Ecclesiasticus 22

A lazy man is like a filthy stone, and everyone will hiss at him in scorn.

1A slothful man is compared to a filthy stone, and every one will hiss him out to his disgrace.

NoteHissing was a public gesture of contempt, the ancient equivalent of booing someone off the stage. The Greek word behind "filthy" means smeared or befouled, and the picture is of a stone so dirty that anyone who touches it flings it away; some readers have taken it for a stone used for wiping after relieving oneself.

2A lazy man is like the filth of a dunghill: every man who picks it up will shake his hand.

2A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill: every man that takes it up will shake his hand.

Note"Shake his hand" is not a handshake. It means shake the muck off his hand in disgust, the way you would flick something foul from your fingers.

3A badly raised son is the shame of the father who fathered him, and a foolish daughter is born to his loss.

3An evilnurtured man is the dishonour of his father that begat him: and a foolish daughter is born to his loss.

Note"Nurture" in the King James means upbringing and training, including discipline, not affection; "evilnurtured" is badly brought up. A daughter is "born to his loss" because a father had to provide a dowry for her and she then left his household for her husband's, so in purely economic terms a daughter cost him and a son did not.

4A wise daughter will bring an inheritance to her husband, but the one who lives shamefully is a weight of grief on her father.

4A wise daughter shall bring an inheritance to her husband: but she that liveth dishonestly is her father’s heaviness.

NoteThe Greek here can be read two ways, and translators differ. It may mean that a sensible daughter brings her husband a dowry and so an inheritance, or that a sensible daughter obtains a husband as her own portion in life. The King James takes the first; the second is at least as old.

5A brazen daughter brings dishonor on both her father and her husband, and both of them will despise her.

5She that is bold dishonoureth both her father and her husband, but they both shall despise her.

Note"Bold" in 1611 English here means brazen or shameless, forward in a way that invited gossip. It does not mean brave.

6A story told at the wrong time is like music at a funeral, but a beating and the correction that comes from wisdom are never out of season.

6A tale out of season is as musick in mourning: but stripes and correction of wisdom are never out of time.

NoteMourning in this culture was formal and public, with set days, wailing, and dirges, so cheerful music during it was a jarring intrusion; the proverb is about timing, not about music. "Stripes" are strokes of a rod or lash. Beating as part of a father's or a teacher's training was simply assumed here.

7Whoever teaches a fool is like a man gluing a broken pot back together, and like a man waking someone out of a deep sleep.

7Whoso teacheth a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd together, and as he that waketh one from a sound sleep.

8Whoever tells a story to a fool is speaking to a man half asleep. When he has finished the story, the fool will say, "What is this about?"

8He that telleth a tale to a fool speaketh to one in a slumber: when he hath told his tale, he will say, What is the matter?

9If children live decently, and have the means to live on, they will cover up the low condition of their parents.

9If children live honestly, and have wherewithal, they shall cover the baseness of their parents.

NoteThe Greek manuscripts of this book differ in length, and some copies carry extra lines that others lack. As a result the verse numbers in this chapter do not always line up with those in other modern translations.

10But children who are proud, through their scorn and their lack of training, stain the good name of their family.

10But children, being haughty, through disdain and want of nurture do stain the nobility of their kindred.

11Weep for the dead man, for he has lost the light; and weep for the fool, for he lacks understanding. Weep only a little for the dead, for he is at rest, but the life of the fool is worse than death.

11Weep for the dead, for he hath lost the light: and weep for the fool, for he wanteth understanding: make little weeping for the dead, for he is at rest: but the life of the fool is worse than death.

Note"He hath lost the light" means he has died. The dead were pictured as going down to a place where no light reaches, so seeing the light and being alive were the same thing.

12People mourn seven days for a man who has died, but for a fool and a godless man they mourn all the days of his life.

12Seven days do men mourn for him that is dead; but for a fool and an ungodly man all the days of his life.

NoteSeven days was the fixed span of formal mourning for the dead, the period observed for Jacob in Genesis 50:10 and for Judith's husband in Judith 16:24. The saying works by contrast: the fool gets a lifetime of what the dead man gets for a week.

13Do not talk much with a fool, and do not go to a man who has no understanding. Be on your guard against him, so that you have no trouble, and you will never be soiled by his follies. Get away from him, and you will find rest, and never be upset by his madness.

13Talk not much with a fool, and go not to him that hath no understanding: beware of him, lest thou have trouble, and thou shalt never be defiled with his fooleries: depart from him, and thou shalt find rest, and never be disquieted with madness.

Note"Defiled" is the language of ritual uncleanness, a contamination picked up by contact and needing to be washed off. The claim is that a fool's company rubs off on you the way dirt does. "Madness" here means senseless, uncontrolled behavior rather than a medical condition.

