Ecclesiastes 7:16

Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

Darby Translation

In The King James Version

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

In Context

15All [this] have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a righteous [man] that perisheth by his righteousness, and there is a wicked [man] that prolongeth [his days] by his wickedness.

17Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 7

Cross References

Job 11:12Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born [like] the foal of a wild ass.

Proverbs 23:4Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:

Ecclesiastes 12:12And besides, my son, be warned by them: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Matthew 9:14Then come to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees often fast, but thy disciples fast not?

Matthew 23:5And all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders [of their garments],

Matthew 23:29Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the just,

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 7:12-23

The Advantages of Wisdom. 11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. 12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. 13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 7:16