Ecclesiastes 7:20

7:11-22 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yea better. It shelters from the storms and scorching heat of trouble. Wealth will not lengthen out the natural life; but true wisdom will give spiritual life, and strengthen men for services under their sufferings. Let us look upon the disposal of our condition as the work of God, and at last all will appear to have been for the best. In acts of righteousness, be not carried into heats or passions, no, not by a zeal for God. Be not conceited of thine own abilities; nor find fault with every thing, nor busy thyself in other men's matters. Many who will not be wrought upon by the fear of God, and the dread of hell, will avoid sins which ruin their health and estate, and expose to public justice. But those that truly fear God, have but one end to serve, therefore act steadily. If we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves. Every true believer is ready to say, God be merciful to me a sinner. Forget not at the same time, that personal righteousness, walking in newness of life, is the only real evidence of an interest by faith in the righteousness of the Redeemer. Wisdom teaches us not to be quick in resenting affronts. Be not desirous to know what people say; if they speak well of thee, it will feed thy pride, if ill, it will stir up thy passion. See that thou approve thyself to God and thine own conscience, and then heed not what men say of thee; it is easier to pass by twenty affronts than to avenge one.

Or "although", or "notwithstanding" (d), wisdom is so beneficial, and guards and strengthens a good man, yet no man has such a share of it as to live without sin; there was not then one on earth, there never had been, one, nor never would be, nor has been, excepting the man Christ Jesus; who indeed, as man, was perfectly just, while here on earth, and went about doing good, and never sinned in all his life; but this cannot be said of any other, no, not of one that is truly and really just; not externally and in his own opinion only, but who is made so by the obedience of Christ, or by his righteousness imputed to him, while he is here on earth; otherwise in heaven, where the spirits of just men are made perfect, there it may be said of them what follows, but nowhere else; that doeth good, and sinneth not; it is the character of a just man to do good, to do that which is according to the will of God, from a principle of love to him, through faith in him, in the name and strength of Christ, and with a view to the glory of God; to do good in such a sense wicked men cannot; only such who are made good by the grace of God, are regenerated and made new creatures in Christ, are quickened by his Spirit, and are true believers in him; who appear to be what they are, by the fruits of good works they bring forth; and this not in a mercenary way, or in order to obtain life and righteousness, but as constrained by the grace of God, by which they are freely justified; and yet these are not

The connection of this verse with Ecclesiastes 7:18-19 becomes clearer if it is borne in mind that the fear of God, wisdom, and justice, are merely different sides of one and the same character, the formation of which is the aim of all the precepts in this chapter. The words "just" Ecclesiastes 7:15 , Ecclesiastes 7:20 and "righteous" Ecclesiastes 7:16 are exactly the same in Hebrew.

For; so this is a reason either, 1. Of the foregoing counsels, Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 , the 19th verse being interposed only as a proof of the last clause of Ecclesiastes 7:18 . Or, 2. To show the necessity and advantage of that wisdom commended Ecclesiastes 7:19 , because all men are very prone to folly and sin, and therefore need that wisdom which is from above to direct and keep them from it. But this particle may be, and elsewhere is, commonly rendered yet; and so the sense is, Although wisdom doth exceedingly strengthen a man, yet it doth not so strengthen him, as if it would keep him from falling into all sin. Or, because ; or, seeing that ; and so this relates to the following verse, Seeing all men sin, we should be ready to pardon the offences of others against us, either by word or deed. Or, surely ; and so it is an entire sentence, such as there are many in this book. There is not a just man upon earth, whereby he manifestly implies that the just in heaven are perfect and sinless, that doeth good, and sinneth not; who is universally and perfectly good, and free from all sin.

20 . For there is not a just man upon earth ] The sequence of thought is again obscure. We fail at first to see how the fact of man’s sinfulness is the ground of the maxim that wisdom is a better defence than material strength. The following train of associations may perhaps supply the missing link. There had been a time when the presence of ten righteous men would have preserved a guilty city from destruction ( Genesis 18:32 ). But no such men were found, and the city therefore perished. And experience shews that no such men—altogether faultless—will be found anywhere. No one therefore can on that ground claim exemption from chastisement. What remains for the wise man but to fall back on the wisdom which consists in the “fear of God” ( Ecclesiastes 7:13 ), the reverential awe which will at least keep him from presumptuous sins. Substantially the thought is that of a later teaching, that “in many things we offend all” ( James 3:2 ), and therefore that a man is justified by faith (the New Testament equivalent for “the fear of the Lord” as the foundation of a righteous life), and not by works, though not without them. Here again we may compare the Stoic teaching, “Wise men are rare. Here and there legends tell of one good man, or it may be two, as of strange præter-natural being rarer than the Phœnix.… All are evil and on a level with each other, so that this differs not from that, but all are alike insane” (Alex. Aphrod. de Fato 28).

Verse 20. - The wisdom above signified is, indeed, absolutely necessary, if one would escape the consequences of that frailty of nature which leads to transgression. Wisdom shows the sinner a way out of the evil course in which he is walking, and puts him back in that fear of God which is his only safety. For there is not a just man upon earth. The verse confirms ver. 19. Even the just man sinneth, and therefore needs wisdom. That doeth good, and sinneth not. This reminds us of the words in Solomon's prayer ( 1 Kings 8:46 ; Proverbs 20:9 ). So St. James ( James 3:2 ) says, "In many things we all offend;" and St. John, "It' we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" ( 1 John 1:8 ). A Greek gnome runs - Ἁμαρτάνει τι καὶ σοφοῦ σοφώτερος . "Erreth at times the very wisest man." Ecclesiastes 7:20