14What is heavier than lead? And what is its name, if not "fool"?

14What is heavier than lead? and what is the name thereof, but a fool?

NoteThis is a riddle, a question paired with its own answer, a standard teaching device in wisdom writing. Lead was the heaviest metal in ordinary use, so it was the common byword for weight.

15Sand, and salt, and a lump of iron are all easier to carry than a man without understanding.

15Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, than a man without understanding.

16Wooden beams strapped and fastened together in a building cannot be worked loose by shaking. In the same way, a heart made firm by carefully considered advice will not be afraid at any time.

16As timber girt and bound together in a building cannot be loosed with shaking: so the heart that is stablished by advised counsel shall fear at no time.

NoteWalls of the period were built with timbers bonded into the masonry and strapped together, a frame that held the structure rigid when the ground shook. The comparison is to that joinery, not to a loose stack of beams.

17A heart settled on a thought that comes from understanding is like fine plasterwork on the wall of a gallery.

17A heart settled upon a thought of understanding is as a fair plaistering on the wall of a gallery.

NoteInterior walls were finished with smooth lime plaster, which cracked and fell away if badly laid and held for generations if laid well. A "gallery" here is a covered walkway or colonnade, the sort of public space whose finish people would notice.

18Stakes set up on a high place will never stand against the wind. In the same way, a frightened heart, caught up in a fool's imagining, cannot stand against any fear.

18Pales set on an high place will never stand against the wind: so a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool cannot stand against any fear.

Note"Pales" are pointed stakes driven into the ground to make a fence. "High place" here means simply a hilltop or exposed ridge, not the hilltop shrine that the same phrase refers to elsewhere in the Bible; the point is that light fencing on open high ground blows flat.

19A man who jabs the eye will make tears fall, and a man who jabs the heart makes it show what it knows.

19He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall: and he that pricketh the heart maketh it to shew her knowledge.

NoteA proverb in two matched halves: press on the eye and it waters, press on the heart and it gives up what it is really holding. "Sheweth her knowledge" means the heart reveals what it actually thinks, brought out under the pain.

20Whoever throws a stone at birds scares them away, and whoever reproaches his friend breaks the friendship.

20Whoso casteth a stone at the birds frayeth them away: and he that upbraideth his friend breaketh friendship.

NoteTo reproach or upbraid a friend is to throw his faults in his face, usually in front of others. In a society where standing in the community was everything, this was understood as an act that ended the relationship, not a passing quarrel.

21Even if you drew a sword on your friend, do not give up hope, for there may be a way back to good terms.

21Though thou drewest a sword at thy friend, yet despair not: for there may be a returning to favour.

22If you have opened your mouth against your friend, do not be afraid, for there may be a making up. But not in the case of insults, or pride, or telling secrets, or a treacherous wound; for these things every friend will walk away.

22If thou hast opened thy mouth against thy friend, fear not; for there may be a reconciliation: except for upbraiding, or pride, or disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound: for for these things every friend will depart.

NoteA "treacherous wound" is an injury done by someone trusted, a blow from behind. The list sets out the offenses that were held to be past repair, in contrast to the hot words of the previous verse.

23Be faithful to your neighbor while he is poor, so that you may be glad with him when he prospers. Stand by him steadily in his time of trouble, so that you may share with him in what he inherits. For a low position is not always to be looked down on, nor is a rich man who is a fool to be admired.

23Be faithful to thy neighbour in his poverty, that thou mayest rejoice in his prosperity: abide stedfast unto him in the time of his trouble, that thou mayest be heir with him in his heritage: for a mean estate is not always to be contemned: nor the rich that is foolish to be had in admiration.

NoteLoyalty to a poor friend was expected to be repaid when his situation improved. "Be heir with him in his heritage" may mean literally sharing in what he inherits, or more loosely sharing in his good fortune as a member of his household would; the Greek allows both.

24As the steam and smoke of a furnace come before the fire, so insults come before bloodshed.

24As the vapour and smoke of a furnace goeth before the fire; so reviling before blood.

25I will not be ashamed to defend a friend, and I will not hide myself from him.

25I will not be ashamed to defend a friend; neither will I hide myself from him.

26And if any harm comes to me through him, everyone who hears of it will be on guard against him.

26And if any evil happen unto me by him, every one that heareth it will beware of him.

27Who will set a guard in front of my mouth, and a seal of wisdom on my lips, so that I do not suddenly fall because of them, and my tongue does not destroy me?

27Who shall set a watch before my mouth, and a seal of wisdom upon my lips, that I fall not suddenly by them, and that my tongue destroy me not?

NoteA "watch" is a sentry posted at a gate to control what passes through. A seal was a stamped lump of clay or wax closing a door or a document, so that nothing could be opened without the tampering showing. The same prayer, in almost the same words, appears in Psalm 141:3.