Sirach · WEB-C
Sirach
27
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Many have sinned for profit. He who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away. As a nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones, so sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling. Unless a person holds on diligently to the fear of the Lord, his house will be overthrown quickly. In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remains, so does the filth of man in his thoughts. The furnace tests the potter’s vessels; so the test of a person is in his thoughts. The fruit of a tree discloses its cultivation, so is the utterance of the thought of a person’s heart. Praise no man before you hear his thoughts, for this is how people are tested. If you follow righteousness, you will obtain it, and put it on like a long robe of glory. Birds will return to their own kind, so truth will return to those who practice it. The lion lies in wait for prey. So does sin for those who do evil. The discourse of a godly man is always wise, but the fool changes like the moon. Limit your time among people void of understanding, but persevere among the thoughtful. The talk of fools is offensive. Their laughter is wantonly sinful. Their talk with much swearing makes hair stand upright. Their strife makes others plug their ears. The strife of the proud leads to bloodshed. Their abuse of each other is a grievous thing to hear. He who reveals secrets destroys trust, and will not find a close friend. Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him; for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor. As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again. Don’t pursue him, for he has gone far away, and has escaped like a gazelle out of the snare. For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets is without hope. One who winks the eye contrives evil things; and those who know him will keep their distance. When you are present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire your words; but afterward he will twist his speech and set a trap in your words. I have hated many things, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him. One who casts a stone straight up casts it on his own head. A deceitful blow opens wounds. He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it. He who does evil things, they will roll back upon him, and he will not know where they came from. Mockery and reproach are from the arrogant. Vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion. Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly will be caught in a snare. Anguish will consume them before they die. Wrath and anger, these also are abominations. A sinner will possess them.
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Notes · Haydock (1859, public domain)20 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 27:1
Ver. 1. Poverty. Gr. "the indifferent thing," as the Stoics represented money. C.
vii. 20. ---
Sinned. Hence proceeds the danger to which little merchants are exposed.
Involuntary povery is very miserable. Prov. xxx. 9
↑ 1Sirach 27:2
Ver. 2. Fast. Anacharsis styled "the market-place the receptacle of mutual cheating." Laert. 1.
--- The seller praises his goods to get them off: (Hor.) the buyer says it is bad.
Prov. xx. 14. The next verse is a gloss omitted in Gr. C.
↑ 2Sirach 27:4
Ver. 4. Fear. By this the soul is preserved in a good state. W.
↑ 4Sirach 27:5
Ver. 5. Thoughts. The more he thinks on some things, the more is he perplexed. C. --- After sin is purged away, there remains some defects like dust. Ps. l. 4. W.
↑ 5Sirach 27:6
Ver. 6. Affliction. Gr. "thought," (H.) or speech. C. --- A young man being brought to Socrates, that he might pass judgment on his dispositions, the philosopher ordered him to "speak." Cic.
↑ 6Sirach 27:7
Ver. 7. As. Gr. "the fruit shews the dressing," &c.
↑ 7Sirach 27:9
Ver. 9. Honour. The desire of justice is the sure method to obtain it. The rest is not in Gr. H.
↑ 9Sirach 27:11
Ver. 11. Iniquities. They fall deeper, or sin entails punishment. C.
↑ 11Sirach 27:12
Ver. 12. A. Gr. "the speech of the wise man is wisdom throughout: but," &c. H.
--- The fool always mixes something improper with what good he speaks. C. ---
Sun. The wise man preserves his virtue, whether it appear or not. W.
↑ 12Sirach 27:13
Ver. 13. Keep. Gr. "wait an opportunity." H. --- Go but seldom. Their discourse tends to promote iniquity, (v. 14.) and blasphemous oaths, (v. 15.) and bloodshed. v. 16. C.
↑ 13Sirach 27:15
Ver. 15. Ears. The Jews did so, when they heard blasphemy. Acts vii. 56. M.
↑ 15Sirach 27:17
Ver. 17. Mind. In Egypt, those who disclosed a secret to the enemy, were condemned to have their tongues cut out. Diod. ii. 2.
↑ 17Sirach 27:19
Ver. 19. Him. He will never trust thee more. v. 22.
↑ 19Sirach 27:20
Ver. 20. Friend. Sept. Rom. and Alex. "enemy." H. --- This crime is like murder.
The Romans sometimes solemnly renounced the friendship of those who had offended them, as Germanicus and Caius did that of Piso. Tacit. An. 2. Suet. 3.
↑ 20Sirach 27:22
Ver. 22. Because. Gr. "for one may bind up a wound, and an insult may be pardoned. But he who hath revealed secrets, hath lost all hope," (H.) or
"confidence." v. 24. c. xxii. 27.
↑ 22Sirach 27:25
Ver. 25. Off. Some Gr. copies have, "he who knows him will depart from him." It is difficult to guard against a false friend, who winks as if he desired to please us, (C.) while he really seeks our ruin. v. 26.
↑ 25Sirach 27:28
Ver. 28. Wound. Gr. "deal wounds. He," &c. H. --- Traitors, in the dark, often wound their fellows, (C.) or themselves. M.
↑ 28Sirach 27:29
Ver. 29. Setteth. Gr. "layeth a snare, shall perish in it."
↑ 29Sirach 27:30
Ver. 30. Him. God will punish, when the sinner has perhaps forgotten his offence. C. --- Such are often chastised here, and always hereafter. W.
↑ 30Sirach 27:33
Ver. 33. Them. He shall feel the indignation of God, (C.) and shall repine. H.
↑ 33License: 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