Ecclesiasticus 24

Wisdom will praise herself, and will boast among her own people.

1Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall glory in the midst of her people.

NoteThrough this chapter Wisdom is presented as a woman who stands up and speaks for herself. The word for wisdom is grammatically feminine in both Hebrew and Greek, and Jewish writers of this period regularly built on that grammar to picture wisdom as a woman addressing a crowd, as in Proverbs 8. Her own speech runs from verse 3 to verse 22.

2In the assembly of the Most High she will open her mouth, and she will speak in triumph before his power.

2In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, and triumph before his power.

Note"Congregation" and "assembly" here translate a word for the whole people of Israel gathered together, the sort of gathering called for worship or for a public announcement, not a building or a denomination.

3I came out of the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like a cloud.

3I came out of the mouth of the most High, and covered the earth as a cloud.

Note"I came out of the mouth of the most High" pictures Wisdom as something God spoke, a word going out from him. The cloud that covers the earth in the second half of the line is the same image continued: breath and speech seen as a mist spreading over everything.

4I lived in the heights, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud.

4I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a cloudy pillar.

NoteThe pillar of cloud is from the story of the exodus, where the Lord goes ahead of Israel in a column of cloud by day and of fire by night, and settles over the tent of meeting. Saying her throne stands in it places Wisdom where God's presence was said to rest.

5I alone went all the way around the circle of the sky, and I walked in the depths of the deep.

5I alone compassed the circuit of heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep.

Note"The circuit of heaven" reflects the ancient picture of the sky as a dome or circle arching over a flat earth; to go around its circuit is to travel its whole rim. "The deep" is the mass of water thought of as lying under the earth and beyond the shores, the same word used for the primal waters in Genesis 1.

6In the waves of the sea, and in all the earth, and among every people and nation, I gained a possession.

6In the waves of the sea and in all the earth, and in every people and nation, I got a possession.

Note"I got a possession" is property language: to acquire a holding, something owned outright. Wisdom is claiming a stake in every place and every nation before the question of where she will settle comes up in the next verse.

7With all of these I looked for a resting place, and I asked: in whose inheritance shall I stay?

7With all these I sought rest: and in whose inheritance shall I abide?

Note"Inheritance" in these books rarely means money left in a will. It means the allotted share of land permanently assigned to a family, a tribe or a nation. Wisdom is asking which people's territory she is to live in.

8So the Creator of all things gave me a command, and the one who made me gave my tent a resting place. He said, "Make your home in Jacob, and let your inheritance be in Israel."

8So the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and he that made me caused my tabernacle to rest, and said, Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thine inheritance in Israel.

NoteThe "tabernacle" or tent is the portable shrine Israel was said to carry through the wilderness, a tent that was pitched wherever the people camped. "Jacob" and "Israel" are two names of the same ancestor, and both are used as names for the nation descended from him.

9He created me from the beginning, before the world, and I will never come to an end.

9He created me from the beginning before the world, and I shall never fail.

10In the holy tent I served in his presence, and so I was established in Sion.

10In the holy tabernacle I served before him; and so was I established in Sion.

Note"Sion" is the Greek spelling of Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where the temple stood, and by extension the city itself. "I served before him" uses the language of a priest ministering in the sanctuary.

11In the same way he gave me rest in the beloved city, and in Jerusalem was my power.

11Likewise in the beloved city he gave me rest, and in Jerusalem was my power.

12And I took root among an honored people, in the portion that belongs to the Lord as his inheritance.

12And I took root in an honourable people, even in the portion of the Lord’s inheritance.

NoteThis echoes a line from Deuteronomy 32, where the nations are parceled out and "the LORD's portion is his people." The picture is of land divided into shares, with Israel as the share the Lord kept for himself.

13I was raised high like a cedar in Libanus, and like a cypress tree on the mountains of Hermon.

13I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree upon the mountains of Hermon.

Note"Libanus" is the Greek form of Lebanon, the mountain range north of Israel, famous across the ancient world for its enormous cedars, the prestige timber used in palaces and temples. Hermon is the high mountain at Israel's northern edge, snow covered much of the year.

14I was raised high like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and like a rose bush in Jericho, like a fine olive tree in a pleasant field, and I grew up like a plane tree beside the water.

14I was exalted like a palm tree in En-gaddi, and as a rose plant in Jericho, as a fair olive tree in a pleasant field, and grew up as a plane tree by the water.

Note"En-gaddi" is En-gedi, a freshwater spring and oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea, known for its palms and its balsam groves. Jericho is another oasis city, in the Jordan valley, also famous for palms and gardens. A plane tree is a large, broad, spreading tree that grows along watercourses. Every name in this verse is a place where something green grows in a dry country.

15I gave off a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I gave a pleasant scent like the best myrrh, like galbanum and onycha and sweet storax, and like the smoke of frankincense in the tent.

15I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, and I yielded a pleasant odour like the best myrrh, as galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax, and as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle.

NoteThe list is the perfumery of the sanctuary: most of these are ingredients of the sacred anointing oil and the incense described in Exodus 30. Cinnamon is the fragrant bark spice. Aspalathus is a thorny aromatic shrub whose wood was burned for scent. Myrrh is a gum resin from a desert tree, used in perfume and burial. Galbanum is a sharp, pungent resin. Onycha, which the King James spells "onyx" here, is not the gemstone; it is the burnable shell plate of a sea snail, used in incense. Storax is the sweet resin of the styrax tree. Frankincense is the pale resin burned in worship, the smoke of which filled the sanctuary.

