Ecclesiasticus 31

Lying awake over riches wears the body down, and worrying about riches drives sleep away.

1Watching for riches consumeth the flesh, and the care thereof driveth away sleep.

Note"Watching" in the King James means lying awake, staying up, not keeping an eye on something. "Consumeth the flesh" means wears the body away.

2Anxious wakefulness keeps a man from falling asleep, the way a serious illness breaks up sleep.

2Watching care will not let a man slumber, as a sore disease breaketh sleep,

3A rich man works hard at piling up money, and when he rests, he has his fill of good things.

3The rich hath great labour in gathering riches together; and when he resteth, he is filled with his delicates.

Note"Delicates" means delicacies, rich or costly food. The word has nothing to do with delicacy of manner or of health.

4A poor man works hard with little to live on, and when he stops, he is still in need.

4The poor laboureth in his poor estate; and when he leaveth off, he is still needy.

Note"Poor estate" means poor condition or circumstances. "Estate" in 1611 meant a person's state or standing in life, not land or property.

5The man who loves gold will not be found innocent, and the man who chases after destruction will get his fill of it.

5He that loveth gold shall not be justified, and he that followeth corruption shall have enough thereof.

Note"Shall not be justified" is courtroom language: he will not be acquitted, will not be declared to be in the right.

6Gold has been the ruin of many, and their destruction was right there in front of them.

6Gold hath been the ruin of many, and their destruction was present.

Note"Their destruction was present" means their ruin stood right in front of them, face to face, not hidden or far off.

7Gold is a stone that trips up those who offer sacrifices to it, and every fool is caught by it.

7It is a stumblingblock unto them that sacrifice unto it, and every fool shall be taken therewith.

NoteThe picture is of gold set up as a god with offerings made to it. A "stumblingblock" is a stone or obstacle left in a path, the thing a walker trips over without seeing it.

8Happy is the rich man who is found to have no fault in him, and who has not gone after gold.

8Blessed is the rich that is found without blemish, and hath not gone after gold.

Note"Without blemish" was the standard phrase for an animal with no flaw or defect and therefore fit to be offered in sacrifice. Here the phrase is transferred to a person's character.

9Who is he? We will call him happy, because he has done remarkable things among his people.

9Who is he? and we will call him blessed: for wonderful things hath he done among his people.

Note"Who is he? and we will call him blessed" is a challenge, not a question expecting an answer: such a man is rare enough that the writer asks to be shown one. To call a man blessed meant to declare him fortunate out loud, in public.

10Who has been tested by gold and come through whole? Then let him boast. Who had the power to do wrong and did not do it, or to do evil and did not do it?

10Who hath been tried thereby, and found perfect? then let him glory. Who might offend, and hath not offended? or done evil, and hath not done it?

Note"Who might offend" means who had the power and the opportunity to do wrong. "Offend" in 1611 meant to commit an offense, to break a law, not to hurt someone's feelings. "Let him glory" means let him boast.

11His property will be made secure, and the assembled people will speak of the gifts he gave to the poor.

11His goods shall be established, and the congregation shall declare his alms.

Note"Alms" are gifts of money or food to the poor. "The congregation" is the assembled community, which would recall a generous man's giving aloud; that public recital was how a reputation was preserved.

12If you sit down at a table loaded with food, do not be greedy there, and do not say, "There is so much food on it!"

12If thou sit at a bountiful table, be not greedy upon it, and say not, There is much meat on it.

Note"Meat" in the King James means food of any kind, not flesh specifically. From this verse to the end of the chapter the subject is how to behave as a guest at a rich man's table, where a guest's manners were watched and talked about afterward.

13Remember that a greedy eye is a bad thing. What has been created that is greedier than an eye? That is why it sheds tears at every turn.

13Remember that a wicked eye is an evil thing: and what is created more wicked than an eye? therefore it weepeth upon every occasion.

Note"A wicked eye" is a fixed idiom for a greedy or grudging look, the same idiom that lies behind the phrase "evil eye." The last line is obscure in the Greek: it may mean that the eye, never satisfied, weeps at everything it sees, or that a greedy eye brings tears to every face it falls on.

14Do not reach out your hand everywhere your eye looks, and do not push into the dish along with him.

14Stretch not thine hand whithersoever it looketh, and thrust it not with him into the dish.

NoteDiners ate with their hands from common dishes set in the middle of the table. Reaching at the same moment as another man, or digging into the portion of the dish nearest him, was a breach of manners.

15Work out how your neighbor feels by thinking of yourself, and be careful in every detail.

15Judge not thy neighbour by thyself: and be discreet in every point.

Note"Judge not thy neighbour by thyself" sounds to a modern ear like a warning against measuring others by your own standard, but the sense is the reverse: work out what your neighbor is feeling by remembering how you would feel in his place.

16Eat what is set in front of you the way a person should, and do not eat greedily, or you will be disliked.

16Eat as it becometh a man, those things which are set before thee; and devour note, lest thou be hated.

NoteThe King James line reads "devour not," meaning do not bolt your food; the "note" printed here is a slip for "not." "Eat as it becometh a man" means eat as a human being should, not as an animal feeds.

17Be the first to stop, for the sake of good manners, and do not be someone who can never get enough, or you will give offense.

17Leave off first for manners’ sake; and be not unsatiable, lest thou offend.

