lacks maturity and experience. A few chapters later, he wrote:

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10).

Solomon admonishes young people to enjoy those years of their youth; they’ll soon be gone. They are going to make some mistakes—everyone does—but they should do their best to especially avoid the kind of mistakes that could do irreversible damage to themselves and others.

We should do our best to avoid all sins, but especially those that hurt and scar more. Some leave deep scars. Some can even sear the conscience, resulting in a person no longer being ashamed or bothered by the sins, and this is very dangerous.

If we will listen to these warnings, we can avoid a lot of pain and problems. “It is good that you grasp this, and also not remove your hand from the other; for he who fears God will escape them all” (Ecclesiastes 7:18).

We all sin even after repentance and baptism

So we see that, rather than being contradictory, these verses actually support all that is taught throughout the rest of the Word of God.

In our journey to become truly righteous (not self-righteous) by developing the mind of Christ, we will slip up from time to time. We must not let that deter us or cause us to give up. This is part of learning and growing as a Christian.

It is a battle to remove sin from our conduct. But it is a winnable one with God’s help. You will face many temptations and obstacles. All who are already on that straight and narrow path know—we’ve been there! But Christ assured us that “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).

We are called to be holy as He is holy and to strive to live a life free of sin. And what is sin? (See our article “What Is Sin?”) How would we even know what sin is but for the righteous law of God?

David, a man after God’s own heart, wrote, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:7-10).

Obedience to that beautiful law of love is an essential step toward achieving righteousness.

If you want to look deeper into this journey toward true, godly righteousness, check out our article “How to Be Righteous.”