Ecclesiasticus 29

The person who shows mercy will lend to his neighbor, and the person who gives him a helping hand keeps the commandments.

1He that is merciful will lend unto his neighbour; and he that strengtheneth his hand keepeth the commandments.

NoteUnder the Law of Moses a loan to a fellow Israelite in need was to be made without interest and released in the seventh year (Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:35-37, Deuteronomy 15:7-11). The "commandments" in view are those rules, so the lending described here is a form of charity, not an investment.

2Lend to your neighbor when he is in need, and pay your neighbor back at the proper time.

2Lend to thy neighbour in time of his need, and pay thou thy neighbour again in due season.

3Keep your word and deal honestly with him, and you will always find what you need.

3Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him, and thou shalt always find the thing that is necessary for thee.

4Many people, when something was lent to them, treated it as money they had found, and caused trouble for the very people who helped them.

4Many, when a thing was lent them, reckoned it to be found, and put them to trouble that helped them.

Note"Reckoned it to be found" is an idiom for treating borrowed money as a windfall. Property found without an identifiable owner was commonly kept by the finder, so the borrower behaves as though the money were simply his.

5Until he has the money in hand, he will kiss a man's hand, and he will speak humbly to get his neighbor's money. But when the time comes to pay it back, he will drag out the time, answer with grumbling words, and complain about the times.

5Till he hath received, he will kiss a man’s hand; and for his neighbour’s money he will speak submissly: but when he should repay, he will prolong the time, and return words of grief, and complain of the time.

NoteKissing a man's hand was the gesture of a dependent toward a patron or benefactor, a show of submission used here as flattery. "Complain of the time" means blaming the season or the state of trade, a bad harvest or hard times, rather than admitting he can pay.

6If he wins, the lender will barely get half of it, and he will count it as money he simply found. If not, he has robbed the lender of his money, and has made an enemy of him for no reason. He pays him back with cursing and insults, and instead of honor he pays him disgrace.

6If he prevail, he shall hardly receive the half, and he will count as if he had found it: if not, he hath deprived him of his money, and he hath gotten him an enemy without cause: he payeth him with cursings and railings; and for honour he will pay him disgrace.

Note"If he prevail" is ambiguous in the Greek as well as the English. It may mean if the lender manages to press his claim successfully, or if the borrower gets the upper hand; the sentence that follows works either way, since even a successful lender recovers only half.

7So many people have refused to lend because of the bad behavior of others, since they are afraid of being cheated.

7Many therefore have refused to lend for other men’s ill dealing, fearing to be defrauded.

8Even so, be patient with a man who is poor, and do not put off showing him mercy.

8Yet have thou patience with a man in poor estate, and delay not to shew him mercy.

9Help the poor man because the commandment says to, and do not turn him away because he is poor.

9Help the poor for the commandment’s sake, and turn him not away because of his poverty.

Note"For the commandment's sake" again points to the Law's specific requirements about the poor, which command an open hand to a needy neighbor and forbid turning him away (Deuteronomy 15:7-11).

10Be willing to lose your money for a brother and a friend, and do not let it rust away under a stone and be lost.

10Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend, and let it not rust under a stone to be lost.

NoteBefore banks, savings were often hidden as buried coin, literally put under a stone. Ancient coinage was silver, bronze or copper, all of which corrode, so buried money could be lost outright. The image is of wealth that helps nobody and then perishes anyway.

11Store up your treasure the way the Most High commands, and it will bring you more profit than gold.

11Lay up thy treasure according to the commandments of the most High, and it shall bring thee more profit than gold.

12Lock up your gifts to the poor in your storerooms, and that will rescue you out of every trouble.

12Shut up alms in thy storehouses: and it shall deliver thee from all affliction.

Note"Alms" means money or goods given to the poor as a religious duty. The image is deliberately paradoxical: the storehouse where you lock up your wealth is the hand of the poor, and what you give away is what is actually kept safe.

13It will fight for you against your enemies better than a mighty shield and a heavy spear.

13It shall fight for thee against thine enemies better than a mighty shield and strong spear.

14A good man will guarantee his neighbor's debt, but the man who has lost all shame will abandon him.

14An honest man is surety for his neighbour: but he that is impudent will forsake him.

NoteTo be "surety" is to stand as guarantor for someone else's debt, accepting personal liability if the borrower defaults. It was not a signature on a form but an exposure of your own property and person, which is why the rest of the chapter treats it as dangerous.

