doctrine that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. He had seen the righteous … perishing and the wicked … living long. The word “in” in the phrases in his righteousness and in his wickedness can here mean “in spite of.” These phrases “in his righteousness” and “in his wickedness” argue against the common view that in 7:16 Solomon was warning against legalistic or Pharisaic self-righteousness. Such would have been a sin and would have been so acknowledged by Solomon who was concerned