Ecclesiastes 7:16

This verse and the next have a manifest reference to Ecclesiastes 7:15, being two inferences drawn from the two clauses of the observation there recorded. And this verse was delivered by Solomon, either,

1. In the name and person of an ungodly man, who taketh occasion to dissuade men from the practice of righteousness and true wisdom, because of the danger which attends it, and is expressed in the middle of the former, and the end of this verse. Therefore, saith he, it is not good to be more nice than wise, take heed of strictness, zeal, and forwardness in religion. And then the next verse contains an antidote to this poisonous suggestion; yea, rather, saith he, be not wicked or foolish over-much; for that will not preserve thee, as thou mayst imagine from the last clause of Ecclesiastes 7:15, but will occasion and hasten thy ruin. But seeing these words are very capable of another sense, and there is no proof or evidence of this sense in them, as there is in all other places where Solomon speaks in the person of an epicure, this interpretation may seem to be dangerous, and liable to misconstruction. Or,

2. In his own person. And so these words are a caution to prevent, as far as may be, that destruction which oft attends upon righteous men, as was observed, Ecclesiastes 7:15. Be not righteous over-much; either,

1. By being too severe in observing, censuring, and punishing the faults of others beyond the rules of equity, without giving any allowance for human infirmity, extraordinary temptations, the state of times, and other circumstances. Or,

2. By being more just than God requires, either laying those yokes and burdens upon a man's self or others which God hath not imposed upon him, and which are too heavy for him, of which see on Matthew 23:4, or condemning or avoiding those things as sinful which God hath not forbidden, which really is superstition, but is here called righteousness abusively, because it is so in appearance, and in the opinion of such persons. So he gives them the name, but by adding over-much, denies the thing, because righteousness, as well as other virtues, avoids both the extremes, the excess as well as the deficit. Or,

3. By an imprudent and unseasonable ostentation or exercise of righteousness where it is not necessary, as if a protestant travelling in a popish country should publicly profess his religion to all whom he meets with, or when a man casts the pearl of reproof before swine, against that caution, Matthew 7:6. So this is a precept that men should manage their zeal with godly wisdom, and with condescension to others, as far as may be. But this is not to be understood, either,

1. Of such prudence as keeps a man from the practice of his duty, but only of that prudence which directs him in ordering the time, manner, and other circumstances of it. Or,

2. As if men could be too good, or too holy, since the strictest holiness which any man in this life can arrive at falls far short both of the rule of God's word, and of those examples of God and Christ, and the holy angels, which are propounded in Scripture for our imitation. Neither make thyself over-wise; be not wise in thine own conceit, nor above what is written, 1 Corinthians 4:6, nor above what is meet; which he here implieth to be the cause of being righteous over-much. Why shouldest thou destroy thyself? for thereby thou wilt unnecessarily expose thyself to danger and mischief.