What does Eccl. 7:16 “Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself over-wise” mean?

Full Question

Answer

The difficulty of the phrase “overmuch righteousness” lies in the know­ledge that even approximate attainment of righteousness is humanly impossible, and that, therefore, the injunction appears to imply the essential contradic­tion of going beyond the unattainable.

From this view-point the command­ment which follows, ” neither make thyself over-wise,” is equally unintel­ligible. But here experience suggests a different angle, for it is no uncommon thing to meet people who are ” wise in their own conceit ” or opinion, claiming to know more than they do, in fact, know; and in effect making themselves the standard of wisdom. The Scriptures take note of such in both Old and New Testaments. This phrase at once ex­plains itself, showing that the “wisdom” is to be referred to man’s self-opinion, and not to the Divine knowledge.

If, therefore, the former phrase be read in the same way, ” righteousness ” is there referable to man’s opinion of his own achievement which leads to self-satisfaction, and often to demands made of others in the name of religion, where the Divine Righteousness has given no law.

This man-made standard, too, is far from rare and may be traced through the individual self-righteousness which des­troys true religion, by denying its need, to such widely divergent doctrines as, for example, the Jewish reliance on “works of the law,” the Buddhist ” acquiring merit,” and the Roman ” acts of supererogation.”