Ecclesiastes 7:18
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
This verse isn't just about balancing extremes; it reveals that true wisdom means actively engaging with both life's wisdom and its folly. The person who fears God can navigate these dual experiences without being consumed by either, emerging from them all intact.
It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Teacher has just presented two extreme paths: the potentially self-righteous person who clings too tightly to their own wisdom, and the reckless sinner who lives without consequence. This verse encourages a balanced approach, holding onto the good wherever it's found and not withdrawing from life's experiences, with the assurance that fearing God provides a way to navigate both extremes safely. It emphasizes that true wisdom allows one to avoid the pitfalls of both excessive virtue and reckless abandon.
The Teacher isn't telling you to swing wildly between good and bad. Instead, he's pointing to a profound way to navigate life's complex choices.
The verse speaks about holding onto "this" and not withholding your hand from "that." The context in verses 16 and 17 contrasts excessive righteousness or wisdom with excessive wickedness or folly.
Don't Choose Extremes
The Teacher advises against being overly righteous to the point of self-destruction (7:16) and against being overly wicked and foolish (7:17). This verse encourages engagement with life's spectrum, but with a crucial qualifier.
The Principle of Moderation
It's good to "take hold of this" and not "withdraw your hand from that." This suggests actively engaging with different experiences and insights, perhaps even testing different approaches. However, it's not about embracing sin, but about a practical wisdom that learns from various aspects of life without being consumed by any one extreme.
What's the secret ingredient that keeps you from being swept away by life's opposing currents?
The latter part of the verse reveals the key: "for the one who fears God shall come out from them all." This "fear of God" isn't about being terrified; it's about a deep reverence, awe, and respect that leads to obedience.
A Reverent Respect
Ask a follow-up
This fear acts as an internal compass. It guides your choices when you're presented with the allure of extremes, whether that's rigid self-righteousness or reckless abandon.
Guiding Through All Extremes
The promise is powerful: you will "come out from them all." This means experiencing life, learning from its varied paths, and still emerging unscathed by its worst dangers and consequences because your foundation is in God. It's about navigating the complexities without being defined or destroyed by them.
Understand the original words
yare · Hebrew Verb
A profound sense of reverence, awe, and submission to the character and authority of God; it is the fundamental starting point of biblical wisdom.
This passage directly echoes the sentiment of Ecclesiastes 7:18, stating 'Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.' It highlights how fearing God is the wisdom that keeps us from extremes.
Ecclesiastes 11:6This verse advises to 'sow your seed in the morning and at evening let your hands not be idle,' suggesting active engagement in life's opportunities, which aligns with the 'take hold of this' and 'withdraw not your hand' counsel, provided one acts with God's fear.
Philippians 4:6-7This New Testament passage offers a similar principle: through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. This guards against the anxieties and extremes that the fear of God helps us navigate.
1 Corinthians 10:13This verse assures believers that 'God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.' This speaks to the same deliverance from trials and temptations that the one who fears God experiences.
pooleEcclesiastes 7:18: "It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all."
Take hold of, embrace and practise, this ; this counsel last given, Ecclesiastes 7:17 . Also from this; from that foregoing advice, Ecclesiastes 7:16 . It is good to avoid both those extremes. Withdraw not thine hand from the practice of it. He that feareth God, who ordereth his actions so as to please God, and keep his command…
clarkeEcclesiastes 7:18: "It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all."
It is good that thou shouldest take hold or this - Do not let such an observation slip: take hold of this; do not forget that. Get what you can in an honest way; but do not forget to get true religion; for he that fears God will be saved from all evil.
This verse isn't just about balancing extremes; it reveals that true wisdom means actively engaging with both life's wisdom and its folly. The person who fears God can navigate these dual experiences without being consumed by either, emerging from them all intact.
The Teacher has just presented two extreme paths: the potentially self-righteous person who clings too tightly to their own wisdom, and the reckless sinner who lives without consequence. This verse encourages a balanced approach, holding onto the good wherever it's found and not withdrawing from life's experiences, with the assurance that fearing God provides a way to navigate both extremes safely. It emphasizes that true wisdom allows one to avoid the pitfalls of both excessive virtue and reckless abandon.
The Teacher has just presented two extreme paths: the potentially self-righteous person who clings too tightly to their own wisdom, and the reckless sinner who lives without consequence. This verse encourages a balanced approach, holding onto the good wherever it's found and not withdrawing from life's experiences, with the assurance that fearing God provides a way to navigate both extremes safely. It emphasizes that true wisdom allows one to avoid the pitfalls of both excessive virtue and reckless abandon.
"It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them." — This verse isn't just about balancing extremes; it reveals that true wisdom means actively engaging with both life's wisdom and its folly. The person who fears God can navigate these dual experienc…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
