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Sirach · WEB-C

Sirach

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I enjoy three things, and they are beautiful before the Lord and men: the agreement of kindred, the friendship of neighbors, and a woman and her husband who walk together in agreement. But my soul hates three sorts of people, and I am greatly offended at their life: a poor man who is arrogant, a rich man who is a liar, and an old fool who is an adulterer. If you gathered nothing in your youth, how could you find anything in your old age? How beautiful a thing is judgment in the gray-haired, and for elders to know good counsel! How beautiful is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and counsel to men who are in honor! Much experience is the crown of the aged. Their glory is the fear of the Lord. There are nine things that I have thought of, and in my heart counted happy, and the tenth I will utter with my tongue: a man who has joy with his children, and a man who lives and sees the fall of his enemies. Happy is he who dwells with a wife of understanding, he who has not slipped with his tongue, and he who has not served a man who is unworthy of him. Happy is he who has found prudence, and he who speaks in the ears of those who listen. How great is he who has found wisdom! Yet there is none greater than one who fears the Lord. The fear of the Lord surpasses all things. To whom shall he who holds it be likened? Any wound but a wound of the heart! Any wickedness but the wickedness of a woman! Any calamity but a calamity from those who hate me! Any vengeance but the vengeance of enemies! There is no venom worse than a snake’s venom. There is no wrath worse than an enemy’s wrath. I would rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than keep house with a wicked woman. The wickedness of a woman changes her appearance, and darkens her countenance like that of a bear. Her husband will sit among his neighbors, and when he hears it, he sighs bitterly. All malice is small compared to the malice of a woman. Let the portion of a sinner fall on her. As walking up a sandy hill is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of words to a quiet man. Don’t be ensnared by a woman’s beauty. Don’t desire a woman for her beauty. There is anger, impudence, and great reproach if a woman supports her husband. A wicked woman is abasement of heart, sadness of countenance, and a wounded heart. A woman who won’t make her husband happy is like hands that hang down, and weak knees. The beginning of sin came from a woman. Because of her, we all die. Don’t give water an outlet, and don’t give a wicked woman freedom of speech. If she doesn’t go as you direct, cut her away from your flesh.

Notes · Haydock (1859, public domain)23 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 25:1

Ver. 1. Pleased. Wisdom still speaks. Solomon often makes similar division, to make the deeper impression. Prov. xxx. 15. 24.

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Sirach 25:4

Ver. 4. Fool. Gr. "adulterer, devoid of sense." Is. lxv. 20. C. ---

Luxuria...senectuti fœdissima.

Cic. off. i.

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Sirach 25:5

Ver. 5. Age? Wisdom, says Bias, "is more durable than other possessions."

Laert.

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Sirach 25:9

Ver. 9. Things. Gr. "nine suppositions I have blessed in my heart," (H.) or thought that they may confer felicity. But the tenth will certainly do it. C. xiv.

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Sirach 25:10

Ver. 10. Enemies. Not out of revenge, but for the glory of God. See Matt. v. 43.

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Sirach 25:12

Ver. 12. A true. Gr. "prudence." C.

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Sirach 25:14

Ver. 14. Things. Gr. adds, "for light (15.) he that," &c. H.

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Sirach 25:16

Ver. 16. It. This is not in the edit. of Rome, or of Aldus: but it is in the rest. Fear commonly begins the work of salvation, and love perfects it. 1 Tim. i. 5. C. ---

All happiness in this life is grounded on the fear of God. W.

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Sirach 25:17

This 19th-century note uses polemical language; read it in the light of the note at the top of this panel.

Ver. 17. Evil. Gr. reads not this; but the Syriac does, omitting the two next verses. C. --- Heresy is described under the idea of a wicked woman, concealing her malice. W.

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Sirach 25:18

Ver. 18. Choose. Lit. "see." H. --- Some supply "send any plague," &c.

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Sirach 25:21

Ver. 21. Enemies. Which they wish, or may behold. C. xviii. 31. C.

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Sirach 25:22

Ver. 22. Head. Or poison, as the Heb. rosh signifies both. Rondet.

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Sirach 25:23

Ver. 23. Woman. Gr. "enemy." C. --- Revenge is the passion of little souls, and of women. Juv.

xiii. --- Dragon. This is not exaggerated, if we reflect on the evils occasioned by Eve, Dalila, Athalia, &c. C. --- "A woman is the greatest wild-beast." Menander.

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Sirach 25:24

Ver. 24. Sackcloth. And is black when passion bursts forth, though women too frequently conceal their anger to take deeper vengeance.

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Sirach 25:25

Ver. 25. Groaned. Gr. "shall fall." --- Little. Gr. "bitterly." He cannot avoid hearing of his wife's misconduct. H. --- She will raise him enemies on all sides.

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Sirach 25:26

Ver. 26. Her. I could wish no greater evil to the worst of enemies. Eccles. vii. 27.

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Sirach 25:27

Ver. 27. Man. He cannot advance. C. --- Semper habet lites. Juv. vi.

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Sirach 25:28

Ver. 28. Beauty. Other qualifications of more importance must be regarded. H.

--- He should choose one who may be a companion and assistant in domestic concerns. Grot.

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Sirach 25:30

This 19th-century note uses polemical language; read it in the light of the note at the top of this panel.

Ver. 30. A. Gr. "If she bring a fortune to her husband," (H.) she will continually upbraid him with it, and cover him with confusion. v. 29. C. --- Lay-leadership in spiritual things is so unreasonable, that few heretics will endure it. W.

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Sirach 25:32

Ver. 32. Happy. A lazy wife will give no content.

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Sirach 25:33

Ver. 33. Die. Eve tempted her husband, and thus we are all involved in sin. 1

Tim. ii. 14.

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Sirach 25:34

Ver. 34. Water. Incontinency. C. xxvi. 15. Prov. v. 15. If water find a hole, it will presently flow away. Women were kept much at home in the East, as they are in many parts of Europe. C.

--- Retirement and silence are the characteristics of a wise woman. Æschyl.

Thebas.

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Sirach 25:35

Ver. 35. She will. Gr. "cut her off from thy flesh." Grabe and Comp. add, (H.)

"give a bill of divorce or her dowry, and send her away." C.

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License: 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

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