Ecclesiasticus 32

If you are made the master of a feast, do not put yourself above the others. Be among them as one of them. Take careful thought for them, and then sit down.

1If thou be made the master of a feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one of the rest; take diligent care for them, and so sit down.

NoteChapters 31 and 32 give advice for a formal dinner. In Greek and Hellenistic custom such a banquet had a president chosen from among the guests, sometimes by lot, who set the order of the evening: how strongly the wine was mixed, when the music played, who spoke and when. This is the man being addressed.

2And when you have finished all your duties, take your place, so that you may be glad along with them and receive a wreath for running the feast well.

2And when thou hast done all thy office, take thy place, that thou mayest be merry with them, and receive a crown for thy well ordering of the feast.

NoteKJV "office" means the duties of the post, not a room. The crown is a wreath of leaves or flowers, worn at banquets and given as a mark of the guests' approval for an evening well run.

3Speak, you who are the older man, for that is your right, but speak with sound judgment; and do not interrupt the music.

3Speak, thou that art the elder, for it becometh thee, but with sound judgment; and hinder not musick.

NoteAt such a table the right to speak first went by age, so "it becometh thee" means it falls to you, it is fitting for you. The music is live performance by hired players, which is why talking across it is a discourtesy to a person, not just noise.

4Do not pour out talk where music is being played, and do not put your wisdom on display at the wrong moment.

4Pour not out words where there is a musician, and shew not forth wisdom out of time.

5Music played together at a wine banquet is like a seal ring of red gemstone set in gold.

5A concert of musick in a banquet of wine is as a signet of carbuncle set in gold.

NoteA signet was a ring or stone engraved with its owner's mark and pressed into soft wax or clay to seal a letter or a jar; it served as a signature, and one mounted in gold was expensive work. "Carbuncle" was the old English name for a deep red stone, garnet or ruby. "Concert" in 1611 means simply sounding together, instruments and voices in agreement, not a ticketed event.

6As a seal ring of emerald set in a piece of goldwork, so is the melody of music along with good wine.

6As a signet of an emerald set in a work of gold, so is the melody of musick with pleasant wine.

NoteThe Greek word rendered "emerald" (smaragdos) covered a range of green stones and need not mean the emerald of a modern jeweler. Verse 6 restates verse 5 with a different stone; saying a thing twice in slightly different words is the ordinary shape of this kind of poetry, not repetition by accident.

7Speak, young man, if there is need of you; and even then, barely, and only after you have been asked twice.

7Speak, young man, if there be need of thee: and yet scarcely when thou art twice asked.

NoteThe Greek is compressed and its sense is disputed: either speak no more than twice, or speak only after being asked a second time. Either way the instruction is that the youngest man present speaks briefly and only on invitation.

8Keep your speech short, holding much in a few words. Be like someone who knows and still keeps quiet.

8Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in few words; be as one that knoweth and yet holdeth his tongue.

9When you are among great men, do not act as if you were their equal; and when older men are present, do not use many words.

9If thou be among great men, make not thyself equal with them; and when ancient men are in place, use not many words.

NoteIn 1611 "ancient" meant simply aged or elderly, with no suggestion of remote antiquity. "Ancient men are in place" means older men are present and seated.

10Lightning goes ahead of the thunder, and approval goes ahead of a modest man.

10Before the thunder goeth lightning; and before a shamefaced man shall go favour.

Note"Shamefaced" in 1611 was a compliment. It meant modest and reserved, quick to blush, and carried no sense of having been caught out. "Favour" here is the goodwill of other people: as the flash arrives before the crash, a modest man's good name arrives ahead of him.

11Get up in good time, and do not be the last to leave; go home without delay.

11Rise up betimes, and be not the last; but get thee home without delay.

Note"Betimes" means early, in good time. The advice concerns leaving the banquet: rise among the first, rather than being the last guest still at the table.

12Once you are there, enjoy yourself and do what you please, but do not sin by talking proudly.

