The Preacher Now Gives Further Wisdom Teaching About Life (Ecclesiastes 7:15-18).
‘All this have I seen in my meaningless and transient life (‘the days of my vanity'). There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his evil doing. Do not be righteous overmuch, nor make yourself over wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be wicked overmuch, nor be foolish. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also, do not withdraw your hand from that. For he who fears God will come forth of them all.'
The Preacher is still conscious of the meaninglessness and emptiness of his life. But it makes him call to mind what he has seen during that life. He has seen men who were righteous perishing in their righteousness. He has seen wicked men living on and not dying in spite of their evildoing. This was contrary to the idea that the righteous are rewarded and the wicked perish. It puzzled him, facing him with a dilemma (contrast Ecclesiastes 3:17; and see Psalms 73).
But he had a partial solution. Often such righteous people perish because they are ostentatious and cultivate hostility. And such wicked people protect themselves well by use of their ill-gotten gains.
He also warns against being over-wise, of condescendingly revealing superior knowledge, of always seeking to put others right regardless of their feelings and customs, of dispensing wisdom with the air of always being right. Such people draw attention to themselves and are the first target when there is an attack on the godly. For they have earned dislike by making people feel inferior, and paradoxically have given the impression that they are the most worthy, the most religious of men, and therefore the most important targets.
But he equally warns against being over-wicked, of being foolish. (Note that he does not say over-foolish. Foolishness is to be totally avoided). This had mainly in mind offences that incurred the death penalty of which there were many. If men become too wicked, even the wicked will desert them. Such men will die before their time.
He is not actually saying that ‘we should not be too good or too bad, but a bit of both'. That we should be in the middle. He is warning against extremes which he sees as both bad. His practical observations are not always necessarily to be seen as approval but as fact.
‘It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also, do not withdraw your hand from that. For he who fears God will come forth of them all.' Here he is stressing that men should take hold of and grasp these principles, and that men should always take notice of both sides of a problem. The one who truly fears God will not be caught up in such problems, for he will avoid all extremes, and all sin. Thus he does not see the ‘righteous overmuch' as true God-fearers.
‘Come forth' would later certainly gain the meaning of ‘fulfil an obligation' (compare ‘come up to scratch'). It may be that that usage was already prevalent in the writer's time. In that case he may be noting that the one who is truly godly will fulfil his obligations to all.