In Eccles 7:16, Qohelet makes perhaps his most perplexing statement:
Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise– why destroy yourself?
This statement is perplexing for two reasons. Firstly, Qohelet knows it is better to be righteous than wicked (Eccles 8:12), and secondly, he has been using his wisdom to do his research (Eccles 2:3). What does he mean by ‘overrighteous’ and ‘overwise’?
This statement becomes clearer when we take into account the context of this declaration. In the previous verse Qohelet lamented the fact that sometimes life can be deeply unfair. He says:
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
Qohelet’s point is that as finite humans, there are some things that are simply beyond our control. It is foolish to think our righteousness or wisdom can change this. Even if we were to be the most righteous person on the planet, bad things might still happen to us. Furthermore, even the wisest person on the planet cannot fix the world’s biggest problems. There are sinful people in this world, who will do things that hurt others badly. So even though human wisdom is of enormous benefit, it cannot fix everything.
Yet there is a wisdom that can fix the world’s problems. What’s more, this wisdom highlights even more just how limited human wisdom is. In 1 Cor 1:18-31 the Apostle Paul says ‘the message cross is foolishness’ to unbelievers. Why? Because it says the way to solve the suffering and injustice in the world is for God to experience infinite suffering and injustice. While this makes no sense to unbelievers, Christians know the cross is the means by which we are saved. This in turn helps Christians to trust that God has the rest of earth’s suffering and injustice in his hands. Praise God for his infinite wisdom.