12There take thy pastime, and do what thou wilt: but sin not by proud speech.

NoteThe "there" is home. The restraint the dinner required is over once you are in your own house, with the one exception of boastful talk.

13And for all these things, bless the one who made you and who has filled you full with his good things.

13And for these things bless him that made thee, and hath replenished thee with his good things.

Note"Replenished" in 1611 means filled full, not filled a second time.

14Whoever fears the Lord will accept his correction, and those who look for him early will find favor.

14Whoso feareth the Lord will receive his discipline; and they that seek him early shall find favour.

Note"Discipline" translates the Greek paideia, the whole training of a pupil by a teacher: instruction, correction and formation together, not punishment alone. "Seek him early" renders a verb built on the word for dawn, and carries both rising early to look and looking eagerly.

15The one who searches out the law will be filled with it, but the pretender will trip over it.

15He that seeketh the law shall be filled therewith: but the hypocrite will be offended thereat.

Note"The law" means the Law of Moses, the Torah, the body of teaching Ben Sira treats throughout his book as the place where wisdom is found. "Hypocrite" translates a Greek word whose root sense is a stage actor, someone playing a part; that older force is what the rendering's "pretender" carries.

16Those who fear the Lord will find true judgment, and they will kindle acts of justice like a light.

16They that fear the Lord shall find judgment, and shall kindle justice as a light.

Note"Judgment" here means a sound decision or a just verdict, not condemnation. Kindling justice as a light is the image of lighting a lamp: right actions are set burning so that others can see by them.

17A sinful man will not take correction, but finds a justification that fits what he wants.

17A sinful man will not be reproved, but findeth an excuse according to his will.

NoteThe Greek says he finds a "judgment" or interpretation to suit his own wish: he reads the rule in whatever way lets him do what he had already decided to do.

18A man who takes counsel will think a matter through, but an insolent and proud man is not gripped by fear, even after he has acted on his own without advice.

18A man of counsel will be considerate; but a strange and proud man is not daunted with fear, even when of himself he hath done without counsel.

NoteThe Greek of this verse is difficult and the ancient copies differ. The first half says roughly that a man who takes counsel will not pass over a thought, that is, will not brush an idea aside unexamined. In the second half "strange" is the KJV's word for insolent or presumptuous, not unfamiliar, and "not daunted with fear" means he feels none of the hesitation that would make a careful man stop and ask.

19Do nothing without advice; and once you have acted, do not go back on it with regret.

19Do nothing without advice; and when thou hast once done, repent not.

Note"Repent not" in 1611 means do not regret, do not have second thoughts afterward. It has nothing to do with repentance from sin.

20Do not go along a road where you may fall, and do not stumble among the stones.

20Go not in a way wherein thou mayest fall, and stumble not among the stones.

21Do not be overconfident on a smooth road.

21Be not confident in a plain way.

Note"A plain way" is a smooth, level road. The warning is that easy ground is exactly where a traveler stops watching his feet.

22And be on your guard even with your own children.

22And beware of thine own children.

NoteThe line is abrupt and its sense is disputed. Taken as it stands in Greek it warns that caution is owed even inside your own household. Some ancient versions point instead to a word meaning "your ways" or "your paths," which would continue the walking image of the two verses before it.

23In every good work, trust your own soul, for this is what keeping the commandments means.

23In every good work trust thy own soul; for this is the keeping of the commandments.

NoteThe Greek verb is "trust" or "entrust," and the noun behind "soul" commonly means simply the self or one's own life, so the line reads "in every work trust yourself." Some manuscripts have "guard your own soul" instead of "trust."

24The one who believes in the Lord pays attention to the commandment, and the one who trusts in him will be none the worse for it.

24He that believeth in the Lord taketh heed to the commandment; and he that trusteth in him shall fare never the worse.

NoteGreek copies differ here: some read "he who believes the law," others "he who believes the Lord," and modern translations split between them; the KJV follows the second. "Fare never the worse" means will come to no loss by it.