Note"Leave off first" means be the first to stop eating, not the first to begin. "Unsatiable" is the older spelling of insatiable, never satisfied.

18When you sit down among many people, do not be the first of them all to reach out your hand.

18When thou sittest among many, reach not thine hand out first of all.

NoteAt a shared table the order in which people reached for food followed rank and age. A guest who put his hand out before everyone else was pushing himself forward ahead of his place.

19A very little is enough for a well brought up man, and he does not lie on his bed breathing hard.

19A very little is sufficient for a man well nurtured, and he fetcheth not his wind short upon his bed.

Note"Well nurtured" means well brought up and well trained in manners, not well fed. "He fetcheth not his wind short upon his bed" means he does not lie there panting for breath, as a man does who has eaten too much.

20Healthy sleep comes from eating in moderation. Such a man gets up early and his mind is clear. But the misery of lying awake, and stomach cramps, and sharp pains in the belly go with the man who can never get enough.

20Sound sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth early, and his wits are with him: but the pain of watching, and choler, and pangs of the belly, are with an unsatiable man.

Note"Watching" again means lying awake. "Choler" was yellow bile, one of the four bodily fluids of ancient medicine, blamed both for hot temper and for a churning stomach; here it means the sickness that follows overeating. "His wits are with him" means his mind is clear.

21And if you have been made to eat too much, get up, go outside, vomit, and you will have relief.

21And if thou hast been forced to eat, arise, go forth, vomit, and thou shalt have rest.

NoteMaking yourself vomit to relieve an overloaded stomach was a recognized remedy at ancient banquets, where a guest could not easily refuse what his host pressed on him. Some Greek manuscripts read simply that he should get up in the middle of the meal and go out, without the word vomit.

22My son, listen to me and do not think little of me, and in the end you will find things as I told you. In everything you do, be skillful, and no illness will come to you.

22My son, hear me, and despise me not, and at the last thou shalt find as I told thee: in all thy works be quick, so shall there no sickness come unto thee.

Note"Be quick" translates a Greek word meaning active, capable, skillful at your work. It is not about speed.

23People will speak well of the man who is generous with his food, and the report of how well he keeps his house will be believed.

23Whoso is liberal of his meat, men shall speak well of him; and the report of his good housekeeping will be believed.

Note"Liberal of his meat" means open handed with his food. "Good housekeeping" means the way a man provisions and manages his household, not tidiness; a reputation for keeping a generous table was a real social asset.

24But the whole city will grumble against the man who is stingy with his food, and reports of his stinginess will not be doubted.

24But against him that is a niggard of his meat the whole city shall murmur; and the testimonies of his niggardness shall not be doubted of.

Note"Niggard" is an old English word for a miser or a tightfisted man, and "niggardness" for stinginess. It comes from a Scandinavian root meaning stingy and has no connection with any modern word it happens to resemble.

25Do not show off how much you can hold when you drink wine, for wine has destroyed many.

25Shew not thy valiantness in wine; for wine hath destroyed many.

Note"Shew not thy valiantness in wine" refers to the drinking contest: at banquets men would boast of how much they could hold and dare each other to keep pace.

26The furnace tests the temper of steel when the blade is dipped, and in the same way wine tests the hearts of the proud when they quarrel.

26The furnace proveth the edge by dipping: so doth wine the hearts of the proud by drunkeness.

NoteA smith tested a newly forged blade by heating it and plunging it into liquid, the process called quenching or tempering; a flawed blade cracked. "Proveth" means puts to the test. The second half is compressed in the Greek and is read two ways: that wine tests the hearts of the proud, and that the test shows itself in their quarreling.

27Wine is as good as life to a man, if he drinks it in moderation. What kind of life does a man have who has no wine? It was made to make people glad.

27Wine is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk moderately: what life is then to a man that is without wine? for it was made to make men glad.

NoteWine was the ordinary daily drink, normally watered down before being served, not a luxury reserved for occasions.

28Wine drunk in the right amount and at the right time brings gladness to the heart and cheer to the mind.

28Wine measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness of the heart, and cheerfulness of the mind:

Note"Measurably" means in measured amounts, in moderation. "In season" means at the fitting time and occasion.

29But wine drunk to excess makes the mind bitter, and brings fighting and quarreling.

29But wine drunken with excess maketh bitterness of the mind, with brawling and quarrelling.

30Drunkenness builds up a fool's rage until he stumbles. It takes away his strength and leaves him with wounds.

30Drunkenness increaseth the rage of a fool till he offend: it diminisheth strength, and maketh wounds.

Note"Till he offend" means until he trips himself up or comes to harm; "offend" here carries the old sense of stumbling into a wrong. "Maketh wounds" refers to the injuries of drunken brawling.

31Do not correct your neighbor while the wine is being drunk, and do not look down on him while he is enjoying himself. Do not speak insulting words to him, and do not press him with a demand.

31Rebuke not thy neighbour at the wine, and despise him not in his mirth: give him no despiteful words, and press not upon him with urging him to drink.

Note"At the wine" means during the drinking that followed the meal, a distinct stage of the banquet when the food was cleared and the cups went round. The last clause is disputed: the Greek can mean do not press him with demands of any kind, and it is often read specifically as do not dun him for repayment of a debt while he is enjoying himself.