HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  22If a person is wise to his own advantage,

  the fruits of his good sense will be praiseworthy.f

  23A wise person instructs his own people,

  and the fruits of his good sense will endure.

  24A wise person will have praise heaped upon him,

  and all who see him will call him happy.

  25The days of a person’s life are numbered,

  but the days of Israel are without number.

  26One who is wise among his people will inherit honor,g

  and his name will live forever.

  Concerning Moderation

  27My child, test yourself while you live;

  see what is bad for you and do not give in to it.

  28For not everything is good for everyone,

  and no one enjoys everything.

  29Do not be greedy for every delicacy,

  and do not eat without restraint;

  30for overeating brings sickness,

  and gluttony leads to nausea.

  31Many have died of gluttony,

  but the one who guards against it prolongs his life.

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  a Heb: Gk in your heart

  b Heb: Gk him in your wealth

  c Heb: Gk gratitude

  d Heb: Gk establish

  e Heb: Gk As a clue to changes of heart four kinds of destiny appear

  f Other ancient witnesses read trustworthy

  g Other ancient authorities read confidence

  37.1–6 A set of five sayings on the difficulty of identifying a true friend (vv. 1–5) concludes with advice on how to treat such a friend in both adversity and prosperity (v. 6); cf. 6.7–13.

  37.3 Inclination to evil. See note on 15.14.

  37.7–15 A unit of nine sayings cautions against the advice of persons biased by self-interest (vv. 7–11) and recommends instead the counsel of godly persons, one’s own heart, and the guidance of God (vv. 12–15).

  37.16–26 A set of reflections on deliberative speech in the counsel chambers concludes with sayings on the honor granted to a skillful speaker.

  37.26 His name will live forever. See note on 11.26.

  37.27–31 Caution about overindulgence introduces the theme of sickness as a preparation for the following sayings on the value of physicians.

  SIRACH 38

  Concerning Physicians and Health

  1Honor physicians for their services,

  for the Lord created them;

  2for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,

  and they are rewarded by the king.

  3The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,

  and in the presence of the great they are admired.

  4The Lord created medicines out of the earth,

  and the sensible will not despise them.

  5Was not water made sweet with a tree

  in order that itsa power might be known?

  6And he gave skill to human beings

  that heb might be glorified in his marvelous works.

  7By them the physicianc heals and takes away pain;

  8the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.

  God’sd works will never be finished;

  and from him healthe spreads over all the earth.

  9My child, when you are ill, do not delay,

  but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.

  10Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,

  and cleanse your heart from all sin.

  11Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour,

  and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.f

  12Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;

  do not let him leave you, for you need him.

  13There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,g

  14for they too pray to the Lord

  that he grant them success in diagnosish

  and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

  15He who sins against his Maker,

  will be defiant toward the physician.i

  On Mourning for the Dead

  16My child, let your tears fall for the dead,

  and as one in great pain begin the lament.

  Lay out the body with due ceremony,

  and do not neglect the burial.

  17Let your weeping be bitter and your wailing fervent;

  make your mourning worthy of the departed,

  for one day, or two, to avoid criticism;

  then be comforted for your grief.

  18For grief may result in death,

  and a sorrowful heart saps one’s strength.

  19When a person is taken away, sorrow is over;

  but the life of the poor weighs down the heart.

  20Do not give your heart to grief;

  drive it away, and remember your own end.

  21Do not forget, there is no coming back;

  you do the deadj no good, and you injure yourself.

  22Remember hisk fate, for yours is like it;

  yesterday it was his,l and today it is yours.

  23When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest too,

  and be comforted for him when his spirit has departed.

  Trades and Crafts

  24The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure;

  only the one who has little business can become wise.

  25How can one become wise who handles the plow,

  and who glories in the shaft of a goad,

  who drives oxen and is occupied with their work,

  and whose talk is about bulls?

  26He sets his heart on plowing furrows,

  and he is careful about fodder for the heifers.

  27So it is with every artisan and master artisan

  who labors by night as well as by day;

  those who cut the signets of seals,

  each is diligent in making a great variety;

  they set their heart on painting a lifelike image,

  and they are careful to finish their work.

  28So it is with the smith, sitting by the anvil,

  intent on his iron-work;

  the breath of the fire melts his flesh,

  and he struggles with the heat of the furnace;

  the sound of the hammer deafens his ears,m

  and his eyes are on the pattern of the object.

  He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork,

  and he is careful to complete its decoration.

  29So it is with the potter sitting at his work

  and turning the wheel with his feet;

  he is always deeply concerned over his products,

  and he produces them in quantity.

  30He molds the clay with his arm

  and makes it pliable with his feet;

  he sets his heart to finish the glazing,

  and he takes care in firingn the kiln.

  31All these rely on their hands,

  and all are skillful in their own work.

