Ecclesiasticus 27

Many people have sinned for the sake of some small gain, and the one who is out to pile up more will turn his eyes away.

1Many have sinned for a small matter; and he that seeketh for abundance will turn his eyes away.

Note"Turn his eyes away" is an idiom for deliberately not looking: the trader who wants a bigger profit avoids noticing how the profit is being made. Ben Sira, who wrote this book in Jerusalem around 180 BC, is addressing men who did business for a living, and the next two verses continue the subject.

2A nail sticks fast in the joint between two stones. In the same way, sin wedges itself in between buying and selling.

2As a nail sticketh fast between the joinings of the stones; so doth sin stick close between buying and selling.

NoteStone walls in the ancient world were commonly laid dry, block on block, without mortar. A nail or metal wedge hammered into the seam between two stones becomes almost impossible to pull out. That is the force of the image: sin does not sit loosely on top of buying and selling, it drives itself into the join between the two parties and stays there.

3Unless a person holds himself carefully in the fear of the Lord, his house will soon be torn down.

3Unless a man hold himself diligently in the fear of the Lord, his house shall soon be overthrown.

Note"The fear of the Lord" is the standard phrase of Hebrew wisdom writing for a reverent, obedient awe of God, closer to taking God seriously than to being frightened of him. "His house" means the whole household and its standing: the family, the property, the line that carries the name, not the building.

4When someone shakes a sieve, the trash is what stays behind. In the same way, a person's filth stays behind in his thinking.

4As when one sifteth with a sieve, the refuse remaineth; so the filth of man in his talk.

NoteA sieve was shaken so that the fine flour or clean grain fell through and the husks, grit and small stones stayed in the mesh. The reader is meant to picture what is left lying in the sieve after the shaking stops.

5The furnace tests the jars the potter has made. In the same way, a person is tested by his thinking.

5The furnace proveth the potter’s vessels; so the trial of man is in his reasoning.

NotePottery was shaped from clay and then fired in a kiln. Badly prepared clay, or a pot with air trapped in the wall, cracks or bursts in the heat, so the firing was the moment that showed whether the potter's work was sound. The point of comparison is the test, not the punishment.

6The fruit shows whether the tree has been cared for. In the same way, what a person says shows the thoughts in his heart.

6The fruit declareth if the tree have been dressed; so is the utterance of a conceit in the heart of man.

Note"If the tree have been dressed" means whether it has been tended: pruned, dug around, manured. "Conceit" in 1611 English meant simply a thought or an idea forming in the mind, with none of the modern sense of vanity.

7Do not praise anyone before you have heard him speak, because this is how people are tested.

7Praise no man before thou hearest him speak; for this is the trial of men.

8If you go after what is right, you will get it, and you will put it on like a long and splendid robe.

8If thou followest righteousness, thou shalt obtain her, and put her on, as a glorious long robe.

Note"Her" is not a person. Righteousness is a feminine noun in the Greek of this book, so English of 1611 refers back to it as "her," as it also does with wisdom. The long robe was formal dress, the garment of someone with rank or office, so the image is of a quality worn publicly where everyone can see it.

9Birds go to join birds of their own kind. In the same way, truth comes back to the people who practice it.

9The birds will resort unto their like; so will truth return unto them that practise in her.

10The lion lies in wait for the animal it will kill. In the same way, sin lies in wait for those who do wrong.

10As the lion lieth in wait for the prey; so sin for them that work iniquity.

11What a godly man says is always wise, but a fool changes like the moon.

11The discourse of a godly man is always with wisdom; but a fool changeth as the moon.

12When you are among people with no sense, keep an eye on the time. But stay always among people who understand.

12If thou be among the indiscreet, observe the time; but be continually among men of understanding.

NoteThe Greek can be read two ways and the rendering keeps both open. "Observe the time" may mean watch the clock and keep the visit short, or watch for the right moment to get away. Either way the advice is to ration your time with such people, not to enjoy it.

13The talk of fools is offensive, and their idea of fun is sin with no limits.

13The discourse of fools is irksome, and their sport is the wantonness of sin.

Note"Wantonness" in 1611 meant unrestrained self-indulgence, behavior with no brake on it. It did not carry the modern sense of deliberate cruelty.

14The talk of a man who swears a lot makes your hair stand on end, and their quarreling makes a person plug his ears.

14The talk of him that sweareth much maketh the hair stand upright; and their brawls make one stop his ears.

