7:15–19 Verses 15–18 can sound surprisingly unorthodox when first read. One easily understands the urging not to be “overly wicked” (v. 17), even if it sounds fairly understated, but one is rightly perplexed by the urging not to be “overly righteous” (v. 16). To understand these verses properly it is important to realize that terms such as “righteous” and “wicked” are not always used in an ethical sense in the Bible. Sometimes they refer to being vindicated or declared right or wrong in a legal dispute (cf. Ex. 23:7–8; Deut. 16:18–20; 25:1; Isa. 5:22–23). The Preacher has this declarative or vindicatory sense in mind, either in a legal context specifically or in a more general context of some other type of argument or dispute. A “righteous man who perishes in his righteousness” (Eccles. 7:15), then, refers to someone who is seeking to have his claim vindicated, and may even be technically in the right, but for some reason comes to a bad conclusion as he presses his case to the end. In other words he is someone who seeks to be justified in some respect but is disappointed in the attempt. Conversely, a “wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing” (v. 15) is someone who is technically in the wrong but nevertheless comes out on top in some dispute.

According to verse 16, then, a wise person knows when to give up an argument and does not insist on being “justified” or “vindicated” (declared to be in the right) in every instance. There are times, for example, when it is better to reconcile before entering the courtroom (Matt. 5:25) or even to “suffer wrong” and be “defrauded” for the sake of the church’s public testimony (1 Cor. 6:7). Sometimes “winning” an argument would serve to only alienate those whom one is attempting to convince. At the same time there are times to insist on the rightness of one’s cause (Eccles. 7:17), and one needs wisdom to know not to capitulate in every instance. God-fearing wisdom will strike the right balance between these two extreme and undesirable scenarios (v. 18). Ultimately the wise man will be strengthened in such circumstances by his wisdom, which provides more spiritual support than ten “rulers” who possess positions of influence in a city (v. 19).

7:20–22 The use of the terms “righteous” and “wicked” in verses 15–19 leads the Preacher to make a powerful comment on the universal sinfulness of mankind (v. 20). The verse does not deny that people do good deeds but rather affirms simply that sin is pervasive and that all human beings are stained by it. Given this strong affirmation of the universal sin of mankind, it is not surprising that the apostle Paul quotes this statement in Romans 3:10 in his lengthy exposition of sin.

This is not merely a point of doctrine, however. Ecclesiastes turns to apply this teaching to everyday life by urging people not to take offense at the things others say about them (7:21–22). Earlier in the chapter the Preacher praised the value of receiving a rebuke from “the wise” (v. 5), but in verse 21 he notes that one might also hear negative comments from “servants,” that is, those under one’s authority, obligated to show respect. For the original hearers the lower social status of slaves and servants would have implied a lesser degree of wisdom and intelligence (cf. comment on 4:13–16), making their complaints and criticisms (“cursing”) less likely to be just and accurate and therefore less necessary to take to heart. Nevertheless, some people are inclined to be wounded by each and every critical remark, regardless of the source. One cannot help but see the applicability of 7:21–22 to the social media age, in which every critical tweet or blog comment requires a response. Instead of falling prey to such hypersensitivity, the Preacher counsels an application of the Golden Rule by reminding his hearers that they have also casually “cursed” others, probably exaggerating their faults in the heat of the moment and using more hurtful language than might actually have been intended. If we would not want others to take great offense at every offhanded remark we have made about them, then we should not take offense at every one we hear about ourselves. These verses thus serve as a reminder that we often practice the very things we condemn in others (cf. Rom. 2:1–3).

