9.4 A singing girl suggests an entertainer, customarily viewed as a prostitute in the Greek tradition of the banquet. Cf. Isa 23.15–16.
9.6 Lose your inheritance is unclear but may mean “squander.” Cf. Prov 29.3.
9.9 To dine with another man’s wife was considered risky. Greek practice frowned upon the presence of wives at meals where guests were present. Ben Sira knew about the Greek convention of the banquet and its after-dinner symposium. He does not include warnings about women in attendance in his description of mealtime etiquette in 31.12–32.13. Plunged into destruction may refer to the death penalty for adultery (Lev 20.10; Deut 22.22).
9.10–16 Advice on associations with various classes of people serves as a subtle introduction to the discourse on those in positions of power in ch. 10.
9.10 On the theme of friendship and its social and political significance, see note on 6.5–17.
9.11–12 Sinners and the ungodly, possibly foreigners as a class as well as Jews who assimilate gentile ways. Cf. the picture of the ungodly in Wis 1.16–4.20 and the contrast between Jews and “gentile sinners” in Gal 2.15.
9.13 Those who have power to kill, rulers and kings. Cf. Dan 2.5; 3.29; Lk 12.4.
9.17–10.5 This description of the ideal ruler has roots in traditional wisdom and in the OT. Perhaps it serves as a veiled critique of Ptolemaic-Seleucid hegemony. It breaks the pattern of negative injunctions and cautionary advice that predominates in chs. 7–9.
SIRACH 10
1A wise magistrate educates his people,
and the rule of an intelligent person is well ordered.
2As the people’s judge is, so are his officials;
as the ruler of the city is, so are all its inhabitants.
3An undisciplined king ruins his people,
but a city becomes fit to live in through the understanding of its rulers.
4The government of the earth is in the hand of the Lord,
and over it he will raise up the right leader for the time.
5Human success is in the hand of the Lord,
and it is he who confers honor upon the lawgiver.a
The Sin of Pride
6Do not get angry with your neighbor for every injury,
and do not resort to acts of insolence.
7Arrogance is hateful to the Lord and to mortals,
and injustice is outrageous to both.
8Sovereignty passes from nation to nation
on account of injustice and insolence and wealth.b
9How can dust and ashes be proud?
Even in life the human body decays.c
10A long illness baffles the physician;d
the king of today will die tomorrow.
11For when one is dead
he inherits maggots and vermine and worms.
12The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.
13For the beginning of pride is sin,
and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of calamities,
and destroys them completely.
14The Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers,
and enthrones the lowly in their place.
15The Lord plucks up the roots of the nations,f
and plants the humble in their place.
16The Lord lays waste the lands of the nations,
and destroys them to the foundations of the earth.
17He removes some of them and destroys them,
and erases the memory of them from the earth.
18Pride was not created for human beings,
or violent anger for those born of women.
Persons Deserving Honor
19Whose offspring are worthy of honor?
Human offspring.
Whose offspring are worthy of honor?
Those who fear the Lord.
Whose offspring are unworthy of honor?
Human offspring.
Whose offspring are unworthy of honor?
Those who break the commandments.
20Among family members their leader is worthy of honor,
but those who fear the Lord are worthy of honor in his eyes.g
22The rich, and the eminent, and the poor—
their glory is the fear of the Lord.
23It is not right to despise one who is intelligent but poor,
and it is not proper to honor one who is sinful.
24The prince and the judge and the ruler are honored,
but none of them is greater than the one who fears the Lord.
25Free citizens will serve a wise servant,
and an intelligent person will not complain.
Concerning Humility
26Do not make a display of your wisdom when you do your work,
and do not boast when you are in need.
27Better is the worker who has goods in plenty
than the boaster who lacks bread.
28My child, honor yourself with humility,
and give yourself the esteem you deserve.
29Who will acquit those who condemnh themselves?
And who will honor those who dishonor themselves?i
30The poor are honored for their knowledge,
while the rich are honored for their wealth.
31One who is honored in poverty, how much more in wealth!
And one dishonored in wealth, how much more in poverty!
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a Heb: Gk scribe
b Other ancient authorities add here or after verse 9a, Nothing is more wicked than one who loves money, for such a person puts his own soul up for sale.
c Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
d Heb Lat: Meaning of Gk uncertain
e Heb: Gk wild animals
f Other ancient authorities read proud nations
g Other ancient authorities add as verse 21, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of acceptance; obduracy and pride are the beginning of rejection.
h Heb: Gk sin against
i Heb Lat: Gk their own life
10.6–18 A discourse on the sin of pride directed toward those in power. A first stanza shows pride to be foolish in the light of human mortality (vv. 6–11). A second stanza forms a poetic unit on the consequences of pride because of its close relationship to sin (vv. 12–18).