NoteThis is not coarse language in the modern sense. To swear was to call God or holy things as witness to back up what you were saying, and a man who did it constantly in ordinary conversation was treating God's name as small change. "Maketh the hair stand upright" is the same idiom as the modern one for horror.

15The quarreling of proud people means blood is shed, and their insults are painful to listen to.

15The strife of the proud is bloodshedding, and their revilings are grievous to the ear.

Note"Revilings" means verbal abuse, insults thrown in a quarrel. "Bloodshedding" is meant literally: among proud men who cannot back down, the quarrel ends in someone being killed.

16Whoever gives away secrets loses people's trust, and he will never find a friend who suits him.

16Whoso discovereth secrets loseth his credit; and shall never find friend to his mind.

Note"Loseth his credit" means loses his credibility, the trust other people were willing to extend to him; it has nothing to do with money owed. "A friend to his mind" means a friend who suits him, one after his own heart.

17Love your friend and keep faith with him. But if you give away his secrets, do not go after him anymore.

17Love thy friend, and be faithful unto him: but if thou betrayest his secrets, follow no more after him.

18For just as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the love your neighbor had for you.

18For as a man hath destroyed his enemy; so hast thou lost the love of thy neighbor.

Note"Neighbour" here, and in the next two verses, translates a Greek word for the person close at hand, the companion or friend, not simply whoever lives nearby. The comparison is blunt: a man deliberately destroys an enemy, and you have done the same amount of damage to a friendship, only by accident.

19Like a bird you have let go out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again.

19As one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let thy neighbour go, and shalt not get him again

20Do not go after him anymore, because he is too far away. He is like a gazelle that has escaped from the trap.

20Follow after him no more, for he is too far off; he is as a roe escaped out of the snare.

Note"Roe" is the King James word for a roe deer, standing in for the gazelle of the Greek text: a small, extremely fast animal that was hunted with snares. Once it has pulled free of the trap there is no catching it on foot.

21A wound can be bandaged up, and after insults there can still be peace again. But the one who gives away secrets has no hope.

21As for a wound, it may be bound up; and after reviling there may be reconcilement: but he that betrayeth secrets is without hope.

22The man who winks with his eyes is working out something evil, and whoever knows him will keep away from him.

22He that winketh with the eyes worketh evil: and he that knoweth him will depart from him.

NoteWinking here is a conspirator's signal, a flick of the eye to an accomplice while a third person is being cheated or set up. It carried nothing of the friendly or flirtatious sense the gesture has now, and elsewhere in the wisdom books it is a standard mark of the sly man.

23While you are there, he will speak sweetly and say how fine your words are. But afterward he will twist his mouth, and he will set a trap in the very words you said.

23When thou art present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and slander thy sayings.

Note"Writhe his mouth" means twist the mouth into a sneer, the face pulled sideways in mockery once your back is turned. The second half of the verse is where the King James and the older Greek manuscripts part company: the Greek says he will set a trap out of the words you yourself spoke, while the King James translators read a text that said he will slander what you said.

24There are many things I have hated, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him too.

24I have hated many things, but nothing like him; for the Lord will hate him.

25Whoever throws a stone straight up throws it onto his own head, and a treacherous blow opens wounds.

25Whoso casteth a stone on high casteth it on his own head; and a deceitful stroke shall make wounds.

Note"A deceitful stroke" is a blow struck by treachery, from behind or under cover of friendship. The Greek is ambiguous about who is cut open by it, and the line sits between two proverbs about a trap closing on the person who set it.

26Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever sets a trap will be caught in it.

26Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that setteth a trap shall be taken therein.

27Whatever harm a person does will fall back on him, and he will not know where it came from.

27He that worketh mischief, it shall fall upon him, and he shall not know whence it cometh.

28Mockery and insults come from proud people, but revenge lies in wait for them like a lion.

28Mockery and reproach are from the proud; but vengeance, as a lion, shall lie in wait for them.

29Those who are glad when a good person falls will be caught in the trap, and pain will eat them up before they die.

29They that rejoice at the fall of the righteous shall be taken in the snare; and anguish shall consume them before they die.

30Spite and anger, these too are detestable things, and the sinful man will hold on to them both.

30Malice and wrath, even these are abominations; and the sinful man shall have them both.

Note"Abomination" is the vocabulary of the Law of Moses, used there for what is utterly repugnant and unfit to be brought anywhere near God. Applying it to ordinary bad temper is the deliberate shock of the line. "Shall have them both" means will keep hold of them, will be the owner of them.