  32Without them no city can be inhabited,

  and wherever they live, they will not go hungry.o

  Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,p

  33nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly.

  They do not sit in the judge’s seat,]

  nor do they understand the decisions of the courts;

  they cannot expound discipline or judgment,

  and they are not found among the rulers.q

  34But they maintain the fabric of the world,

  and their concern is forr the exercise of their trade.

  The Activity of the Scribe

  How different the one who devotes himself

  to the study of the law of the Most High!

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  a Or his

  b Or they

  c Heb: Gk he

  d Gk His

  e Or peace


  f Heb: Lat lacks as much as you can afford; Meaning of Gk uncertain

  g Gk in their hands

  h Heb: Gk rest

  i Heb: Gk may he fall into the hands of the physician

  j Gk him

  k Heb: Gk my

  l Heb: Gk mine

  m Cn: Gk renews his ear

  n Cn: Gk cleaning

  o Syr: Gk and people can neither live nor walk there

  p Most ancient authorities lack this line

  q Cn: Gk among parables

  r Syr: Gk prayer is in

  38.1–15 A meditation on physicians recommends using their services (vv. 1–8) while not forgetting the traditional approach to illness (vv. 9–15). The science and practice of medicine, developed by the Greeks, threatened the ancient Near Eastern view of illness as caused by personal fault and its remedy by sacrifice for sin and healing. Ben Sira struggled to find a place for each approach, arguing that medicines are the works of the Lord (vv. 4–8), that the physician should be consulted after offering sacrifice (vv. 9–12), and that the physician also entreats the Lord (vv. 13–15).

  38.1 The statement that the Lord created physicians, both here and in v. 12, translates the Greek; the Hebrew reads “allotted” with the sense that God ordained the profession as part of his plan for human society. See note on 7.15.

  38.4 Medicines out of the earth, medicinal plants, the knowledge of which belonged to ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian wisdom traditions.

  38.5 Water made sweet with a tree alludes to the miracle in Ex 15.23–25.

  38.10 Faults and sin were thought to be the cause of illness. See Deut 28.22; Job; Prov 3.7–8; Jn 9.2.

  38.11 Flour. The cereal offering is described in Lev 2.1–3.

  38.16–23 Injunctions to observe the traditions of mourning and burial (vv. 16–17) yield to advice on appropriate attitudes and thoughts about death (vv. 18–23). The advice is remarkable in that it presents a realistic attitude toward death as an argument against excessive grief.

  38.16 The lament, an ancient tradition; see 2 Sam 1.17; Jer 7.29; 9.9, 19; Ezek 19.1; 26.17; 27.32; 32.16; Am 5.1; 8.10. Burial was a religious duty; see Tob 1.17–18; 4.3–4; 6.15; 12.12; 14.12–13.

  38.17 That one should mourn one day or two is a striking curtailment of the customary requirement of seven days. See 22.12.

  38.24–34 A tightly crafted poem describing those who work with their hands. The poem has been compared with the Egyptian Instruction of Duauf, sometimes called a “Satire on the Trades,” which was written from the elitist perspective of the scribal vocation. Ben Sira’s poem does not, however, engage in satire. The crafts are set in contrast to the vocation of the scribe (vv. 24, 32–33) without ridicule. In fact, he notes in v. 34a that craftsmen maintain the fabric of the world. The point of contrast is that artisans must concentrate their attention upon their handiwork and therefore have no time for the pursuit of learning, which requires leisure. The examples given, farmer, artisan, smith, and potter, when combined with the mention of rulers, judges, scribes, and public assemblies, provide a sketch of the productive society of Ben Sira’s time.

  38.32–33 Rulers, courts, and public assemblies indicate the social setting for the professional activity of the scribe, the one who can read, write, and speak well; see also 39.4. Missing is any mention of a school, Ben Sira’s own social location. Cf. 51.23. The professional goal of instruction in wisdom, assumed in these verses, explains the emphasis throughout the book on effective speech, sound judgment, and knowledge of and consideration for conventional codes of law, piety, and ethics as well as the repeated references to the assembly as the place where praise and honor are won or lost. For references to the assembly, see note on 15.5.

  38.34b If the second line of the bicola in v. 34 is treated as an inclusio (a repetition signaling the beginning and end of a unit), returning to the theme announced in v. 24, the poem on the trades is composed of twenty-two lines framed by statements of contrast with the vocation of the scribe. V. 34b also serves as an introduction to the following poem on the scribe and so can be seen as a carefully crafted transitional statement intended both to sum up the previous unit and to lead into the following reflection. Transitional statements of this kind were common in literary compositions of the time.

  38.34b–39.11 A poem on the activity of the scribe includes mention of his study (vv. 1–3), professional role (v. 4a), wide experience (v. 4b), piety (v. 5), inspiration (vv. 6–7), learned achievements (v. 8), and honor among the people, both in life and after death (vv. 9–11).