10.8 Insolence, the Greek notion of arrogance and violence (hubris), is added to the Jewish concern for justice and a social critique of wealth as factors in the rise and fall of kingdoms. Insolence may be an oblique reference to Hellenistic ideologies of kings as gods.
10.10 For the counterproposition that the king…will die, cf. Wis 7.5–6 in tension with Wis 8.19–20.
10.13 Pride and sin are joined to form a vicious cycle. Because pride stems from sin, which then produces abominations, it suffers the divine response to sin.
10.14–16 The motif of humiliation/exaltation as found in Psalms and the wisdom stories of the pious righteous one (Gen 39–50; Dan 1–6; Wis 2–5) is merged with a theology of divine judgment and applied to the fall and rise of nations. This section anticipates and encapsulates 35.22–36.22.
10.18 Created translates “allotted,” or “assigned,” Ben Sira’s term for divine intention, agency, and will. Cf. note on 7.15. The point is that God is not responsible for sin and its effects, an issue with which Ben Sira struggles in chs. 15–17.
10.19–11.6 A section on the honor due those who fear the Lord. It contrasts with the preceding section on the pride of those who do not fear the Lord (9.17–10.18).
10.19–25 Four riddles establish the theme that only those who fear the Lord are truly honorable (v. 19). Vv. 22–25 establish that one who fears the Lord occupies a station higher than any human social category.
10.25 To serve a wise servant draws upon a topic common in the Hellenistic period, namely, that slaves may be more learned than their masters. This was frequently the case because of t
he widespread enslavement of peoples by conquest.
10.26–31 A small collection of proverbs concerned with the problem of relating the notion of honor to humility, a cultural code and an ethic of piety at odds with one another.
SIRACH 11
The Deceptiveness of Appearances
1The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high,
and seats them among the great.
2Do not praise individuals for their good looks,
or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.
3The bee is small among flying creatures,
but what it produces is the best of sweet things.
4Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,
and do not exalt yourself when you are honored;
for the works of the Lord are wonderful,
and his works are concealed from humankind.
5Many kings have had to sit on the ground,
but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.
6Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,
and the honored have been handed over to others.
Deliberation and Caution
7Do not find fault before you investigate;
examine first, and then criticize.
8Do not answer before you listen,
and do not interrupt when another is speaking.
9Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,
and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.
10My child, do not busy yourself with many matters;
if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless.
If you pursue, you will not overtake,
and by fleeing you will not escape.
11There are those who work and struggle and hurry,
but are so much the more in want.
12There are others who are slow and need help,
who lack strength and abound in poverty;
but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them;
he lifts them out of their lowly condition
13and raises up their heads
to the amazement of the many.
14Good things and bad, life and death,
poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.a
17The Lord’s gift remains with the devout,
and his favor brings lasting success.
18One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial,
and the reward allotted to him is this:
19when he says, “I have found rest,
and now I shall feast on my goods!”
he does not know how long it will be
until he leaves them to others and dies.
20Stand by your agreement and attend to it,
and grow old in your work.
21Do not wonder at the works of a sinner,
but trust in the Lord and keep at your job;
for it is easy in the sight of the Lord
to make the poor rich suddenly, in an instant.
22The blessing of the Lord isb the reward of the pious,
and quickly God causes his blessing to flourish.
23Do not say, “What do I need,
and what further benefit can be mine?”
24Do not say, “I have enough,
and what harm can come to me now?”
25In the day of prosperity, adversity is forgotten,
and in the day of adversity, prosperity is not remembered.
26For it is easy for the Lord on the day of death
to reward individuals according to their conduct.
27An hour’s misery makes one forget past delights,
and at the close of one’s life one’s deeds are revealed.
28Call no one happy before his death;
by how he ends, a person becomes known.c
Care in Choosing Friends
29Do not invite everyone into your home,
for many are the tricks of the crafty.
30Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the mind of the proud,
and like spies they observe your weakness;d
31for they lie in wait, turning good into evil,
and to worthy actions they attach blame.
32From a spark many coals are kindled,
and a sinner lies in wait to shed blood.
33Beware of scoundrels, for they devise evil,
and they may ruin your reputation forever.
34Receive strangers into your home and they will stir up trouble for you,
and will make you a stranger to your own family.
