Ecclesiasticus 15: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter speaks of wisdom as a woman who comes to the person who fears the Lord and knows the law: she feeds him, supports him, lifts him above his neighbors, and gives him a lasting name, while foolish men and sinners do not reach her. It then says praise does not belong in the mouth of a sinner, and it forbids anyone to say that the Lord is the one who made him fall away or go wrong. It states that God made man at the beginning and left him to his own decision, setting fire and water, life and death, before him to choose from, and that God has commanded no one to act wickedly and has given no one permission to sin.

Claim by Claim

1. 15:1
   • The one who fears the Lord will do this.
   • The one who has mastery of the law will obtain wisdom.
2. 15:2
   • Wisdom will come to meet him like a mother.
   • Wisdom will receive him like a wife married as a virgin.
3. 15:3
   • Wisdom will feed him with the bread of understanding.
   • Wisdom will give him the water of wisdom to drink.
4. 15:4
   • He will be supported upon her.
   • He will not be shaken.
   • He will rely upon her.
   • He will not be put to shame.
5. 15:5
   • Wisdom will exalt him above his neighbors.
   • Wisdom will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.
6. 15:6
   • He will find joy.
   • He will find a crown of gladness.
   • Wisdom will cause him to inherit an everlasting name.
7. 15:7
   • Foolish men will not obtain wisdom.
   • Sinful men will not see wisdom.
8. 15:8
   • Wisdom is far from pride.
   • Men who are liars will not remember wisdom.
9. 15:9
   • Praise is not fitting in the mouth of a sinner.
   • The praise in a sinner's mouth was not sent from the Lord.
10. 15:10
    • Praise will be uttered in wisdom.
    • The Lord will prosper that praise.
11. 15:11
    • Do not say that it is because of the Lord that you fell away.
    • You are not to do the things the Lord has hated.
12. 15:12
    • Do not say that he caused you to go astray.
    • The Lord has no need of a sinful man.
13. 15:13
    • The Lord hates every abomination.
    • Those who fear the Lord do not love abomination.
14. 15:14
    • He himself made man from the beginning.
    • He left man in the hand of his own counsel.
15. 15:15
    • If you are willing, you will keep the commandments.
    • Acting faithfully according to what pleases him is a matter of your own will.
16. 15:16
    • He has set fire and water before you.
    • You may stretch out your hand to whichever one you want.
17. 15:17
    • Life and death are set before man.
    • Whichever a man chooses will be given to him.
18. 15:18
    • The wisdom of the Lord is great.
    • The Lord is strong in power.
    • The Lord sees all things.
19. 15:19
    • The Lord's eyes are upon those who fear him.
    • The Lord knows every work of man.
20. 15:20
    • He has commanded no one to act wickedly.
    • He has given no one permission to sin.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

15:1

"Her" is Wisdom, pictured through these chapters as a woman; the sentence runs straight on from the end of chapter 14, where she was named. To fear the Lord means to hold God in awe and take him seriously, not to be frightened of him. "The law" is the law of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, which this writer treats as the place where wisdom is kept.

15:2

Two pictures of the same woman: Wisdom greets the man the way a mother greets a son, and takes him in the way a household takes in a bride. "A wife married of a virgin" is 1611 English for a wife married while still a virgin, that is, a first wife taken in youth.

15:3

This is picture language. Wisdom does not hand out real bread and water. The point is that understanding feeds a person's mind the way food and drink keep a body alive.

15:4

"Stayed upon" means supported by, leaning his weight on. "Confounded" in 1611 did not mean confused; it meant let down and publicly humiliated.

15:5

To "open his mouth" is an idiom for giving someone both the standing and the words to speak in public. The "congregation" is the assembled community gathered for worship or for business, the setting in which a man's standing was made or lost.

15:6

A "crown of gladness" is the garland worn at a feast, not a royal crown. An "everlasting name" is a reputation that outlasts the person; in this period, being remembered by name was itself spoken of as a kind of continuing.

15:7

A sinner is a person who keeps doing wrong on purpose. A foolish man here means one who will not learn.

15:8

The Greek says Wisdom keeps far away from arrogant men, rather than that she herself lacks pride. "Cannot remember her" means liars never so much as call her to mind.

15:9

"Seemly" means fitting or becoming. The praise in view is praise offered to God in worship, and the line says such words do not sit right in the mouth of a man whose life contradicts them.

15:10

In 1611 "prosper" could take an object: to prosper something is to make it turn out well.

15:11

"Fell away" translates a word for deserting or defecting, used of turning away from God. "Say not thou" is a teaching formula: the writer quotes an excuse people were actually making, then answers it.

15:12

"He hath no need of the sinful man" means God gains nothing from anyone doing wrong. So blaming him for your own wrong choices makes no sense.

15:13

"Abomination" is the standard biblical word for something regarded as disgusting and forbidden, used in the law for practices Israel was to have nothing to do with.

15:14

"In the hand of" means in the power of, at the disposal of. "His counsel" means his own deliberation, his own choosing. The Hebrew text of this book, recovered in fragments in modern times, reads "in the hand of his yetzer", his inclination or impulse, the inner pull that draws a person one way or the other.

15:15

The Greek runs roughly: if you choose, you can keep the commandments, and acting faithfully is a matter of your own choice. The King James "to perform acceptable faithfulness" keeps the words but blurs the point, which is that the choosing belongs to you.

15:16

Fire and water are a stock pair of opposites, two things set side by side so that a person must reach for one or the other. "Whether" in 1611 meant whichever of two, not if. The verse echoes the choice set before Israel in Deuteronomy 30.

15:17

"Whether him liketh" is older grammar running backwards from modern English: whichever pleases him. "Like" here means to please, and "him" is the person being pleased.

15:20

"Licence" means permission, formal leave to do a thing.