7:23–24 The Preacher has mentioned his use of “wisdom” in examining the world (e.g., Eccles. 1:13), but in 7:23 he openly admits what has often been implicit: his wisdom is insufficient for the task of “testing” all things. Verse 24 particularly mentions “that which has been,” or, in other words, prior human history. The fact that it is “far off” and “very deep” indicates its ultimate significance is inaccessible to him (cf. Deut. 30:11 for the former term and Job 11:8; 12:22 for the latter). In Ecclesiastes 7:24 the question “Who can find it out?” is a rhetorical one that assumes a negative answer. The question utilizes the keyword “to find” (Hb. matsaʾ), which, as noted above, has the sense of “grasping” or “comprehending” some reality. No one is able to fully comprehend “that which has been.” If the past is inscrutable, how successful can one be in fully understanding the present?

7:25–26 The negative answer implied by the rhetorical question of verse 24 does not mean that human beings cannot understand anything at all. Rather it asserts that a comprehensive understanding of the cosmos eludes us. While the Preacher is honest about his and mankind’s inability to understand the “scheme of things” (v. 25) despite their best efforts, it is nevertheless possible to gain partial insights into the reality of God’s world. In verses 25–29 the Preacher focuses chiefly on unpleasant realities. In verse 25 he reiterates his attempt to understand not only wisdom but also “the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness,” as he mentioned earlier (cf. comments on 1:16–17; 2:12). One specific instance of such folly is a devious woman who entraps men (7:26). Although sexual sin such as adultery is not specifically mentioned here, it is probably what he has in mind, in view of the verse’s similarities to the warnings of Proverbs against the “adulteress” (e.g., Prov. 2:16; 6:23–35; 7:5–27; etc.). Those who prefer to give in to sin rather than resisting it will be “taken by her” without a fight, but the godly man will escape her.

7:27–28 The Preacher’s quest to comprehend the cosmos continues as he seeks to understand men and women more generally, not just those who sin blatantly. As noted in Introduction: Genre and Literary Features, the brief and rare intrusion of the third-person frame narrator in Ecclesiastes 7:27 indicates an important moment in the structure of the text,40 suggesting a climactic point is close at hand. This is indeed the case, as the Preacher is about to reveal what he has “found out” from his extensive examination of the “scheme of things” thus far. However, in order to sustain the drama of the moment, he will not reveal his findings until verse 29.

In order to make sense of verse 28 it is important to note again the use of the verb “to find” in the sense of “to understand [comprehensively], to figure out” (cf. comment on 7:23–24). Some translations add the word “righteous” before both “man” and “woman” in verse 28 even though the occurrences are absent from the Hebrew text, thereby suggesting that men are marginally “more righteous” than women, even if just barely so (NIV, e.g.). If one bears in mind the meaning of this keyword “to find,” however, then it emerges that the statement describes the Preacher’s inability to fully comprehend most people. In this context he is admitting that he truly understood (“found” or “figured out”) only one man in a thousand and not even one woman among a thousand. Even the members of his own sex are so varied and complex that he could only rarely claim to have really understood what made them tick, while the members of the opposite sex remained a closed book to him. With rare exceptions, then, most human beings are a puzzle to him.

7:29 Finally the Preacher states the one conclusion he has grasped or “found” from all his searching: the reality of mankind’s fall from the “upright” state in which God had created him. This rebellion against God, narrated in Genesis 3, is the origin of all the frustration and corruption in the world, transforming the joy of work in an unfallen state into toilsome labor. As noted in Introduction: Theology of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher’s focus on these two crucial realities of creation and fall provides the explanation for his apparently shifting opinions on many matters, such as the value of work. Ultimately the Preacher gets occasional glimpses of the world as it was originally meant to be, when all things were good, while much of the time he is confronted with the world as it currently exists in its fallen and corrupt state.

In many ways Ecclesiastes 7:29 represents the theological center of the entire book. The Preacher emphasizes this point rhetorically by saying, “This alone I found . . .” He has of course made other useful and valid discoveries along the way and will continue to do so, but in speaking this way he seeks to make his audience understand which of his observations is the most important of them all. Above all we must grasp the beautiful and tragic reality of a perfectly created human race’s rising up in rebellion against its Creator.