Ecclesiasticus 25

Three things made me beautiful, and made me stand out as beautiful before God and before people: brothers who live together in unity, neighbors who love each other, and a husband and wife who get along.

1In three things I was beautified, and stood up beautiful both before God and men: the unity of brethren, the love of neighbours, a man and a wife that agree together.

NoteThe "I" of this book is its author, a Jewish teacher in Jerusalem writing around 180 BC, who speaks throughout in his own voice as a wisdom instructor. "Brethren" means brothers: in this society brothers often went on sharing the family land and household after their father died, so brothers who lived together without quarreling over the inheritance were worth singling out.

2There are three kinds of men my soul hates, and their way of living deeply offends me: a poor man who is proud, a rich man who lies, and an old man who commits adultery and has grown foolish.

2Three sorts of men my soul hateth, and I am greatly offended at their life: a poor man that is proud, a rich man that is a liar, and an old adulterer that doateth.

NoteThe King James "doateth" does not mean doting or affectionate. In 1611 to dote was to be weak-minded or silly with age, so the phrase describes an old man whose judgment has gone.

3If you gathered nothing while you were young, how can you expect to find anything when you are old?

3If thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth, how canst thou find any thing in thine age?

NoteThe picture is farming: gathering in a harvest and storing it against the lean months. What is gathered here is learning and experience, laid up in youth to be drawn on in old age.

4How fitting good judgment is in a person with gray hair, and how fitting it is for old men to know good advice!

4O how comely a thing is judgment for gray hairs, and for ancient men to know counsel!

Note"Comely" in 1611 meant fitting or becoming, not good-looking. "Judgment" here means the ability to weigh a matter and decide it well, not a verdict or a punishment.

5How fitting is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and good advice in men who are honored.

5O how comely is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and counsel to men of honour.

Note"Men of honour" means men of rank and public standing, those with a position in the community, rather than men who are simply honest.

6Long experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God is their glory.

6Much experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God is their glory.

NoteA crown here is the wreath or garland worn as a mark of distinction at feasts and awarded to victors, so it stands for what makes a man conspicuous and respected. "The fear of God" is a standing idiom in these books for reverence and awe before God, the attitude of someone who takes God seriously, not fright.

7There are nine things I have counted in my heart as happy, and I will speak the tenth out loud: a man who has joy from his children, and one who lives to see his enemy fall.

7There be nine things which I have judged in mine heart to be happy, and the tenth I will utter with my tongue: A man that hath joy of his children; and he that liveth to see the fall of his enemy:

NoteCounting "nine things, and the tenth" is a standard form in Hebrew wisdom writing: a list is announced with one number, then capped by the next, so that the final item carries the weight. In the surviving Greek text fewer than nine items are actually named before the list breaks off into verses 10 and 11, and no copy resolves the mismatch.

8Happy is the man who lives with a wife who has understanding, and who has not made a slip with his tongue, and who has not had to serve someone less worthy than himself.

8Well is him that dwelleth with a wife of understanding, and that hath not slipped with his tongue, and that hath not served a man more unworthy than himself:

Note"Slipped with his tongue" is an idiom for saying the one thing that cannot be taken back. To have "served a man more unworthy than himself" means to have fallen into debt, bonded labor or dependence on someone of lower character or lower standing; losing one's independence that way was a public disgrace.

9Happy is the man who has found good sense, and the one who speaks to people who are willing to listen.

9Well is him that hath found prudence, and he that speaketh in the ears of them that will hear:

10How great is the one who finds wisdom! Yet there is no one greater than the person who fears the Lord.

10O how great is he that findeth wisdom! yet is there none above him that feareth the Lord.

11But love for the Lord goes beyond everything else as a light: the one who holds on to it, what can he be compared to?

11But the love of the Lord passeth all things for illumination: he that holdeth it, whereto shall he be likened?

12The fear of the Lord is the beginning of love for him, and trust is the beginning of holding fast to him.

12The fear of the Lord is the beginning of his love: and faith is the beginning of cleaving unto him.

NoteThis verse, and the second half of verse 11, are found in the Latin version of the book but not in the oldest Greek manuscripts. Because ancient copies of this book differ in length, verse numbers here do not always match between one Bible and another.

13Give me any wound, but not a wounded heart; and any wickedness, but not the wickedness of a woman.

13Give me any plague, but the plague of the heart: and any wickedness, but the wickedness of a woman:

Note"Plague" in 1611 meant any blow, stroke or affliction, not specifically an epidemic disease. The line contrasts a wound to the body with a wound to the heart.