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a Other ancient authorities add as verses 15 and 16, 15Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the law come from the Lord; affection and the ways of good works come from him. 16Error and darkness were created with sinners; evil grows old with those who take pride in malice.
b Heb: Gk is in
c Heb: Gk and through his children a person becomes known
d Heb: Gk downfall
11.1–6 A cluster of warnings and proverbs about pretension and false appearances supports the suggestion that the tables will be turned on the proud and mighty (10.14) and that the humble (pious) will be vindicated by the Lord. Cf. 1 Sam 2.7–8; Ps 113.7–8.
11.4 On the wonder of God’s works, see 42.15–43.26.
11.5 Possibly an allusion to the story of David’s selection to be king (1 Sam 16.6–13).
11.6 Handed over, a common idiom for defeat in war, related to “falling into the hands of” one who gains power over another.
11.7–28 A reflection on patience aimed at instilling confidence that the Lord will reward piety in his time.
11.14 On God as the source of all human conditions, cf. Job 1.21; Isa 45.7.
11.17 Ben Sira accepts the Deuteronomic view that the faithful prosper. See, e.g., Deut 6.1–3, 17–19.
11.19 On leaving one’s goods to others, cf. Ps 49.10; Eccl 2.18–23; Lk 12.19.
11.26 This is Ben Sira’s solution to the problem of individual theodicy, or the assurance that accounts will be balanced so that the righteous will be rewarded and sinners punished. Since he did not imagine life after death, the day of death is the last earthly moment for the “appointed time” of rewards and judgments. The reward will be to have one’s good name remembered and the strength and confidence to bless the next generation. See 1.13; 2.3; 3.26; 6.18, 28; 7.17, 36; 8.7; 9.11–12; 14.12–19; 17.27–32; 18.24; 19.3; 21.10; 28.6; 29.21; 33.24; 37.25; 38.21–23; 39.11; 41.1–10.
11.28 A saying proverbial among the Greeks.
11.29–12.18 Cautionary advice on close relationships with scoundrels, strangers, sinners, and enemies. They are not to be trusted, since they can do material and physical harm as well as compromise one’s honor.
SIRACH 12
1If you do good, know to whom you do it,
and you will be thanked for your good deeds.
2Do good to the devout, and you will be repaid—
if not by them, certainly by the Most High.
3No good comes to one who persists in evil
or to one who does not give alms.
4Give to the devout, but do not help the sinner.
5Do good to the humble, but do not give to the ungodly;
back their bread, and do not give it to them,
for by means of it they might subdue you;
then you will receive twice as much evil
for all the good you have done to them.
6For the Most High also hates sinners
and will inflict punishment on the ungodly.a
7Give to the one who is good, but do not help the sinner.
8A friend is not knownb in prosperity,
nor is an enemy hidden in adversity.
9One’s enemies are friendlyc when one prospers,
but in adversity even one’s friend disappears.
10Never trust your enemy,
for like corrosion in copper, so is his wickedness.
11Even if he humbles himself and walks
bowed down,
take care to be on your guard against him.
Be to him like one who polishes a mirror,
to be sure it does not become completely tarnished.
12Do not put him next to you,
or he may overthrow you and take your place.
Do not let him sit at your right hand,
or else he may try to take your own seat, and at last you will realize the truth of my words, and be stung by what I have said.
13Who pities a snake charmer when he is bitten,
or all those who go near wild animals?
14So no one pities a person who associates with a sinner
and becomes involved in the other’s sins.
15He stands by you for a while,
but if you falter, he will not be there.
16An enemy speaks sweetly with his lips,
but in his heart he plans to throw you into a pit; an enemy may have tears in his eyes, but if he finds an opportunity he will never have enough of your blood.
17If evil comes upon you, you will find him there ahead of you;
pretending to help, he will trip you up.
18Then he will shake his head, and clap his hands,
and whisper much, and show his true face.
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a Other ancient authorities add and he is keeping them for the day of their punishment
b Other ancient authorities read punished
c Heb: Gk grieved
12.4–5 Do not help…them. For a contrasting view, see Mt 5.42.
SIRACH 13
Caution Regarding Associates
1Whoever touches pitch gets dirty,
and whoever associates with a proud person becomes like him.
2Do not lift a weight too heavy for you,
or associate with one mightier and richer than you.
How can the clay pot associate with the iron kettle?
The pot will strike against it and be smashed.
3A rich person does wrong, and even adds insults;
a poor person suffers wrong, and must add apologies.
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