Sirach · WEB-C
Sirach
42
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Don’t be ashamed of these things, and don’t sin to save face: of the law of the Most High and his covenant, of judgment to do justice to the ungodly, of reckoning with a partner and with travellers, of a gift from the inheritance of friends, of exactness of scales and weights, of getting much or little, of bargaining dealing with merchants, of frequent correction of children, and of making the back of an evil slave to bleed. A seal is good where an evil wife is. Where there are many hands, lock things up. Whatever you hand over, let it be by number and weight. In giving and receiving, let all be in writing. Don’t be ashamed to instruct the unwise and foolish, and one of extreme old age who contends with those who are young. So you will be well instructed indeed and approved in the sight of every living man. A daughter is a secret cause of wakefulness to a father. Care for her takes away sleep— in her youth, lest she pass the flower of her age; when she is married, lest she should be hated; in her virginity, lest she should be defiled and be with child in her father’s house; when she has a husband, lest she should transgress; and when she is married, lest she should be barren. Keep a strict watch over a headstrong daughter, lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and notorious among the people, and shame you in public. Don’t gaze at every beautiful body. Don’t sit in the midst of women. For from garments comes a moth, and from a woman comes a woman’s wickedness. Better is the wickedness of a man than a pleasant woman, a woman who puts you to shame and disgrace. I will make mention now of the works of the Lord, and will declare the things that I have seen. The Lord’s works are in his words. The sun that gives light looks at all things. The Lord’s work is full of his glory. The Lord has not given power to the saints to declare all his marvelous works, which the Almighty Lord firmly settled, that the universe might be established in his glory. He searches out the deep and the heart. He has understanding of their secrets. For the Most High knows all knowledge. He sees the signs of the world. He declares the things that are past and the things that shall be, and reveals the traces of hidden things. No thought escapes him. There is not a word hidden from him. He has ordered the mighty works of his wisdom. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Nothing has been added to them, nor diminished from them. He had no need of any counselor. How desirable are all his works! One may see this even in a spark. All these things live and remain forever in all manner of uses. They are all obedient. All things are in pairs, one opposite the other. He has made nothing imperfect. One thing establishes the good things of another. Who could ever see enough of his glory?
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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 42:1
Ver. 1. Men. Here the Gr. concludes the former chapter very properly, (H.) as we must be ashamed of doing these things, and not of those which follow. C. ---
"Of repeating [and] of the speech which thou hast heard, and of revealing secret words; (things. H.) and thou shalt be truly bashful, ( aischunteros. C.) and find favour with every man." Grabe's edit. H. --- Thereby. In such cases we must shew a holy impudence, like Jeremias, i. 10. 18.
↑ 1Sirach 42:2
Ver. 2. Covenant. We must be ashamed of transgressing these, (C. xli. 24.) but not of complying with them. This is the first duty of man. --- Ungodly. Blush not to oppose such a judgment, (C.) though all the judges should be against thee.
Follow no collusion of man to do evil. H. --- Pass sentence without respect of persons, (Deut. i. 16. C.) whether the parties be thy companions, or only travellers. v. 3. H.
↑ 2Sirach 42:3
Ver. 3. Friends. Be not ashamed to leave something to thy friends, though relations may grumble; or execute thy friend's will exactly. C.
↑ 3Sirach 42:4
Ver. 4. Little. Be scrupulously exact in thy dealings, but not afraid of advancing thy fortune by lawful means.
↑ 4Sirach 42:5
Ver. 5. Buying. This regards magistrates, who must correct such frauds. Gr. "of the money (C.) to purchase from merchants." H. --- We may examine whether the coin by good, and strive to get things as cheap as we can. --- Bleed. Great severity was formerly used. C. xxx. 12. C.
↑ 5Sirach 42:6
Ver. 6. Keeping. Lit. "a seal." H. --- All must be locked up.
↑ 6Sirach 42:7
Ver. 7. In. Not out of distrust so much, as to keep servants honest. All who have written on economy give the same rules.
↑ 7Sirach 42:8
Ver. 8. Men. So Daniel discovered the malice of the two ancients. Dan. xiii. 46.
Admonish the aged not to enter into disputes, or strive with the young. C.
↑ 8Sirach 42:9
Ver. 9. Knoweth. Lit. " who is hidden." H. --- An unmarried woman was styled Halma, or
"hidden." Is. vii. 11. C. --- Pass away. Gr. "abuse." H. --- Some read adultera, (Sixt. V. Jans.) instead of adulta, improperly. It was deemed shameful for a parent not to have his daughter married soon. 1 Cor. vii. 36. --- Hateful. Deut.
xxiv.
↑ 9Sirach 42:10
Ver. 10. Barren. And thus fall into contempt. Deut. vii. 14. If she committed adultery she must die; or if she were only suspected, she must drink the waters of jealousy. Num. v. 17. Husbands would often seek a divorce, on such occasions; which would involve the father in fresh difficulties.
↑ 10Sirach 42:11
Ver. 11. Multitude, who will accuse thee of negligence. C.
↑ 11Sirach 42:12
Ver. 12. Body's. Lit. "man's." But females are included in this term. H. --- It was also necessary to guard the Greeks, and pagans in general, against a criminal affection for boys.
↑ 12Sirach 42:13
Ver. 13. Man. Gr. "woman." Malice is natural to her. Beauty becomes her ruin, as well as that of others. C. --- The Fathers compare women to a load-stone. S.
Bas. --- Men who come near them, are greatly exposed. C.
↑ 13Sirach 42:14
Ver. 14. Better, &c. That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men, than from the flattering favours and familiarity of women. Ch. ---
Josephus (c. Ap. ii.) attributes this sentence to Moses, and prefers the worst man to the best woman, as Euripides does in Clem. Strom. iv. C. --- But this is ridiculous. --- Reproach. This explains what sort of good the woman aforesaid has done; she had fostered the passions of men, and brought them to shame, which all the malevolence of an enemy could not have done. H. --- The company of women is therefore more dangerous. C. ix. W.
↑ 14Sirach 42:15
Ver. 15. Remember, or publish. He praises God and the great men of his nation, to the end of the book, (C.) or to C. l. 29. H. --- By. Lit. "in." H. --- I have only abridged what the sacred Scriptures relate.
↑ 15Sirach 42:16
Ver. 16. Work. The world displays God's glory and power. Ps. xviii. 6.
↑ 16Sirach 42:17
Ver. 17. Saints, in heaven, or rather the Israelites. Ps. cxlvii. 20. C.
↑ 17Sirach 42:19
Ver. 19. Signs. Lit. "sign," the order of the stars, &c. H. --- Yet God does not study these things, to discover what will happen. He is the author of nature. C.
--- From his works we are to form some idea of his greatness. Job xxviii. &c. W.
↑ 19Sirach 42:25
Ver. 25. Another. By this opposition the world subsists, according to Linus, Epimenides, &c.
Hanc Deus et melior litem natura diremit. Met. i. See C. xxiii. 16.
↑ 25Sirach 42:26
Ver. 26. He. Gr. "one thing establishes the good of another," (H.) serving as a counterpoise. C.
--- Black colours cause the white to shine forth. Youth is guided by the experience of old age. M.
↑ 26License: 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