Sirach · WEB-C
Sirach
19
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A worker who is a drunkard will not become rich. He who despises small things will fall little by little. Wine and women will make men of understanding go astray. He who joins with prostitutes is reckless. Decay and worms will have him as their heritage. A reckless soul will be taken away. He who is hasty to trust is shallow-hearted. He who sins offends against his own soul. He who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned. He who hates gossip has less wickedness. Never repeat what is told you, and you won’t lose anything. Whether it is of friend or foe, don’t tell it. Unless it is a sin to you, don’t reveal it. For if he has heard you and observed you, when the time comes, he will hate you. Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be brave: it will not make you burst! A fool will travail in pain with a word, as a woman in labor with a child. As an arrow that sticks in the flesh of the thigh, so is gossip in a fool. Question a friend; it may be he didn’t do it. If he did something, it may be that he may do it no more. Question your neighbor; it may be he didn’t say it. If he has said it, it may be that he may not say it again. Question a friend; for many times there is slander. Don’t trust every word. There is one who slips, and not from the heart. Who is he who hasn’t sinned with his tongue? Reprove your neighbor before you threaten him; and give place to the law of the Most High. All wisdom is the fear of the Lord. In all wisdom is the doing of the law. The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom. The prudence of sinners is not counsel. There is a wickedness, and it is an abomination. There is a fool lacking in wisdom. Better is one who has little understanding, and fears God, than one who has much intelligence and transgresses the law. There is an exquisite subtlety, and it is unjust. And there is one who perverts favor to gain a judgment. There is one who does wickedly, who hangs down his head with mourning; but inwardly he is full of deceit, bowing down his face, and pretending to be deaf in one ear. Where he isn’t known, he will take advantage of you. And if for lack of power he is hindered from sinning, if he finds opportunity, he will do mischief. A man will be known by his appearance. One who has understanding will be known by his face when you meet him. A man’s attire, grinning laughter, and the way he walks show what he is.
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Notes · Haydock (1859, public domain)18 notes
Notes in English 19th-century Catholic commentary by Fr. George Leo Haydock, shown as published.
These notes keep the polemics of their time: some speak harshly of the Jewish people or of other Christians. The Church teaches otherwise today. The Jewish people may not be blamed for the death of Christ (Nostra Aetate 4; Catechism 597–598), and Christians of other communities are our brothers and sisters in the Lord (Unitatis Redintegratio 3). Christian unity
Sirach 19:1
Ver. 1. Little. Small expenses, often repeated, will ruin an estate, (H.) and the neglect of venial sins is of the most dangerous consequence. C. --- The best way to avoid great faults, is to guard against small ones. W.
↑ 1Sirach 19:2
Ver. 2. Off. From God (C.) and religion. See Gen. xix. 33. and 2 K. xi. 1. Os. iv.
11.
↑ 2Sirach 19:3
Ver. 3. Number. Of the living. H. --- The venereal disease seems to be described.
↑ 3Sirach 19:4
Ver. 4. Credit. To harlots. 1 Cor. vi. 18. C.
↑ 4Sirach 19:5
Ver. 5. Hateth. Gr. "resisteth pleasure, shall crown his life. He who guardeth his tongue, shall live without contention: and he," &c. H.
↑ 5Sirach 19:6
Ver. 6. He. Gr. omits this explication of the preceding verse.
↑ 6Sirach 19:8
Ver. 8. Not. Only to God and his minister. Friends do not require to be informed of such things.
Gr. "disclose not the conduct of others." --- Be. Gr. "be not." Do not boast of sins which thou hast not committed, (C.) as S. Aug. did before his conversion.
H. --- But the Vulg. seems preferable. C. --- In ordinary conversation to reveal our faults would be dangerous, but not in confession, or in religious orders, for advancement in virtue. W.
↑ 8Sirach 19:9
Ver. 9. Hate thee. Whether thou hast spoken of thy own or of others' faults, he will distrust thee.
↑ 9Sirach 19:10
Ver. 10. Burst thee. Like poison, or as new wine (C.) does a leathern bottle. H.
--- This expression well implies the eagerness which some manifest to divulge a secret injurious to their neighbour. C.
↑ 10Sirach 19:13
Ver. 13. Understood. Gr. "done it." H. --- For want of coming to a timely explanation, many friendships are broken, owing to groundless surmises.
↑ 13Sirach 19:15
Ver. 15. Committed. Or "a false report," commissio. C. --- Gr. "a foolish calumny." H. ---
Monere et moneri proprium est veræ amicitiæ. Cic.
↑ 15Sirach 19:17
Ver. 17. Him. Gentle means must be first tried. Matt. xviii. 15. Gal. vi. 1. H.
↑ 17Sirach 19:18
Ver. 18. Place. Love true piety. C. --- Disposition. Gr. "complying with." H. ---
The Complut.
has several additions which are not in the Rom. edit. C. --- Grabe inserts them.
But it is not necessary to mark here every such variation. H.
↑ 18Sirach 19:22
Ver. 22. Unjust. S. James (iii. 15.) describes true and false wisdom. Rom. xvi.
19. C.
↑ 22Sirach 19:23
Ver. 23. Wickedly. Gr. "in black," (H.) wearing the robes of mourning. Grot.
↑ 23Sirach 19:24
Ver. 24. And. Gr. "there," &c. H. --- The hypocrite abstains from exterior crimes, only through fear. C. --- False pretence of piety, is hypocrisy; and it is wrong for a superior to reveal his secret faults to his subjects. Reason must direct. W.
↑ 24Sirach 19:26
Ver. 26. Countenance. Yet this is not always the case. v. 28. We may sometimes condemn a person unjustly, on such outward appearances. C.
↑ 26Sirach 19:28
Ver. 28. Lying. Gr. "a reproof which is not seemly; and there is one," &c. H.
↑ 28License: Notes by Fr. George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), from the Douay-Rheims Bible with Haydock's commentary (first ed. Thomas Haydock, Manchester/Dublin, 1811–1814; New York: Edward Dunigan & Brother, 1859); New Testament notes compiled with Fr. Benedict Rayment. Public domain. Digital text: "The Haydock Bible", Internet Archive (archive.org/details/TheHaydockBible), uploaded 2011 under the Public Domain Mark. · Credits and licenses