16Like the terebinth tree I spread out my branches, and my branches are branches of honor and grace.

16As the turpentine tree I stretched out my branches, and my branches are the branches of honour and grace.

Note"The turpentine tree" is the older English name for the terebinth, a large spreading tree common in the region, tapped for a resin from which turpentine was made. The name has nothing to do with modern paint thinner beyond that resin.

17Like the vine I put out a pleasant scent, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches.

17As the vine brought I forth pleasant savour, and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.

NoteThe vine is named here for its scent rather than its wine: the vine in flower has a strong sweet smell, noticed elsewhere in the Song of Songs.

18I am the mother of beautiful love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. So I, being eternal, am given to all my children who are named by him.

18I am the mother of fair love, and fear, and knowledge, and holy hope: I therefore, being eternal, am given to all my children which are named of him.

Note"Fear" in this list means reverent awe, the attitude of someone standing before something vastly greater, not fright. "Named of him" is ambiguous in the Greek and the rendering keeps the ambiguity: it can mean children God himself names, or children who bear his name. This verse is also absent from the oldest Greek copies of the book and belongs to a longer, expanded form of the text.

19Come to me, all you who long for me, and fill yourselves with my fruits.

19Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits.

20For the memory of me is sweeter than honey, and my inheritance sweeter than the honeycomb.

20For my memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance than the honeycomb.

21Those who eat me will still be hungry, and those who drink me will still be thirsty.

21They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty.

NoteThe line deliberately inverts the expected promise that those who come will never hunger or thirst again. The sense is of an appetite that renews itself: to take in wisdom is to want more of it, not to be left unsatisfied.

22Whoever obeys me will never be put to shame, and those who work by me will not go wrong.

22He that obeyeth me shall never be confounded, and they that work by me shall not do amiss.

23All these things are the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law that Moses commanded to be a possession for the assemblies of Jacob.

23All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high God, even the law which Moses commanded for an heritage unto the congregations of Jacob.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement between two parties, with obligations on each side. "The book of the covenant" here means the law of Moses, the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures, and "heritage" or "possession" means something handed down permanently, like a family's land.

24Do not grow tired of being strong in the Lord. Hold tightly to him, so that he may make you firm, for the Lord Almighty is God alone, and besides him there is no other Savior.

24Faint not to be strong in the Lord; that he may confirm you, cleave unto him: for the Lord Almighty is God alone, and beside him there is no other Saviour.

NoteThis verse is missing from the main Greek manuscripts and survives in the longer Latin form of the book. "Confirm you" means make you firm or steady, and "cleave unto him" is old English for hold on tight.

25He fills all things with his wisdom, like Phison, and like Tigris in the season of the new fruit.

25He filleth all things with his wisdom, as Phison and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits.

Note"Phison" is the Greek form of Pishon, named in Genesis 2 as one of the four rivers flowing out of Eden. The Tigris is one of the two great rivers of Mesopotamia. "The time of the new fruits" is spring, when the rivers run high with melted snow and the first produce comes in. All four rivers in verses 25 to 27 are named at their fullest moment.

26He makes understanding overflow like Euphrates, and like Jordan at harvest time.

26He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as Jordan in the time of the harvest.

NoteThe Jordan runs over its banks in spring, at the barley harvest, a detail the book of Joshua also notes. The Euphrates is the other great Mesopotamian river.

27He makes the teaching of knowledge appear like the light, and like Geon at the time of the grape harvest.

27He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light, and as Geon in the time of vintage.

Note"Geon" is the Greek form of Gihon, another of the four rivers of Eden in Genesis 2, which some ancient Jewish writers identified with the Nile. The "vintage" is the grape harvest, in the autumn.

28The first man did not know her completely, and the last man will not find her out either.

28The first man knew her not perfectly: no more shall the last find her out.

Note"The first man" is Adam, the first human being; "the last" is the last person who will ever live. The pair is a way of saying that no one from the beginning of the human race to its end has taken the measure of her.

29For her thoughts are more than the sea, and her plans are deeper than the great deep.

29For her thoughts are more than the sea, and her counsels profounder than the great deep.

30I too came out like a brook from a river, and like a channel of water into a garden.

30I also came out as a brook from a river, and as a conduit into a garden.

NoteThe speaker changes here. From this point to the end of the chapter it is the book's author talking about his own work, picturing himself as a small channel led off from Wisdom's river to irrigate a garden, and then finding the channel grown past all expectation.

31I said, "I will water my best garden, and I will water my garden bed richly." And look, my brook became a river, and my river became a sea.

31I said, I will water my best garden, and will water abundantly my garden bed: and, lo, my brook became a river, and my river became a sea.

32I will yet make teaching shine like the morning, and I will send its light far away.

32I will yet make doctrine to shine as the morning, and will send forth her light afar off.

33I will yet pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all ages forever.

33I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and leave it to all ages for ever.

34See that I have not worked for myself alone, but for all those who seek wisdom.

34Behold that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all them that seek wisdom.