Ecclesiastes 7 (WK) - Bible Truth Library

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Ecclesiastes 7

Eccl. 7:16 KJV (With Strong’s)

Bec not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou βdestroye thyself?

Rom. 10:2• ²For I bear witness to them that they have zeal for God but not according to knowledge. (Rom. 10:2)

Eccl. 12:12• ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by them;{HR}Of making many books [there is] no end;{HR}And much study [is] a weariness of the flesh. (Eccl. 12:12)

be desolate.

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Righteousness

Cross References

Ministry on This Verse

Be not.This verse is probably the language of an ungodly man; to which Solomon answers, as in the following verse, "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?"

Prov. 25:16• ¹⁶Hast thou found honey?{HR}Eat so much as is sufficient for thee,{HR}Lest thou be surfeited therewith, and vomit it. (Prov. 25:16)

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Matt. 6:1‑7• ¹Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward with your Father that is in the heavens.
²When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men: Verily I say to you, They do get their reward.
³But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right doeth,
⁴that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father that seeth in secret will repay to thee.
⁵And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they should appear to men. Verily I say to you, They do get their reward.
⁶But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father that is in secret, and thy Father that seeth in secret will repay to thee.
⁷But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as those of the nations; for they think they shall be heard through their much speaking. (Matt. 6:1‑7)

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

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Matt. 15:2‑9• ²Why do thy disciples transgress what has been delivered by the ancients? for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
³But he answering said to them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God on account of your traditional teaching?
⁴For God commanded saying, Honour father and mother; and, He that speaks ill of father or mother, let him die the death.
⁵But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or mother, It is a gift, whatsoever [it be] by which [received] from me thou wouldest be profited:
⁶and he shall in no wise honour his father or his mother; and ye have made void the commandment of God on account of your traditional teaching.
⁷Hypocrites! well has Esaias prophesied about you, saying,
⁸This people honour me with the lips, but their heart is far away from me;
⁹but in vain do they worship me, teaching [as] teachings commandments of men. (Matt. 15:2‑9)

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Matt. 23:5,23‑24,29• ⁵And all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders [of their garments],
²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and ye have left aside the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith: these ye ought to have done and not have left those aside.
²⁴Blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but drink down the camel.
²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the just, (Matt. 23:5,23‑24,29)

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Luke 18:12• ¹²I fast twice in the week, I tithe everything that I acquire. (Luke 18:12)

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Rom. 10:2• ²For I bear witness to them that they have zeal for God but not according to knowledge. (Rom. 10:2)

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Phil. 3:6• ⁶according to zeal persecuting the church, according to righteousness that [is] in law blameless. (Phil. 3:6)

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1 Tim. 4:3• ³forbidding to marry, [bidding] to abstain from meats which God created for reception with thanksgiving by those faithful and fully acquainted with the truth. (1 Tim. 4:3)

neither.

Eccl. 12:12• ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by them;{HR}Of making many books [there is] no end;{HR}And much study [is] a weariness of the flesh. (Eccl. 12:12)

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Gen. 3:6• ⁶When the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that [it was] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree [was] desirable to make wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Gen. 3:6)

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Job 11:12• ¹²But empty man would be wise,{HR}Yet is man born a wild ass’s colt. (Job 11:12)

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Job 28:28• ²⁸And unto man he said,{HR}Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom,{HR}And to depart from evil understanding. (Job 28:28)

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Prov. 23:4• ⁴Weary not thyself to become rich;{HR}Cease from thine own intelligence. (Prov. 23:4)

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Rom. 11:25• ²⁵For I do not wish you, brethren, to be ignorant of this mystery, that ye be not wise in your own eyes, that hardness hath happened in part to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in; (Rom. 11:25)

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Rom. 12:3• ³For through the grace of God that is given to me, I say to everyone that is among you not to be high-minded above what he ought to be minded, but to be minded to sober-mindedness as God to each hath dealt a measure of faith. (Rom. 12:3)

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1 Cor. 3:18,20• ¹⁸Let none deceive himself; if anyone thinketh himself to be wise among you in this age, let him become foolish that he may be wise.
²⁰and again, [The] Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise that they are vain. (1 Cor. 3:18,20)

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Col. 2:18,23• ¹⁸Let no one defraud you of your prize, doing his will in humility and worship of the angels, intruding into things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
²³which have a reputation indeed of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and unsparingness of [the] body, not in any honour to satisfying of the flesh. (Col. 2:18,23)

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James 3:13‑17• ¹³Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of his good conduct his works in meekness of wisdom.
¹⁴But if ye have bitter emulation and faction in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.
¹⁵This wisdom is not descending from above, but earthly, natural, demoniacal.
¹⁶For where envying and faction [are], there disorder [is] and every bad deed.
¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, uncontentious, impartial. (James 3:13‑17)

destroy thyself.

Heb. be desolate.

Matt. 23:38• ³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; (Matt. 23:38)

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Rev. 18:19• ¹⁹And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea became rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour was she made desolate. (Rev. 18:19)

• The just man dies in his righteousness, whilst the wicked lives on in his wickedness: therefore be not righteous overmuch; do not abstain, or withdraw thyself, from the natural blessings of life, making it joyless and desolate. (“Ecclesiastes 7” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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

W. Kelly Translation

Be not righteous overmuch;{HR}Neither make thyself over-wise:{HR}Why shouldest thou destroy thyself?