Sirach · WEB-C
Sirach
30
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He who loves his son will continue to lay stripes upon him, that he may have joy from him in the end. He who chastises his son will have profit from him, and will brag about him among his acquaintances. He who teaches his son will provoke his enemy to jealousy. Before friends, he will rejoice in him. His father dies, and is as though he had not died; for he has left one behind him like himself. In his life, he saw his son and rejoiced. When he died, it was without regret. He left behind him an avenger against his enemies, and one to repay kindness to his friends. He who makes too much of his son will bind up his wounds. His heart will be troubled at every cry. An unbroken horse becomes stubborn. An unrestrained son becomes headstrong. Pamper your child, and he will make you afraid. Play with him, and he will grieve you. Don’t laugh with him, lest you have sorrow with him, and you gnash your teeth in the end. Give him no liberty in his youth, and don’t ignore his follies. Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat him on the sides while he is a child, lest he become stubborn, and be disobedient to you, and there be sorrow to your soul. Chastise your son, and give him work, lest his shameless behavior be an offense to you. Better is a poor man who is healthy and fit, than a rich man who is afflicted in his body. Health and fitness are better than all gold, and a strong body better than wealth without measure. There is no wealth better than health of body. There is no gladness above the joy of the heart. Death is better than a bitter life, and eternal rest than a continual sickness. Good things poured out upon a mouth that is closed are like food offerings laid upon a grave. What does an offering profit an idol? For it can’t eat or smell. So is he who is punished by the Lord, seeing with his eyes and groaning, like a eunuch embracing a virgin and groaning. Don’t give your soul to sorrow. Don’t afflict yourself deliberately. Gladness of heart is the life of a man. Cheerfulness of a man lengthens his days. Love your own soul, and comfort your heart. Remove sorrow far from you, for sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it. Envy and wrath shorten life. Anxiety brings old age before its time. Those who are cheerful and merry will benefit from their food.
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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 30:1
Ver. 1. He. Gr. prefixes "on children." H. --- And not, &c. is omitted in Gr. It may signify, and not beg, (C.) or steal. H. --- The welfare of the country depends on the good education of children, which cannot be performed without correction, (C.) though this should never be used till more gentle means have been tried.
Fenelon on Educ. --- The neglect of correction proceeds from a misplaced tenderness, (Prov. xiii. 24.) which in the end proves most prejudicial both to the child and to the public. H. --- See Plato, rep. ii. and vii. Arist. pol. vi. Cic. off.
ii. C.
↑ 1Sirach 30:2
Ver. 2. Them. Gr. "his acquaintance." H. --- He sees himself re-born in his son.
v. 4. C.
↑ 2Sirach 30:7
Ver. 7. Wounds. To which he has exposed himself for his child's welfare, (2
Cor. xii. 15. Raban.) or if he neglect correction, he will have to bewail the wounds which his son's imprudence shall occasion. Syr. Vat. Gr. Comp. "He who rubs, (Rom. edit.) cherishes his son," &c. C. --- The eldest brother must take care of the rest, so as even to expose himself to danger. W.
↑ 7Sirach 30:8
Ver. 8. Horse. A colt full of spirit, when properly broken in, will answer best, so a proper education corrects impetuous tempers. Plut. apop. in Them.
↑ 8Sirach 30:10
Ver. 10. Laugh. "Smiling he must be feared." S. Greg. Mor. xx. 3.
↑ 10Sirach 30:11
Ver. 11. Devices. Gr. "sins of ignorance." Youth is incapable of guiding itself, being destitute of experience, and too confident. Prov. xxix. 45.
↑ 11Sirach 30:13
Ver. 13. Thee. "Very few excel their father." Hom. Odys. E. --- This is sometimes to be attributed to the neglect of education. C. --- Gr. subjoins, "on health." H.
↑ 13Sirach 30:14
Ver. 14. Evils. Health is better than riches. Pythag. &c.
↑ 14Sirach 30:15
Ver. 15. Justice. This is the first of all advantages. C. --- Thales pronounced him happy who was healthy and rich, and whose "soul was well tutored."
Laert. --- Gr. "health and a good constitution are preferable to all gold, and a,"
&c. H.
↑ 15Sirach 30:17
Ver. 17. Rest. In the grave. He speaks not of the soul. Job iii. 13.
↑ 17Sirach 30:18
Ver. 18. Grave. The dead cannot partake of them, (C.) so neither can the sick of their great possessions. H. --- It was customary to place meat on the tombs of the dead. C. --- The pagans invited them to eat; (S. Epip. Ancor.) but the faithful intended it for the poor, who might pray (C.) for the deceased. M. C. vii. 37. Tob.
iv. 18. --- The kings of France were served at table till they were placed in the tomb, and in many monasteries the usual portion is assigned the dead for thirty days, and given to the poor. C.
↑ 18Sirach 30:21
Ver. 21. Sighing. Thus meat is useless to those whom God visits with sickness.
See c. xx. 3.
↑ 21Sirach 30:22
Ver. 22. Sadness. For temporal things, but trusting in Providence. 1 Pet. v. 7.
Grief for sin is alone of service. 2 Cor. vii. 10. C. --- Pusillanimity must be avoided. W.
↑ 22Sirach 30:23
Ver. 23. A never. Gr. "the joy," &c. Prov. xvii. 22. and 2 Cor. ix. 7.
↑ 23Sirach 30:24
Ver. 24. Have. Gr. "love thy soul, and comfort thy heart, and drive," &c. H.
↑ 24Sirach 30:25
Ver. 25. Many. Bringing on maladies, and driving people into despair, v. 22. It was thought that the sad could not prophesy. 4 K. iii. 15. Hermas ii. Mand. iii.
More Neb. ii. 37. C.
↑ 25Sirach 30:26
Ver. 26. Envy. Or jealousy. These passions banish joy. Envy is like rust. C.
↑ 26Sirach 30:27
Ver. 27. Always. Gr. "will mind the meats which it shall eat." H. --- It will feast and enjoy content. This verse and the following chapters are in a much less natural order in the Gr. editions, till c. xxxvii. C.
↑ 27License: 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