15Do not forget the kindness of the person who guaranteed your debt, for he has put his own life on the line for you.

15Forget not the friendship of thy surety, for he hath given his life for thee.

Note"He hath given his life for thee" is not an exaggeration in legal terms. A defaulting debtor or the guarantor who stood for him could be seized, imprisoned, stripped of property, or sold with his family into debt slavery until the debt was worked off.

16A sinner will ruin the property of the man who guaranteed his debt,

16A sinner will overthrow the good estate of his surety:

17and the man with an ungrateful heart will leave in danger the very one who rescued him.

17And he that is of an unthankful mind will leave him in danger that delivered him.

18Guaranteeing other people's debts has ruined many who were doing well, and shaken them like a wave of the sea. It has driven powerful men out of their homes, so that they wandered among foreign nations.

18Suretiship hath undone many of good estate, and shaken them as a wave of the sea: mighty men hath it driven from their houses, so that they wandered among strange nations.

NoteDebtors and ruined guarantors commonly fled the district or the country to escape creditors who could seize them. "Wandered among strange nations" describes that flight; "strange" in 1611 English means foreign, not odd.

19A wicked man who breaks the Lord's commandments will fall into guaranteeing debts, and the man who takes on other people's business deals for profit will fall into lawsuits.

19A wicked man transgressing the commandments of the Lord shall fall into suretiship: and he that undertaketh and followeth other men’s business for gain shall fall into suits.

Note"Followeth other men's business for gain" refers to taking on contracts, running another person's trade or undertaking work on commission. "Suits" are lawsuits: contracts and guarantees both drag a man into court.

20Help your neighbor as much as you are able, and be careful that you do not fall into the same trouble yourself.

20Help thy neighbour according to thy power, and beware that thou thyself fall not into the same.

21The main things you need for life are water, bread, clothing, and a house to give you privacy.

21The chief thing for life is water, and bread, and clothing, and an house to cover shame.

Note"An house to cover shame" means a shelter that keeps the body private, since "shame" here is the older sense of nakedness rather than disgrace. The four items form a standard ancient list of bare necessities.

22The life of a poor man in a rough little shelter is better than fancy food in another man's house.

22Better is the life of a poor man in a mean cottage, than delicate fare in another man’s house.

Note"Mean" in 1611 English means lowly or poor in quality, not unkind. The Greek suggests a rough shelter of boards or logs. The contrast is between a hut that is yours and rich food eaten at someone else's table on someone else's terms.

23Whether you have little or much, be content, so that you do not hear yourself insulted about your home.

23Be it little or much, hold thee contented, that thou hear not the reproach of thy house.

NoteThe Greek is compressed and can be read two ways: that you will not have to hear your own household despised, or that you will not have to hear the taunts that come with lodging in another man's house. The verses that follow favor the second.

24It is a miserable life to go from house to house, because where you are a stranger, you do not dare open your mouth.

24For it is a miserable life to go from house to house: for where thou art a stranger, thou darest not open thy mouth.

NoteThis describes the position of a dependent guest, a man with no house of his own who lives in turn at other people's tables. Such a person had no standing in the household and no right to speak in it, which is what "thou darest not open thy mouth" means.

25You will wait on people, serve them food and drink, and get no thanks. On top of that, you will hear bitter words:

25Thou shalt entertain, and feast, and have no thanks: moreover thou shalt hear bitter words:

Note"Entertain, and feast" reads in modern English as though the guest were enjoying himself. The Greek means the opposite: he does the entertaining, waiting on the household and pouring their drinks, and gets no thanks for it.

26"Come here, stranger, set the table, and feed me with whatever you have ready."

26Come, thou stranger, and furnish a table, and feed me of that thou hast ready.

Note"Stranger" here translates a word for a resident outsider, a lodger living among people not his own, not someone unknown. The blunt orders show that the household treats him as unpaid help rather than as a guest.

27"Move aside, stranger, and make room for a man of honor. My brother has come to stay, and I need my house."

27Give place, thou stranger, to an honourable man; my brother cometh to be lodged, and I have need of mine house.

28These things are hard for a man of understanding to bear: being scolded about the room he is given, and being insulted by the man who lent to him.

28These things are grievous to a man of understanding; the upbraiding of houseroom, and reproaching of the lender.

Note"Upbraiding of houseroom" means being scolded over the lodging he has been given. "Reproaching of the lender" means the insults that come from the moneylender; the Greek word is the one for a creditor, so the abuse is his, not aimed at him.