14And give me any suffering, but not suffering from those who hate me; and any payback, but not the payback of enemies.

14And any affliction, but the affliction from them that hate me: and any revenge, but the revenge of enemies.

Note"Revenge" here means the retaliation a person receives, not the retaliation he takes: the harm that comes back at you from someone settling a score.

15There is no head worse than the head of a snake, and there is no anger worse than the anger of an enemy.

15There is no head above the head of a serpent; and there is no wrath above the wrath of an enemy.

NoteA snake's head is where the venom is, so "the head of a serpent" stands for the most dangerous thing a person could meet. The saying works by putting an enemy's anger on the same scale.

16I would rather live with a lion and a dragon than share a house with a wicked woman.

16I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon, than to keep house with a wicked woman.

NoteThe King James "dragon" translates a Greek word for a large serpent or monstrous snake. It does not mean the winged, fire-breathing dragon of later European stories.

17The wickedness of a woman changes her look and darkens her face like sackcloth.

17The wickedness of a woman changeth her face, and darkeneth her countenance like sackcloth.

NoteSackcloth was a coarse, dark cloth woven from goat hair, worn next to the skin in mourning and grief. The comparison is to a face gone dark and drawn, the look of someone in mourning.

18Her husband will sit among his neighbors, and when he hears about it he will sigh bitterly.

18Her husband shall sit among his neighbours; and when he heareth it shall sigh bitterly.

NoteMen gathered daily in the open square or at the town gate, and that gathering was where a man's reputation was made and lost. The verse imagines him sitting there, hearing what his neighbors say about his household, and having no answer.

19All wickedness is small next to the wickedness of a woman; may the fate of a sinner fall on her.

19All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman: let the portion of a sinner fall upon her.

NoteA "portion" is the share allotted to a person, as land or an inheritance is allotted. The line is a curse formula: may the share of trouble assigned to a sinner come to her.

20Climbing a sandy slope is hard on the feet of an old man; a wife who is full of words is just as hard on a quiet man.

20As the climbing up a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of words to a quiet man.

NoteA sandy way is a slope of loose sand, where each step slides back and the effort never converts into progress. That, not simple steepness, is the point of the comparison.

21Do not trip over a woman's beauty, and do not desire her for pleasure.

21Stumble not at the beauty of a woman, and desire her not for pleasure.

NoteWhere the King James reads "for pleasure," other Greek manuscripts read "for her possessions," that is, do not want a woman for what she owns. The copies genuinely differ, and the second reading runs straight on into the next verse about a wife whose money supports her husband.

22A woman who supports her husband is full of anger, shamelessness, and much disgrace.

22A woman, if she maintain her husband, is full of anger, impudence, and much reproach.

NoteTo "maintain" someone in 1611 meant to provide for them financially. The verse pictures a household where the wife's own property keeps the husband, which reversed the expected arrangement and, in the writer's view, put her in a position to shame him.

23A wicked woman drains away courage, brings a heavy face and a wounded heart. A woman who will not comfort her husband in his trouble makes his hands weak and his knees give way.

23A wicked woman abateth the courage, maketh an heavy countenance and a wounded heart: a woman that will not comfort her husband in distress maketh weak hands and feeble knees.

NoteWeak hands and knees that give way are a stock idiom in these writings for a person drained of strength and nerve, the physical picture standing for collapsed courage.

24Sin had its beginning with the woman, and because of her we all die.

24Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.

NoteThis points back to the story of Eve in Genesis 3, where the woman eats the forbidden fruit first and death follows. This verse is the earliest surviving text to state that connection in so many words.

25Do not give water a way through, and do not give a wicked woman the freedom to roam about.

25Give the water no passage; neither a wicked woman liberty to gad abroad.

NoteThe image is an irrigation channel or an earth dam. Once water finds the smallest way through, it widens the gap on its own and cannot be called back, so the only control is to allow no opening at all.

26If she does not go the way you want her to, cut her off from your flesh, and give her a certificate of divorce, and let her go.

26If she go not as thou wouldest have her, cut her off from thy flesh, and give her a bill of divorce, and let her go.

Note"Cut her off from thy flesh" plays on Genesis 2:24, where husband and wife become one flesh; divorce is spoken of as cutting that single body apart. The "bill of divorce" is the written certificate required by Deuteronomy 24:1. Only the husband could issue it, and it served as the woman's proof that she was free to marry someone else.