  38.34b Law, the Torah, or books of Moses. Cf. 24.23.

  SIRACH 39

  1He seeks out the wisdom of all the ancients,

  and is concerned with prophecies;

  2he preserves the sayings of the famous

  and penetrates the subtleties of parables;

  3he seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs

  and is at home with the obscurities of parables.

  4He serves among the great

  and appears before rulers;

  he travels in foreign lands

  and learns what is good and evil in the human lot.

  5He sets his heart to rise early

  to seek the Lord who made him,

  and to petition the Most High;

  he opens his mouth in prayer

  and asks pardon for his sins.

  6If the great Lord is willing,

  he will be filled with the spirit of understanding;

  he will pour forth words of wisdom of his own

  and give thanks to the Lord in prayer.

  7The Lorda will direct his counsel and knowledge,

  as he meditates on his mysteries.

  8He will show the wisdom of what he has learned,

  and will glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant.

  9Many will praise his understanding;

  it will never be blotted out.

  His memory will not disappear,

  and his name will live through all generations.

  10Nations will speak of his wisdom,

  and the congregation will proclaim his praise.

  11If he lives long, he will leave a name greater than a thousand,

  and if he goes to rest, it is enoughb for him.

  A Hymn of Praise to God

  12I have more on my mind to express;

  I am full like the full moon.

  13Listen to me, my faithful children, and blossom

  like a rose growing by a stream of water.

  14Send out fragrance like incense,

  and put forth blossoms like a lily.

  Scatter the fragrance, and sing a hymn of praise;

  bless the Lord for all his works.

  15Ascribe majesty to his name

  and give thanks to him with praise,

  with songs on your lips, and with harps;

  this is what you shall say in thanksgiving:

  16“All the works of the Lord are very good,

  and whatever he commands will be done at the appointed time.

  17No one can say, ‘What is this?’ or ‘Why is that?’—

  for at the appointed time all such questions will be answered.

  At his word the waters stood in a heap,

  and the reservoirs of water at the word of his mouth.

  18When he commands, his every purpose is fulfilled,

  and none can limit his saving power.

  19The works of all are before him,

  and nothing can be hidden from his eyes.

  20From the beginning to the end of time he can see everything,

  and nothing is too marvelous for him.

  21No one can say, ‘What is this?’ or ‘Why is that?’—

  for everything has been created for its own purpose.

  22“His blessing covers the dry land like a river,

  and drenches it like a flood.

  23But his wrath drives out the nations,

  as when he turned a watered land into salt.


  24To the faithful his ways are straight,

  but full of pitfalls for the wicked.

  25From the beginning good things were created for the good,

  but for sinners good things and bad.c

  26The basic necessities of human life

  are water and fire and iron

  and salt and wheat flour and milk and honey,

  the blood of the grape and oil and clothing.

  27All these are good for the godly,

  but for sinners they turn into evils.

  28“There are winds created for vengeance,

  and in their anger they can dislodge mountains;d

  on the day of reckoning they will pour out their strength

  and calm the anger of their Maker.

  29Fire and hail and famine and pestilence,

  all these have been created for vengeance;

  30the fangs of wild animals and scorpions and vipers,

  and the sword that punishes the ungodly with destruction.

  31They take delight in doing his bidding,

  always ready for his service on earth;

  and when their time comes they never disobey his command.”

  32So from the beginning I have been convinced of all this

  and have thought it out and left it in writing:

  33All the works of the Lord are good,

  and he will supply every need in its time.

  34No one can say, “This is not as good as that,”

  for everything proves good in its appointed time.

  35So now sing praise with all your heart and voice,

  and bless the name of the Lord.

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  a Gk He himself

  b Cn: Meaning of Gk uncertain

  c Heb Lat: Gk sinners bad things

  d Heb Syr: Gk can scourge mightily

  39.1 The wisdom of all the ancients, probably literature in general without respect to cultural constraints, rather than specifically the books of Moses. It was common in antiquity to trace the collective knowledge of a people to the discoveries and revelations of culture-bringers and sages who lived at the beginning of time. The scribe seeks out this wisdom both through an intellectual quest in general, which could include cross-cultural experience (v. 4), and concerted research in the literatures of the time. The genres of wisdom for which one looked appear in the following verses. Prophecies has been taken to refer specifically to the books of the Hebrew prophets, but a more probable reference is to prophecies, oracles, and omens wherever found. Ben Sira lists prophecies along with sayings, parables, and proverbs (vv. 2–3) as various formulations of wisdom (v. 1). In 44.3–5 prophecies are included in a list of scribal accomplishments, and in 24.33 Ben Sira promises to pour out teaching like prophecy. On prophets and prophecy, see 36.20–21; 46.13.